What Happens After the Training?

Training hours and certificates track learning, not growth. This article explores how leadership support, time, and room to try new approaches turn training into real growth for employees and organizations.

I’m sure we have all, at one point or another, attended a training or conference that we were very excited about. We walked away with lots of new knowledge but then got back to the daily routine, and not all that knowledge was put into practice. This happens to so many professionals on a regular basis.

This leads to the question: Are we, as leaders and organizations, using our resources to support learning or actual growth? In the scenario above, there was actual learning happening. We walked out of the training or conference with new knowledge, but growth doesn’t end when the training ends. Some growth may have happened during the training, but it is the application and incorporation that creates the growth of the employee and, by extension, the organization.

Any organization that budgets funding for professional development will have ways of tracking if that funding is doing its job by tracking training hours, certificates, and certifications. But those metrics track training, not growth. How are we, as organizations, tracking the actual growth that came from the training?

Growth doesn’t end when the training ends.

Growth Needs Leadership Support

One of the most successful ways to create growth from a training or conference is leadership support. We all hope our employees can support their own growth, but they cannot do it alone. As their leader, it falls on us to consistently create safe spaces for conversations around their learning, how it can be applied to their position, and if further learning is necessary to keep moving forward in growth.

Growth also requires time and the willingness to be vulnerable. Employees need to feel empowered to try something new, knowing they may not get it right the first time. As leaders, are we creating an environment where employees feel comfortable trying new approaches and discussing what did or didn't work? Are we making time for those conversations, or are we expecting employees to figure it out while keeping up with their daily responsibilities? Supporting growth means being willing to guide employees through the process, not just expecting them to apply what they've learned.

Measuring Growth, Not Training

Once space is created for growth, organizations have a greater opportunity to see a meaningful return on their training investments. However, we as leaders need to learn not to look at training metrics as evidence of growth. Measuring growth is a long-term strategy, as meaningful growth will happen over the course of months and even years, but the return organizations see can be substantially more impactful.

An often-overlooked benefit of prioritizing growth over training is employee engagement. When employees see that their organization is invested not only in the skills they need today but also in where they want to go tomorrow, professional development becomes more meaningful.

Now think back to the training you envisioned earlier. Did you learn or did you grow? And if growth happened, what facilitated your ability to grow? And if growth didn’t follow the training, why not? Now consider how those same factors may be influencing the growth of the employees you lead.

Whether your team is here in Yuma or anywhere across the country, if you want support turning training into real growth for your people, I'd love to talk. Schedule a consultation.

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