How do you prevent skill decay after training?

📝Regular follow-up sessions help reinforce learning. 🎓Encourage mentorship and coaching to provide ongoing support. 🔄Use regular quizzes and games to keep skills fresh and engaging. 📚Develop e-learning modules for continuous learning opportunities. 📊Provide feedback and reviews to track progress and address gaps. 👥Facilitate peer-to-peer learning through group activities. 🛠Create real-world scenarios for practical application of skills. 🔍Encourage reflection and self-assessment to consolidate knowledge.

Practice. But that's only 9 characters and this field requires at least 125. So I'm just going to reinforce the same point over and over again. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice. Practice ...

Sustainment, sustainment, sustainment. Rather than thinking of the event as a “one and done” initiative, think of it as on-going. Create opportunities to provide follow up opportunities following the event - “nudges” as they are being referred. We know there is a forgetting curve so the optimal experiences take this into account. Follow up one week, one month, and three months after the event with continued sustainment, nudges, and applications in their real-world environment.

It’s all about implementing the learning. More work within learning and development events should focus on this even at the expense of more content. Back up by line managers and peers is vital.

Move the point where training ends. Most training programs end once the content is completed. But that content is quickly forgotten. Only a small fraction is used. Just a smidge is remembered. Moving the endpoint to proficiency changes everything. Participants must use skills over a period of time to reach proficiency. Using skills over time makes those skills stick.

Keep it relevant, keep it engaging, celebrate the results. The "use it or lose it" rule is always in effect, and I always make sure to tell my learners to implement at least one thing they glean from a training experience, and then build on that one thing with another, and another, and another. Never try and build the structure all at once......just one brick first and step back to check on it.

A company hired me to help a temp they wanted to hire for real do one simple thing better than she was doing: create professional emails. We talked about many things, including: ✅Read before sending. ✅See if any words are missing. ✅Be sure the bullet points are numbered and filled in properly. We didn't stop after 3 sessions. A month later, I emailed her and saw her response was much stronger, but not quite right. We talked about the bits that were "off," and agreed to meet up again in 4 weeks. Oh, she DID get the job! Why? Because she showed full interest in learning to be what they needed, and appreciation for the company's willingness to help her learn.

To prevent skills from deteriorating after training, the course and materials can be offered sporadically as refresher options. The other possibility is to have the course available in video or module form for the learner to have a resource to remind them of the main points of the session.

To prevent skill decay after training, consistently practice and reinforce what trainees have learned. Regular practice sessions, create challenges, teach others, and seek new applications for your skills. Continuous engagement helps solidify knowledge.

Persistent and consistent touch points are vital. The adult learning model is iterative. Every trip around the cycle brings new knowledge. Knowledge is great, but if you want to super charge that cycle you provide synthesis. An experience is part of the equation, sure. But it’s the coaching, guidance, and mentoring around the experience which determines the total degree of efficacy.

In order for this to happen effectively, leadership must be part of the support plan. They need to model the new skills themselves, provide feedback to people using them correctly, and gently correct those using them incorrectly. That last one is critical! As soon as a leader lets poor performance happen, and doesn't call it out, they've just said that the new skill isn't that important. And that means death to the new objective.

If you dont use it, you loose it! E - learning revision modules. Use an app like @Axonify (learning bursts). Test knowledge with confidence. Share learning data. Keep discussions of the content alive. Workshops and refresher courses. Set up working groups. I personally resend training content snap shots to learners 6 months later, to take them down memory lane.

The first step is to ensure the will increase the team's useable knowledge base. Implementation will be smoother when a plan is already in place to adopt the training into the day-to-day for the team. If the team can implement the new skills and see measurable benefits, the chance for success will increase. Include the team from the beginning; a leader may choose the skills but the team utilizes them. Listen to feedback and make improvements when feedback calls for it. People like to be seen, especially when new skills directly impact their advancement. Create a cycle of positive experiences around adopting new skills to encourage a natural (and possibly accepted/anticipated) adoption and application process for new skills.

To prevent skill decay, organizations can support performance after training by: 1. Setting Clear Goals and Expectations 2. Providing Necessary Resources and Tools 3. Removing Barriers and Obstacles 4. Rewarding and Recognizing Achievements 5. Fostering a Culture of Learning and Improvement 5. Promoting Knowledge Sharing and Collaboration 6. Establishing Constructive Feedback Mechanisms 7. Creating a Supportive Work Environment 8. Providing Ongoing Coaching and Support 9. Encouraging a Growth Mindset and Commitment to Continuous Learning This will allow organizations to create a work environment that supports performance, skill utilization, and continuous learning.

