What changes after the training?

The useful question after a training course is what someone can now do differently at work.

Last week, Singapore’s Institute of Banking and Finance launched its AI Workforce Co-Lab with 23 financial institutions. Alongside training commitments, the initiative addresses job redesign, leadership and how operational roles will evolve. Source

That connection matters. Someone can leave a course with useful knowledge and return to a job that gives them very little opportunity to apply it.

The targets are unchanged. The process still requires the same steps. Their manager measures the same things.

In commercial teams I have led, training worked best when we also changed the conditions around the work.

We simplified the product offering, sharpened the sales narrative and aligned incentives around more scalable business. We also tied sales and delivery commissions together in pods, giving both teams a shared interest in what they sold and how well they delivered it.

Coaching helped people understand the approach. The products, processes and incentives made it possible to put that approach into practice.

The same principle applies when introducing AI, developing managers or helping a team improve customer service.

Before investing in another round of training, I would ask:

• Where will people apply this? Choose a real task, customer need or decision.
• What needs to change around them? Look at workflows, incentives, access and the support their manager provides.
• How will we know it helped? Review the quality of the work, the customer experience or the team’s ability to handle something it previously found difficult.

For teams working across markets, those answers may differ. A common learning programme can provide a foundation, while local managers help people apply it to their customers and circumstances.

Training is an investment by both the business and the person taking part. Following through means making space for practice, feedback and improvement.

What would someone returning from training need you to change so they could use it?