Some Reasons Why People Attend Training Programmes

These are some of the reasons behind why some people do (or do not) attend training programmes:

• People who have been sent on a course as a ‘last chance’ before some other remedial action will be visited upon them. This can be a sad group when it’s quite obvious that the real problem is around capability, the person’s lack of actual potential for discharging their role. These people should be given different job, or exited from the company not sent to have their failings confirmed over three days in front of other people.
• People who have significant attitudinal problems (often with home, colleagues, a previous employer or just life in general) and are placed on skills based courses where, needless to say, they learn very little apart from often confirming to themselves they are the only one ‘in step’.
• People who have no specific learning objectives, no real motivation to learn anything but attend because it’s the easy thing to do. Although it’s rewarding when part way through some engage with the programme and start to get something worthwhile to take back into the workplace.
• The perfect attendee. Says all the right things, does all the right things but puts none of it into practice, often doing the exact opposite when back at work.
• The substitute attendee. Sent at the last minute because of illness of a colleague. Sometimes not even knowing what the programme subject is until it starts.
• The person who never has time to attend because of work pressures, often these people are more senior managers who never make the programme, could they be given a summary instead?
• Chairplugs. People who are physically there but never say, or contribute anything, even failing the most solicitous trainer who tries to convince them to engage. In truth, no one ever discovers why they are there.
• Learners. People who come with objectives, who want to test themselves, the trainer(s) and the material, who want to engage with new views in new ways, and who look for opportunities to apply what they have learnt back in their workplace. They are motivated by a very simple premise; they want to behave differently (better) as a result of attending the programme and they recognise that might make the feel/appear vulnerable, but that’s not a problem because they want to improve.

The majority of people we see in our work are of course in the last category, but interestingly the other seven types have been around for years and show little sign of becoming extinct.

For further information to book on any of our courses please contact:

Faye Shipley
T: 01789 734300
E: fayes@structuredtraining.com