LSA Transfer of Training™ Methodology

“We engaged LSA Global to help facilitate a group of L&D professionals (a challenge in and of itself) around a curriculum redesign we were embarking on.

Not only did LSA provide masterful facilitation, but they consistently grounded and connected our thinking back to the business relevance, the transfer of training, and impact — providing a powerful and meaningful foundation for us to work from.

The results were innovative, thought provoking and exciting — exactly what we needed. I can’t thank them enough.”

Amanda Garrett | Associate Director, Learning & Development | Gilead Sciences

Like most business leaders, we believe that training should “make sense” from a business, budget, and cultural perspective.  Unfortunately too many learning initiatives (up to 90% by some accounts) fail, are over budget, or provide no lasting or tangible business outcome.

How can you be different?  Based upon over 800 training measurement projects, we use three simple, yet powerful, transfer of training frameworks to make a meaningful impact on the people and the business:

1. 1. LSA Global Learning Maturity Continuum™ to set and manage expectations
   2. LSA Training RAI™ to create relevance, adoption and impact
   3. LSA 5Ri™ to make learning stick

1. LSA Global Learning Maturity Continuum™
We customize our approach to fully align with each client’s specific objectives and level of learning maturity.  This flexible and client-centric approach allows us to help clients manage expectations and move up the Learning Maturity Continuum™ at a pace that works for their culture, their budget and their business.  We start by asking a few key questions related to the transfer of training:

• Current
  Where are you on the Learning Maturity Continuum™?
• Desired
  Where would you like to be on the Learning Maturity Continuum™?
• Outcomes
  If you achieved your desired level of learning maturity, how would that manifest itself for your people and your business?
• Transfer of Training™
  Are you willing to do what it takes to connect the Adoption and Alignment disconnects that occur for most training initiatives?

When designed and implemented correctly, we believe that value can be achieved at all 5 levels. We also believe that each stage has unique challenges that must be carefully and correctly managed to succeed.

1. Improvised – Stage 1
   Unintentional, informal, and inconsistent learning that is decentralized, autonomous, and unpredictable.
2. Foundational – Stage 2
   Formal, basic, and consistent learning using common language, approaches, and tools across the entire organization.
3. Capable – Stage 3
   Consistent, comprehensive performance-based approach focused on job specific performance.
4. Targeted – Stage 4
   Explicitly institutionalized, integrated, and driven by key business priorities and results.
5. Aligned – Stage 5
   Embedded and explicit alignment of strategy, culture, talent, learning, performance, and results.

Are you doing what it takes to avoid the two most common pitfalls?  Download Transfer of Connecting the Disconnects — Achieving the Real ROI of Learning to learn more.

2. LSA Training RAI™
Once you know where you are and where you want to be on the Learning Maturity Continuum™, we use a simple, yet powerful, framework to set our clients up for success. It is called Training RAI™. The model has three core transfer of training principles:

1. Training should be Relevant enough
2. Training should be Adopted enough
3. Training should make enough of an Impact

These principles are based upon the concept that training should be treated as a change initiative, not an event if you want to change behavior, performance and business results.

Relevance
First, each learning solution should be highly relevant to three key stakeholders (1) The Target Audience, (2) Their Bosses, and (3) The Business/Executive Team. We call this 3×3 Relevance – without it learning leaders often struggle to get initiatives off the ground or fully implemented.

Adoption
Second, the new skills, knowledge, and behaviors must be consistently adopted by at least 50% of your target population. Without on-the-job application, a disconnect will occur between learning objectives (skills and knowledge) and performance objectives (desired results).  Without skill adoption, behavior change and performance improvement will languish.

Impact
Third, the impact on the people and the business needs to be measured to create accountability for execution and to provide actionable feedback for coaching.  Contrary to popular belief, this can be done without breaking the bank or the spreadsheet.  If it is unclear whether your learning solution is making a difference, it is difficult to get meaningful behavior change or performance improvement.

Overall, the greater the 3×3 Relevance, the more you need to invest in Adoption and Impact to get the desired results for your people and your business. The lower the 3×3 Relevance, the more you need to challenge the value of fully investing in a systemic learning solution.  To learn more, download, How to Increase the Adoption and Impact of Training Using RAI.

3. LSA 5Ri™
We define Transfer of Training as the process by which you ensure that the desired knowledge, skills, and attitudes transfer from the simulated workshop environment to predefined on-the-job behavior and performance changes.  Ideally, the desired changes should be directly linked to key business initiatives or objectives and have high 3×3 Relevance as discussed above.

Our experience and research tell us that most training initiatives consistently fall short for two reasons.  (1) They are not fully implemented or executed and (2) They do not show measurable improvements in performance or in business results.

These two factors have rightfully created ambiguity and cynicism around training as a strategic investment. After all, why would an organization want to invest in something without clearly understanding how it will impact their people or their business?

In order to ensure the Transfer of Training™, we know that organizations need to focus on 5 key elements to drive measurable and sustainable results for their people and their business:

1. Relevance
   How does the skill development apply directly to an individual’s role and the group’s purpose?
2. Resources
   How are the necessary time, information, tools, technology, supporting processes, and structures being made available to help produce the desired result?
3. Reinforcement
   How is your environment supporting (incentives, consequences, recognition, etc.) the application of the new skills?
4. Renewal
   How is the organization ensuring continuous improvement through coaching, mentoring, follow-up, and refreshers?
5. Review
   How are you evaluating the efficacy of the intervention at individual and group levels?

While many companies philosophically believe in “investing in people” through skill building, most are content with allowing the results to “take care of themselves.” From our experience, the probability of this approach succeeding and having a tangible impact on the people or the business is slim.

We believe that every learning investment must be managed appropriately if you expect a benefit.  To learn more about the transfer of training, download The Number 1 Reason Training Initiatives Fail According to Executives