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Why Continuous Learning is the Key to Workplace Success
Why Most Workplace Training Programs Are Missing the Point: A Honest Assessment from the Trenches
We've turned workplace learning into a compliance exercise instead of skill development.
I've been managing workplace development programs across Australia for nearly twenty years now, and honestly? Most of what passes for training today is complete garbage. Back when I started, training meant sitting someone down with the person who knew the job best and letting them learn by doing. Messy, sure. But it worked.
These days it's all about expensive platforms and metrics that tell us nothing useful. It's insane.
The awkward truth is that we're solving the wrong problems with the wrong tools. I was at a client site last week where they needed a full day to explain a system that should take half an hour to learn. Everyone was talking about seamless integration while people battled with basic functions.
What's Actually Broken in Workplace Learning
The amount of money wasted on ineffective training in this country is mind-blowing. I saw a statistic somewhere that puts global training spend at over $300 billion per year. That's a enormous number. Yet studies show people forget most of what they're taught within days.
Had a client in the resources sector up north lately. Incredible workplace, the kind of safety culture every industry should aspire to. Their required learning modules were completely useless. Online courses that people completed while doing other work. The real learning happened during smoko breaks when the old-timers shared stories about near misses.
It became obvious that we're focused on compliance rather than competence.
Manufacturing companies seem to understand learning more clearly. I've worked with several facilities around Geelong where apprentices learn by doing actual work, not sitting in classrooms pretending to care about theoretical frameworks. There's something magical about watching a kid figure out how to operate machinery under the supervision of someone who's been doing it for decades.
But try explaining that to a corporate training manager who needs to defend their LMS investment.
The Approaches That Get Results (But Nobody Adopts)
Mentorship beats classroom sessions hands down. The evidence is undeniable across all sectors. Put someone who knows their stuff with someone who wants to learn, give them real work to do together, and magic happens.
The big banks like Westpac have figured out peer learning in their retail operations. Nothing complicated, just experienced staff paired with new hires working on actual customer issues. The data is clear: improved retention, accelerated learning, increased engagement. Simple stuff that works.
Still, businesses continue with presentation style learning that achieves nothing. Why? Because it's easier to track. Administrators love the data : attendance records, certificates, completion rates.
All that accumulated wisdom walks out the door when veterans retire because we've ignored informal learning.
Got this completely wrong in my early days. Assumed I could build one size fits all programs. Invested ages creating what seemed like ideal orientation training. Professional slides, interactive elements, even some questionable role playing exercises.
Total disaster.
Turns out people learn in various ways, need different things, and respond to different approaches. Who would've thought?
The Emotional Intelligence Bandwagon
Don't get me started on emotional intelligence training. Every second RFP I see these days wants modules on EQ development. Like you can teach someone to understand human emotions through PowerPoint slides.
Obviously emotional skills are important. Obviously it matters. Our training approach misses the point entirely. You develop emotional intelligence through experience, feedback, and genuine human interaction. Not by completing online assessments that tell you whether you are a "red" or "blue" personality type.
Saw an organisation waste big cash on feelings workshops. Fancy facilitator, beautiful venue, detailed workbooks nobody ever opened again. Staff satisfaction remained static. Turnover actually increased.
Know what would've made a difference? Teaching those managers how to have actual conversations with their people. How to pay attention instead of waiting to speak. How to admit when they don't know something.
But that's harder to package into a neat training module.
Technology's False Promise
Digital learning companies promise that algorithms will fix everything. Personalised learning paths, adaptive content, micro learning modules delivered just in time. Sounds fantastic in theory.
Truth is: these solutions address non existent issues while missing real challenges.
I watched a company deploy a "smart" learning platform that was supposed to identify skill gaps and recommend relevant training. Cost them six figures and took eight months to deploy. Software offered remedial training to experienced users but overlooked essential capability shortfalls.
While this was happening, successful teams held impromptu training during meal breaks. No technology required.
Actual learning advances aren't happening in software development labs. It's coming from organisations that figure out how to create cultures where people actually want to share what they know.
Methods That Make a Difference
A few organisations have figured this out, which keeps me optimistic.
The hardware giant does product training remarkably well. Instead of formal modules, they get suppliers to run hands on sessions with staff. Physical items, honest questions, practical issues. Staff learn because they need the knowledge to help customers, not because compliance requires it.
Trade training that blends theory with practical mentorship beats academic only approaches. Vocational programs linked to real businesses provide genuine career prospects.
The formula never changes: education tied to genuine tasks, supervised by competent practitioners, with instant application possibilities.
But we continue choosing lecture format training because it's comfortable and trackable.
The Reality of Learning Effectiveness
This will annoy training professionals: satisfaction ratings rarely correlate with skill development. I've run sessions where participants rated the experience highly but couldn't demonstrate any behaviour change six months later. Conversely, run training that participants hated initially but that genuinely improved their capabilities.
The best learning often feels uncomfortable because it challenges existing assumptions and requires people to change established habits. Yet difficult learning experiences get negative reviews, causing us to remove them.
Development programs prioritise positive feedback over meaningful behaviour change. It's like judging a gym by how much members enjoy their workouts rather than whether they get fitter.
The Way Forward
I don't have neat solutions to these problems. Truth is, the entire industry is struggling with this. Workplace training emphasises processes and measurements rather than its core purpose: building useful capabilities.
Maybe the answer isn't better training programs. Possibly it's designing environments where skill development occurs organically through job structure and human connections.
Maybe we need fewer formal training modules and more opportunities for people to learn from each other whilst doing actual work that matters.
It might be that effective development requires less control over the learning journey and more faith in people's natural ability to build skills with suitable assistance.
Perhaps I'm becoming a dinosaur who misses the days when training meant observing experts and slowly improving through practice.
Either way, what we're doing now isn't working for most people most of the time. And pretending otherwise won't fix it.
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