Here’s the “learning math” I see at organizations around the world
today. If a company teaches 100 hours of content, the trainee “doesn’t
get” 40 hours. The pace was too fast or too slow. Too much was taught at
one time, the examples were confusing, etc. This 40 hours must be taught
again, usually on the job. Then, over time, the trainee forgets 20 hours
of material. Again, this material must be retaught.
You get the point: These learning numbers are bad.
In today’s auto plants, all the cars work when they roll off the line,
and the standard warranty is 5 years/50,000 miles. What happened? Better
design. Automation. Six Sigma. LEAN. Building cars became a well-understood
process that reliably delivered results.
In 1988, you could run an auto plant poorly and still make oodles of money.
Not in 2008. High labor and equipment costs, rapid technological changes, and
cut-throat competition eat poor performers alive.
We Don't Have the Luxury to Re-Teach
Ten years ago, we could live with inefficient training. So what if
people retained less than 20% of what they were taught after 3 weeks
(that’s a real number by the way). We had the time and resources to teach
them again. And again. And again.
NOT TODAY. Squeezed headcounts, tight deadlines, rapid change and
global business make ineffective knowledge transfer a serious problem.
Throw in the imminent retirement of the Baby Boomers and all the M&As
going on and we’re way past serious and into ‘yowza!’ territory.
In today’s fast-paced, far-flung economy, everything depends on
knowledge transfer. If you want your company to compete, you must make
knowledge transfer a well-understood process that reliably delivers results.
I feel so strongly about this that I’m going to devote the next
several issues of the Stampede! to new and exciting ways to do knowledge
transfer. Come along with me and see how you can improve your own company’s
‘learning math.’
Let’s ride!
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