A Process That Achieves Accountability and Long-term Behavioral Change
Participants of training typically give their programs high marks, even though long-term, measurable behavioral changes rarely occur. Understandably, senior leaders would like to make sure long-term changes actually occur and people are held accountable.
With the help of two award-winning programs, we’ve been able to develop an implementation process that consistently produces highly motivated learners and measurable behavioral changes in the long term. The Vital Learning leadership series is a behavior-based, skill-acquisition learning program. 20/20 Insight Gold is the platform that automates initial and ongoing feedback. The combination of these two systems with our process supports a long-term program of reinforcement learning, coaching, feedback and ultimately—accountability. And several months after the initial training sessions, executives have evidence that the new skills have been acquired and are being used.
The first step is a 20/20 Insight survey customized to measure the desired behavioral outcomes of the Vital Learning training. Participants, bosses and direct reports give feedback. The participants review the results in detail, and managers get a summary. The results include narrative feedback as well as numerical ratings. Knowing that this survey will be administered again during the months after training, with results again being provided to management, heightens the motivation of learners when they enter the classroom.
Ideally, the Vital Learning Leadership Series is administered at the pace of one module every one or two weeks, thereby maintaining the forward momentum of the training while ensuring adequate time to practice the specific skills. At the conclusion of classroom training, each person has access to the module online for a period of one year for refresher and reinforcement. In weekly brown-bag lunch meetings, participants view the videos and discuss what’s working and what’s not and learn from each other.
At the 90-day point, the survey is re-administered to the direct reports with results going to trainers and participants. People having problems get assistance. At the 180-day point, the survey is administered again, this time with feedback from all three groups and reports going to management, trainers and participants. Those still having problems using the skills are evaluated for retraining or another position where the skills aren’t required.
Reinforcing the skills for several months ensures that participants get the ongoing learning, coaching and feedback they need to form the new neural pathways.
Accountability is clear: management is expected to be involved as coaches and mentors; trainers are expected to provide ongoing reinforcement, coaching, one-on-one assistance, as needed; and participants are expected to acquire and use the skills, which are measured by asking the people around them how the learners perform.
The emphasis on reinforcement maximizes the likelihood that knowledge and ability will be translated into skills the people will do—automatically from habit. And it assures senior management that accountability will be an integral part of the training program.
- Bud Cummings, Professional Development Associates
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