Performance needs to be reinforced through multiple measures. Management, peers, online learning, books, podcasts, etc. Performance should be supported in all modalities; auditory, visual and kinesthetic. By doing that you are hitting the main memory centers of the brain and increasing retention.

What you are really doing is creating a habit. Who knows habits better than James Clear? So, consider his 4 laws of habit formation. (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying. Every time you take a tiny step towards that habit of learning, you are voting for that person you want to be with those skills.

Practice, practice, practice. This is one of the number one ways to support performance enhancement is to give employees an opportunity to practice, use, and hone their skills. Otherwise, they will not be able to truly exercise the muscle to help maintain its strength. It an employee learns sales skills, give them the opportunity to sell. If a leader learned new performance management techniques, ensure they have employees with whom they can manage. If you teach a manager how to interview, allow them the opportunity to hire a new employee. Exercise the muscle, use the skill, practice success. Learn. Grow. Lead. Shine.

Learning doesn't stop after attending a training program or a skill development program one has to practice the skill that is taught in the classroom or the training. It is difficult to absorb the entire content of the training and practice it hence a refresher session after a month post the training helps to reinforce the learnings. Any development takes place gradually and hence it is important to have refresher sessions in the form of quiz, learning connect, community connect etc. These sessions need to happen on a regular basis. I have seen that organizations that have these connect sessions after the training are able to see a far better retention and implementation of the learnings.

Certainly, it is imperative to regard training not merely as a singular occurrence, but as a continuous endeavor. Each training initiative we have undertaken is accompanied by a subsequent session in the ensuing quarter, dedicated to evaluating the sustained retention of acquired knowledge.

You can train just about anyone to do just about anything. Getting them to remember it, become proficient at it, and permanently retain it is a completely different story. Every training program should institute a continuing education program to accompany it. Period.

Training should never stop, there should be continual and consistent ongoing training and improvement, training may be a little repetitive, but necessary for productivity.

In this VUCA world where skills are changing at a rate one cannot fathom, it is important to keep an eye on the gap between the current state and future state. Whats changed? How does it impact the learner? Does this change require a refresher training or a simple comms will suffice? Fast paced change analysis becomes an integral part when it comes to refreshing skills.

Constant follow-up or coaching either by trainers or mangers is vital in ensuring that the learning is not left on the training room floor and is brought back to their jobs .

Learning programs are often not measured like other business programs, but at Gravity Learning, we debunk the myth that the impact of soft-skills learning is immeasurable. One thing we do is simply ask participants and their leaders about the application and impact of learned behaviors. Using standard statistical methods, we quantify efficiency and time savings. Remarkably, even a partial measurement of learning's impact shows a staggering return on investment. We measure for up to a year and use metrics like '2.7x' instead of '270%' on our dashboards, as the concept of a 270% ROI is challenging for many people to accept. We all know learning is valuable, but when you show how much… wow.

I am a strong proponent of continuing education, if it's done the right way. Noe once a year to check a box, but an ongoing process of professional development!

Para atualizar as habilidades líder e liderados podem incluir novas fontes de aprendizado, podem promover novos eventos em grupo para compartilhar como estão implementando o que aprenderam, além de lançar desafios para que as equipes pesquisem novas fontes de aprendizado, modernizem processos, enfim, desenvolvam novas práticas de atualização.

Use it or lose it! If there is a situation that 200 workers encounter once a quarter (unfamiliar processes take a lot of time) consider having a small team that addresses only that. Not everyone needs to spend hours retraining.

Measuring impact is one of the most effective ways to highlight then fix skill decay. Observation tools are the most powerful way to unlock these moments. It'll highlight any training gaps and find places where you have a learning-doing gap - where your tests or surveys show staff understand, but performance and customer feedback ultimately say otherwise. Ultimately, all training comes down to behaviour: • Is that employee selling the right things the right way • Do they understand how to use equipment • Did they treat the customer the way you'd hope Observation is the only way to see these behaviours happening effectively. Combining observation with coaching lets you tackle training gaps and skill decay at the frontline.

One team didn't perform well on a project. Why? I discovered much later that it was because I stood up while training them. I should have reclined as they did. Lesson: What works well in one situation might not be effective in another. Getting impact reviews from different situational trainings helps adjust to diverse training audiences.

Measuring impact should come from a variety of sources, not just one, and should NOT include "smile sheets". Interviews, tests, performance indicators and peer reviews top the list to identify gaps, strengths and areas of improvement.

Getting periodical feedback (30-60-90 days) from team members and manager could be a great starting point to measure the impact of training. Observations can be recorded and shared with the learners for their consideration.

