When I entered the field of organizational development in 1979, what struck me was that people were searching for a magic bullet, a quick fix for accomplishing change. Based on what we’ve been seeing lately, they’re still searching.
Case in point: the incredible shrinking training program. Remember when people went to two-week training programs? Admittedly too long, two-week programs became five- and then three-day programs. Now clients want us to achieve the same objectives in two hours – or less!
If you’re in Learning and Development, I’m sure the following scenario is familiar. Your internal clients come to you and say they need training in a, b, c, and d. You propose a terrific two-day program that would meet all those needs. The response: "Two days? Are you kidding? We don’t have two hours!" You probably get the same thing on the coaching side. Your CEO has a long list of developmental objectives but doesn’t want to hear about a six-month coaching program. He’ll only give up four hours.
This pushback is driving a trend that has put us in the uncomfortable position of saying "no" to assignments with unrealistic expectations – where we can’t accomplish the desired objectives in the allotted time. We don’t want to deliver something that isn’t what clients really need, even if it’s what they say they want.
Training and coaching both begin with objectives. All you can do in a two-hour training session is impart information. The client will get more out of reading a book. All you can accomplish in a half-day coaching session with a CEO is to clarify where he is, where he wants to go, and what he needs to do to get there.Will we provide a half-day of coaching or two hours of training? Of course! As long as everyone is absolutely clear about what the real deliverables are within the time frame.
Coaching is not a quick fix
We didn’t pull our six-month coaching model out of a hat. It’s based on research from well-established organizations, such as the Center for Creative Leadership, which have spent decades studying how long it takes for executives to make and internalize behavioral changes. This research consistently shows that, on average, it takes 90 days to change a habit and another 90 to internalize it.
Think about it. If your favorite time-management tool was a traditional booklet calendar and you switched to a PDA, you didn’t adjust overnight. If you’ve ever been on a formal weight-loss program, you didn’t just wake up one day, start a diet, and stick to it. In both cases, you had to unlearn the old way and learn a new one. In times of stress during this transition phase, you probably fell back on the old way. That’s the norm until you internalize the new habits and behaviors.
Coaching is not a quick fix. You have to be clear and specific about what changes you want to make, identify the obstacles, get the support you need, and work on behavioral change one day at a time. A coach helps you not only reinforce change, but also communicate and demonstrate to others that you have changed. This is important, because the people around you are accustomed to the way you were and are waiting for you to go back to it. You just can’t compress this into a half-day!
Countering the pushback
So what can we and our HR colleagues do to counter the pushback? We need to help our constituents understand that whether they elect to change through training or coaching, it’s about getting from a present to an intended state through a transition state. It’s a three-step process, it takes time, and it requires commitment.
One reason why e-learning hasn’t caught on as fast as anticipated is because people had the wrong expectations. They lost sight of the fact that whether the classroom is real or virtual, training is still a change-management process. The fruitless search for a quick fix is paradoxical. Change is happening all around us at a tremendous rate, but people simply don’t change that rapidly. The process is still the process.
The Ayers Group can help you with realistic solutions for your training and coaching needs. For more information, contact Joan Caruso, Managing Director, Organizational Effectiveness Consulting, at joan.caruso@ayers.com or 212.889.7788.
