What If "I'm Too Busy For Training" Is A Lie?

Here’s a situation that may sound familiar.

You try to roll out a training programme, but people keep telling you they are ‘too busy’ for the training.

Frustrating, right?

The good news is there are many solutions, including training at the moment of need – as we outlined in our recent blog.

But what if the real reason is something else and that ‘too busy’ is just an excuse?

Could it be they don’t see the value in the training being offered?

“People need to want to do the training,” Dan Boniface, our head of training, said.

“If they can see the benefits for themselves and the organisation, they are more likely to buy in. When we are told we have to do a course, we are less likely to engage.

“Training has to be specific to the needs of the individual and the organisation. This must be aligned.”

The reality is people want training, and they will find time for it if they believe it is relevant, will help them, and meets their learning style (something we look at in more detail in our next blog).

People make time for the things that are important to them.

Survey Monkey surveyed 666 employees – a slightly uncomfortable number, but we are where we are.

It found that 86 per cent of employees say training is important to them. And nearly three out of every four are willing to learn things outside of work hours to improve their job performance.

A separate survey from Digits revealed managers who receive regular training are happier in their roles and more likely to stay with their employer.

Dan said: “There is a culture at the moment of ‘what’s in it for me?’. Employment has changed. It is not just about the employer taking anymore. It is about what the employee gets as well.

“Training is high on the list of motivational factors and values. If your organisation actively encourages growth and development, people are more likely to want to keep working for you.

“And offering employees training they can do at any time, whether that’s at home, in their lunch break or on the commute, takes away that “I don’t have time’ argument.

“That’s why online courses are so important.

“All of us can find at least a few minutes in the day to dip in and out of learning if it is something we want to do.

“Often when we think about training, we feel that it has to be long duration. But it doesn’t. We live in a different world now where we don’t need to know everything in one go. We can pick training up and dip in and out of it.”

Whether the training is a few minutes or much longer, people must be able to see how it will benefit them.

“Training must be engaging with practical benefits,” Dan said.

“We can all sit in a training room or go through an online course and learn a model or theory. But it will have little impact if you don’t apply it in real life.

“We ensure our face-to-face and online courses are thought-provoking and engaging, which means people want to do it.

“Between The BCF Group and our sister company Media First, we have more than 60 years’ experience in delivering training courses.

“We have access to journalists who know how to make content engaging and capture people’s attention. And we have huge knowledge and experience of what people want and need.

“There are training providers still delivering the same content they were teaching 20 years ago. The world has changed hugely, particularly in the last four years.

“Our knowledge and experience enabled us to continually modernise our training and ensure it meets evolving needs and different learning styles.”

Shall we take a closer look at these new online courses?

Our online First Line Manager training course has been created to help new and inexperienced managers make the first steps into management. It is ideal for assistant managers, supervisors, office managers, foremen/women or shift managers – anyone who has been asked to make the leap from high performer to manager.

Have you got leaders with management responsibilities but no formal training, who are serious about developing their essential skills and abilities? Our online ILM Level 3 Leadership and Management course will help them lead people through organisational change, budget cuts and other pressures. And move up to the next level of management.

Our ILM Level 5 Certificate in Leadership and Management online training is created for senior and middle managers. It will help them develop their skills and experience, improve performance of themselves and the organisation, be able to understand and affect a positive cultural organisation, and innovate and implement change.

And our new online ILM Level 5 certificate in coaching and mentoring course is perfect for those who want to provide coaching - and mentoring - for others. A skilled coach or mentor is increasingly crucial for every organisation as work moves away from command-and-control styles.

For more information on any of these courses, or anything else that we do, get in touch with us by calling 0844 800 3295 or sending us an online contact form.

Related Blog Entries:

• Are Your Employees Too Busy To Learn?
• Are Your Leaders Curious? A Crucial Leadership Lesson From Ted Lasso
• Are your leaders creating a culture of toxic positivity?
• How can leaders better navigate difficult conversations?
• How do you manage and coach different personalities?
• The people skills needed by managers and leaders to stay ahead of AI
• Why your leaders should no longer serve up the feedback sandwich