It depends on what you are training for, but you might want to measure impact in terms of operations and revenue. Did you save the client money where they had previously lost it? Did you increase revenue due to increased sales revenue? The question is really broad and difficult to answer without knowing the specifics, but quite often the bottom line is the most important measure of success.

Measuring training impact is vital to prevent skill decay. This involves assessing skill retention and application through surveys, tests, or performance indicators. It helps identify training program effectiveness, pinpoint areas needing improvement, and provides data to support employees who require additional help. Moreover, recognizing and rewarding successful skill application motivates others. In short, impact measurement is key to ongoing skill development and preventing decay.

If it can't be measured, it can't be managed. I will always remember sitting in a large auditorium listening to the great Zig Ziglar. He shared this with that packed room, and it's important. Planning should include specific measures of performance.

So are we evaluating the way people use the training, OR the effectiveness of the trainer, OR the usefulness of the content? Most would immediately say 'all three'. But how many do that? Better yet, should the need assessment from the outset also be evaluated? Or should companies evaluate how well they are meeting the career needs of their people.

The fight against skill decay requires constant evaluation. Regularly measure the impact of your training to identify areas where knowledge retention or application might be slipping. Surveys & Interviews: Gather feedback directly from employees to gauge their skill retention and application. Tests & Observations: Utilize practical assessments or on-the-job observations to measure skill proficiency. Performance Indicators: Track key performance metrics that might be impacted by the trained skills. By measuring impact, you gain valuable insights. You can identify knowledge gaps, areas where the training excelled, and opportunities for improvement.

Along the chain, all levels of supervisory staff should be involved, and that demands excellent clear and regular communication..

Involving the management and sharing the feedback about the Learner is very valuable tool to carry out in implementing the knowledge gained and help them evaluate their employees progress and if any further knowledge gap should be customized.

70:20:10 & Skill decay universal phenomenon As we know training is must for initial inetia but can only have a 10% Next 20% happens as the trainee discusses the same with their line managers or colleagues to internalize the concept 70 % of actual learning happen "on- the-job" through trial and error The missing link that I observed is the middle step of 20%.. That is because of the following  1. Line managers are not trained on the same module thinking they must be knowing  2. They even know, but they are not trained to do the  coaching  3. No allocated time in the system to practise new learning, as everyone is comfortable with earlier  4. Trainer : trainee ratios unmatched  5. Training is considered as a tick-mark activity only. 

I would say involve leaders at the highest level and every level in between so they can support when they see the right behaviours and also so they can integrate the language and the understanding of the learnings as well.

Coaching. Coaching. Coaching. L&D doesn’t follow employees back into the operation after training. Managers work shoulder-to-shoulder with them every day. It’s the managers job to provide feedback. It’s L&D’s job to make sure managers have the skills and insights needed to have meaningful coaching conversations.

In my experience, manager involvement plays the most vital role in employee development. With daily interaction, they can help employees to identify the areas for improvement, work out on the proper channels to fill the skills gaps, create opportunities for employees to apply new skills and conduct feedback/follow sessions to ensure that everything on track.

This is most effective with the direct manager. The further removed a manager is from the daily operations of a learner, the less their impact on that learner. Direct managers are the center of gravity. No one in the organization will have more impact on the total learning arc, formal or informal, than them.

I agree with Angela and Hien, managers play a key role. Managers need to be on board with the training message and reinforce and redirect the behaviors that the training is trying to adjust.

Engaging line managers is without a doubt one of the most effective ways to reinforce learning. In order for this to happen, the line manager needs to be aware of the learning of the direct report. One of the best ways to do this is to ensure that the line manager is provided with a guide to the learning that their direct report is engaging in. You also need to gain the commitment to reinforcing the learning through regular one to ones and informal conversations. This highlights the value of social learning and reinforces the fact that the company considers the learning to be important, sufficiently so that the line manager is involved.

Managers are the best influencers at your workplace. Involving them in this learning process ensures they are aware about the objectives and success measures of the program. Managers need to set expectations and goals with the learners and consciously put them in projects or situations where their learnings will be applied.

As much as the training needs to be customised, it should be understood that one person cannot be the best trainer for all topics within a subject! A high school teacher need not be the best elementary school teacher!!! Same is the case with skilling. When we deploy people irrespective of their innate subject topic authority, we dampen the impact of the training itself. It is hence imperative that we get the relevant subject experts for different topics for maximum impact of training.

Make training as relevant and practical to your learner's daily work so that they can act on the content learned immediately. Provide post-session material so that they can continue to activate the content.

