Twilight Zone - Inverse Training

by Don Harkey

I was sitting in a class last week and we were discussing how sometimes training just doesn't land well with its audience. Managers bring in experts to discuss various topics and employees are expected to absorb the message... yet sometimes they don't.

Why is that?

Quality of the presentation aside, the class discussed a major reason for not getting the message is the credibility of the message itself. For example, if a manager trains employees on ethics in the workplace and yet accepts favors from suppliers on regular basis, the actions overwhelm the message.

The other concept we discussed was the fact that employees may not understand why they need to know what they are supposed to be learning. It is very common for management to train employees. In many cases, however, the training is not successfully tied to the development of the company. Management is trying to communicate what is important to them, often without successfully linking it with what is important to the employee. This is a case of "I have the microphone and you don't!".

Then it hit me.

What makes management so smart? Why do we always assume that management knows everything? I have seen several management training seminars where managers present information that they likely don't know much more about than their employees. Its a little like a game show host acting smart even though they have the luxery of having the answers.

So here is my Twilight Zone thought for the week. Why not give employees the opportunity to provide some training for their management? Give them a budget and the time they need to decide what to put together and see what they come up with. Think about it. How valuable would it be to know what the employees think management should learn? In fact, how valuable would it be to give employees some control over developing the skills of their leaders?

This idea is in its infancy, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. It gets employees involved in the vision of the organization and gives them the opportunity to help develop their management. Besides... aren't leaders supposed to listen and learn?

I'd love some feedback on this idea! Good idea or Twilight Zone episode?