University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Beyond Training and Development
Book

Beyond Training and Development

The Groundbreaking Classic on Human Performance Enhancement

William J. Rothwell
AMACOM, 2004
First Edition: 1996
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

In an era when so many CEOs feel business would be great if only they didn’t have to manage employees, getAbstract.com recommends William J. Rothwell’s authoritative human resources classic. Its ideas converge nicely with the growing corporate requirement for a verifiable return on investment (ROI) for every activity. In the eyes of Human Performance Enhancement (HPE) experts, traditional training methods are too expensive, not very useful and too focused on behavior rather than on attaining organizational goals. Anyone who has experienced the corporate training phenomenon of "sheep-dipping" may agree that business training programs have room for improvement. This volume and its companion CD - complete with Power Point presentations - is a tremendous resource for training and human resources professionals, especially those seeking a fresh, practical approach to human performance.

Summary

Training People, Not Herding Sheep

Many training programs amount to sheep-dipping, where employee after employee is systematically immersed in a required regimen for acculturation and development. As human resource professionals know, sheep-dipping doesn’t work, because the curriculum isn’t tied to the individual employee’s daily activities. Although it is a classic problem, sheep-dipping isn’t the only issue in training practices. The typical corporate training and development program has four primary weaknesses: 1) a lack of management support; 2) little linkage to the organization’s objectives; 3) inconsistent content that does not reflect established methods or best practices; and 4) a lack of focus, particularly unclear objectives. Until trainers interact with employees and demonstrate how the knowledge being shared makes a difference in their daily jobs, companies will see little or no change in what people accomplish in the workplace.

Even though most corporate training programs are inadequate, four trends facing companies make those programs more essential than ever. These trends are:

  1. Rapid external change - Accelerated change is transforming...

About the Author

William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., is president of Rothwell & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm. He heads a graduate specialization program in training and human resources at Pennsylvania State University. His other books include The Workplace Learner, What CEOs Expect from Corporate Training.

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