Experienced Instructional Designers Do Not Use Training as a Band-Aid

Training is just one potential tool to solve a performance problem.

Let’s say that one of your employees points out a performance problem on his team and requests training to “fix” it. All too many managers rubber stamp the request without further analysis and the “training band aid” is quickly administered. This may conceal the bleeding, but it does not heal the wound.

The first step for any instructional designer (and the requesting manager) when a problem comes to light should be to try to understand the root cause. You need to dig beneath the surface—to analyze the source of the performance gap—so that whatever intervention you design actually addresses the true cause, not just the symptoms.

Secondly, do not forget to apply some metrics during the instructional design process. How else will you know if the training has been successful? Measure the performance before and after to determine if your intervention has been effective. There should be an observable, positive shift in behavior on the job and predetermined performance outcomes.

Without these two steps, training is only a bandage that temporarily covers, but does not cure, the trouble.