Stop Creating Training Just Because It's Tuesday
Last week, I didn't send my newsletter.
Between traveling for three unrelated funerals and then heading straight to an inaugural conference, I was completely drained. I sat down to write and realized I couldn't identify a meaningful gap in your knowledge or skills to address. And I refused to send something just because it was routine.
That moment of clarity hit hard: if I won't create content without purpose, why should you create training without it?
The "Because We Always Do" Trap
Here's what I see happening in organizations every single day: training programs running on autopilot. Workshops scheduled because they're on the calendar. User guides created because someone once said employees needed them. Compliance modules deployed because, well, it's that time of year again.
But here's the uncomfortable truth—creating without inquiry is essentially throwing darts in the dark.
According to Deloitte's 2024 Human Capital Trends report, only 10% of organizations say their learning initiatives drive meaningful business outcomes. That's not because training teams aren't working hard. It's because they're working without a clear purpose anchored to actual business needs.
The "Expected Training" Excuse
I know what you're thinking right now. "But Carrie, what about the training we have to do?"
You're talking about:
- New or updated legislation
- Annual compliance requirements
- Training people expect to receive
Fair question. But let me push back: Are you simply sharing updates without context? Has your annual compliance become a checkbox exercise employees rush through to get back to "real work"? Are people actually using that guide you spent weeks creating?
Last month, I spoke with a nonprofit executive director who was frustrated that her team kept making the same data privacy mistakes despite completing mandatory compliance training every year. When we dug into it, the training was thirteen slides of regulatory text followed by a quiz. No real-world scenarios. No connection to their actual work. Just information dumped on people who were already overwhelmed.
That's not training. That's covering your backside with documentation.
What Happens When Purpose Goes Missing
Training without purpose doesn't just waste time and budget. It actively damages your credibility as a leader.
When you roll out another "required" training module that doesn't connect to employees' daily reality, you're teaching them that training doesn't matter. You're conditioning them to tune out, click through, and get back to what they consider real work.
Harvard Business Review found that 75% of managers are dissatisfied with their organization's learning and development function. Not because training exists, but because it doesn't move the needle on performance.
Your employees feel this disconnect too. They sit through sessions wondering why they're there. They complete modules while mentally drafting their grocery list. They file away guides they'll never reference again.
And you're left wondering why performance isn't improving despite all the training you're delivering.
The Real Cost of Purposeless Training
Beyond the obvious waste of time and money, training without purpose costs you something more valuable: your team's belief that development matters.
Every purposeless workshop erodes their trust. Every compliance module that feels disconnected from their work reinforces the idea that training is just something to endure. Every guide that sits unused tells them their time isn't valued.
You can't afford that erosion—not when you're trying to build a culture of continuous learning, not when you need your team to adapt to market changes, and certainly not when you're competing for talent who want to grow.
5 Steps to Create Purpose-Driven Training
Ready to shift from routine to intentional? Here's how to ensure every training initiative you create actually matters.
Step 1: Start with the Business Problem, Not the Training Solution
Before you build a single slide or write one word of a guide, identify the specific business problem you're solving. Not "we need better communication skills" but "our project delays are happening because information isn't reaching the right people at decision points."
Ask yourself: If this training works perfectly, what changes in our business results? If you can't answer that concretely, you're not ready to create training yet.
Step 2: Connect Learning to Real Work
Your compliance training on data privacy? Build it around the actual scenarios your team faces. Your leadership workshop? Use real challenges from your organization, not generic case studies from companies your people have never heard of.
One of my clients transformed their annual harassment prevention training by replacing the stock videos with scenarios written by their own managers about situations they'd actually navigated. Completion rates stayed the same (it was mandatory), but the number of managers seeking follow-up coaching tripled.
Step 3: Define Success Before You Design
What does good look like? Not "employees complete the module" but "customer complaints about data handling drop by 30%" or "project timelines are met because teams communicate issues two weeks earlier."
If you can't measure whether your training worked, you can't justify the investment—to your leadership or to the employees giving you their time.
Step 4: Question Every "Expected" Training Program
Just because you've always done annual safety training doesn't mean it's working. Challenge yourself: Is this training creating behavior change, or is it a ritual we perform to feel like we're addressing safety?
Pull your last three "routine" training programs and ask: Did performance improve? Can we see the impact? If not, either redesign with purpose or stop doing it.
Step 5: Build in Reflection and Application
Training that changes nothing isn't training—it's information delivery. Build in time for people to reflect on how the content applies to their specific role and what they'll do differently starting tomorrow.
The most effective training I've seen includes three simple questions at the end: What surprised you? What will you do differently? What support do you need to make that change?
The Path Forward
Purpose-driven training doesn't mean every program needs to be groundbreaking or innovative. It means every program needs to be intentional.
It means asking "why this, why now, why these people?" before you invest hours of development time and interrupt your team's workflow.
It means being willing to say "we're not doing this training" when you can't articulate a clear purpose tied to business outcomes.
And it means respecting your employees enough to only pull them away from their work when what you're offering genuinely helps them do that work better.
Before you schedule your next workshop or start building your next compliance module, pause. Get clear on the purpose. Make sure the why is solid before you invest in the how.
Because training without purpose isn't training at all. It's just noise.
Not sure if your training programs have clear purpose? Take my free Training Assessment Quiz to get a personalized report showing you exactly where your training strategy is strong and where purpose might be missing. It takes less than 5 minutes and you'll walk away with specific recommendations for your organization.
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