Train To Retain

Training is a tough job to execute because knowledge imparted in a training session is lost soon. Knowledge Management is a solution which can help retain knowledge within the organisation

- Dipankar Das

So goes the famous Harry Belafonte song of the sixties. The lyrics go on to list the unending travails of the couple to plug the hole in the bucket, but to no avail. Training too is famously accused of being a perforated practice. Dismal statistics are belted out, 80% of knowledge is lost once participants walk out of the Training room. Elearning fares no better. All the wise words are ether, soon after they are delivered. Maybe, Training is more leakage then content, opine the naysayers.

But how is it possible, believers may argue. Are people not cycling, swimming, driving, and, doing a host of seemingly impossible acts off unambulism. Are people not navigating the tricky curves of Bruce Tuckman's long and treacherous journey from Unconscious Incompetence to Unconscious Competence? Then, how can such dour observations about Training being a perforated profession be bandied about by the dubious tribe of doubting Thomases?

So, what is the truth? Nothing but the truth. Out with it! Well, truth is politically correct. It stays within sniffing distance of the Golden mean. There are holes in the bucket of learning, but, knowledge can be retained and leveraged too, provided the organisational loopholes are plugged.

No use preaching Ethics ad nauseum in an organisation where practises are all about cutting corners to get the mega deals in, or, hastening business with speed money under the table. The environment outside the training room has to be consistent with what is shared in the room. A dissonance there, does not help knowledge retention. A learning culture that nurtures the knowledge imparted in the Training Room can retain knowledge, and, plug the holes in the proverbial bucket.

Learning Culture: An essential