The Truth about Training

Writing seminars. Almost every organization has them or has had them at one time. Employees shuffle into the training room for a three- to six-hour session featuring an array of information. They take notes, work on handouts, are surprised and a little frightened by all they do not know. When the seminar is over, they fill out evaluation forms letting the higher-ups know whether they liked the class and the teacher and whether they’d apply all they learned to their documents later.In the end, the company executives feel good because they’ve invested in upgrading their employees’ skills and, in the process, their corporate voice; the participants feel good because they learned something; and the trainers feel good because everyone loved their classes. If the trainers are consultants, they’re especially happy because they made good money and have another client name to put in their information packets.The one glitch to this glee is that participants generally forget 97 percent of what they learned within two weeks. The reason: One seminar can’t possible break a lifetime of bad habits. Nor can it revitalize the company voice that fosters those habits. By the month’s end, most organizations are left with a residue of good feelings, a few handouts, and nothing else.If you do attend these seminars, be sure to take scrupulous notes. Bring some of your own writing, too. As the class reviews one writing problem after another, check your own documents. If you find that problem, add it to your rewriting list.