No diggity no doubt customization positively impacts learners and their organizations to prevent skill decay! How? By applying adult learning principles to training. This includes using active learning techniques, providing opportunities for feedback, and creating a supportive learning environment. Also offering different formats of training. This will accommodate different learning styles and preferences. For example, blended learning-some employees may prefer to learn in a classroom setting, while others may prefer to learn online or through self-paced modules.

Try Scenario-based training it’s like a story where learners become the main characters, facing realistic challenges. Stories stick with us, making lessons memorable. This connection boosts understanding and keeps skills sharp, preventing them from fading away.

I'm a firm believer in the customization of learning and development efforts. I apply my STAY Interview Talent Model with everyone on the team which provides me with key insights around each person's goals, needs, motivations, and challenges. Training is often just an event. Nothing more, nothing less. I have found that by providing a 6-week (once per week) touch point around one aspect of the training workshop each Friday, the ability to understand, craft, and implement ideas from the training stick much better. Also, understanding superpowers and areas for improvement allows you to create custom learning modules. This makes learning personal and provides necessary information that each person requires to grow their career.

When I first started in instructional design, I sat in the seats of the people who did the job. This allowed me to customize training to the people in the class, not just teaching from the course book. And when they knew it was the true work they would be doing, it helped the trainees retain the knowledge.

"Customized", the way it is defined, lists, at least to a great extent, the requirements to any learning solution. In this sense there cannot be a "non-customized" training. Preventing post-training skill decay starts well before the training itself. Learning objectives are articulation of both the performance gap and desired performance level. Achieving this means also we are enabling performance through learning relevance, focus on learner, KPI-s follow up, application, management engagement, learning ecosystem for continuous learning etc. Training itself is nothing less than a generation of an extra resource to performance and development. As for all the resources the plan how to manage it needs to be in place well in advance.

One of the unique things about a training I attended was when the trainer made us write a letter addressed to our future selves about our learning and expectations from the training. He promised to mail it to us after 3 months of the session and it turned out to be a great refresher. It helps with two important things regarding the training. 1) It makes us synthesize the content, commit to the implementation, and make it personally relevant to us. 2) Receiving the letter served as a check if the learning outcomes are being achieved or need to be fine-tuned further to meet the specific objectives. This could also be simpler to implement using online tools used in training these days.

I haven't seen in the discussion a factor mentioning the "Why" before the training. One of the most important factors of success in any learning is "Purpose". If trainees understand the "why" and engage to the purpose, then this is the founding step of success in further activities

Practice. Feedback. Support. It's not hard. It just takes time, effort and prioritization. We know how to do this. It's just usually not deemed as important as everyday job tasks. Shift the org mindset on the importance of learning and skill development first - then layer learning and support into the workflow.

Establish a culture of continuous improvement, where feedback is valued, and adjustments are made based on lessons learned. Provide periodic, bite-sized learning modules to reinforce key concepts and update skills over time.

Over the years I have found that the most important way to prevent skill decay is to train new members entering your organization as they join your team. I hear it all the time… “We have an experienced management team. We have no need to train new people… they will soon learn how we operate from their involvement with our team. Our operating culture will ‘Rub Off” on them.” WRONG! In over four decades in management consulting the only behaviors I have ever seen “Rub Off” on anyone were bad habits and shortcuts. As soon as a new staff member enters a team they either: 1) Distract the team and retard progress or 2) Simply don’t participate. Train new employees immediately when they join.

Further, the trained should train their teams /people below them/ those relevant but not deputed for training. This will help them develop their perspective of the training material, convert same into learneable content and hence also be able to plan implementation better

So…If skills are decaying, they aren’t using them, right?! So…why aren’t they? That is the question I think you have to answer first. If it’s leaning on old processes or habits and not embracing a new one, that’s a very different problem from having planned your training event too far in advance. Big training efforts often work in concert with big change management efforts and culture change efforts. If there is no one to do that work, decay is not just possible, it is likely. We have to solve the right problem, and training isn’t always it. Look at the ecosystem around use of the skills you have taught and make sure you are solving the right problem. If it is training, all the things everyone else said ;)

I find it fascinating that in one breathe we all admonish Life-Long Learning, then turn around and design finite training. The real question her should be: What mechanisms do organizations have in place to capture ongoing insights and ah-ha moments from staff? Not only does this add to the documented knowledge base of an organization (human & knowledge capital) but keeps all involved aware of continued progress.

Here's the thing. You will, in fact, have to unlearn some things to relearn them with no context. It's okay to let some skillsets go to focus on more relevant and updated skills.

In my experience to mitigate skill decay post-training, incorporate hands-on sessions with interactive activities, utilize audio-visual aids , and assign enjoyable tasks related to the acquired skills immediately after training.