A P RACTICAL

Guide TO
Training and
Development
Assess, Design, Deliver,
and Evaluate

Michael Moskowitz

ffirs.indd iii 6/17/08 10:54:08 AM

 About this Book
“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not
mandatory.”
W. EDWARDS DEMING

Why Is This Topic Important?

For organizations to survive and thrive, they must continually change. Effective
training is the best way to improve employee knowledge and skill and thus
facilitate ongoing behavior change. In 2006, U.S. employers spent more than
$129 billion on training. What assurance is there that this sizable investment is
yielding a productive training effort?

What Can You Achieve with This Book?

Whether as a student or practitioner in the field, the reader will come away
with effective strategies, how-to techniques, and greater understanding of
organizational training needs assessment, program design, training delivery,
and evaluation methods. A Practical Guide to Training and Development
provides an overview of the entire training process and the sequence of steps
involved to provide effective training.

How Is This Book Organized?

The book is organized in a linear fashion. Chapter 1 introduces the role and
competencies of the training professional and the potentially devastating
consequences of ineffective training. Chapter 2 focuses on the need to align
training with the organization’s vision, mission and strategic goals. Chapter 3
reviews methods to identify and prioritize training needs. Chapter 4 reviews
ways to design training programs, market them to the organization, and budget
appropriately. Chapter 5 discusses training techniques and technology-assisted
delivery. Chapter 6 reviews outsourcing as an option for training design
and delivery. Chapters 7 and 8 analyze the evaluation process and methods to
calculate training’s return on investment. Chapter 9 examines ways to promote
training’s results and ensure continued success.
Note that instructors have the option of accessing an Instructor’s Manual,
which is posted online at the following URL: www.wiley.com/college/moskowitz

ffirs.indd i 6/17/08 10:54:07 AM

 About Pfeiffer
Pfeiffer serves the professional development and hands-on resource needs of
training and human resource practitioners and gives them products to do their
jobs better. We deliver proven ideas and solutions from experts in HR devel-
opment and HR management, and we offer effective and customizable tools
to improve workplace performance. From novice to seasoned professional,
Pfeiffer is the source you can trust to make yourself and your organization
more successful.

Essential Knowledge Pfeiffer produces insightful, practical, and

comprehensive materials on topics that matter the most to training
and HR professionals. Our Essential Knowledge resources translate the expertise
of seasoned professionals into practical, how-to guidance on critical workplace
issues and problems. These resources are supported by case studies, worksheets,
and job aids and are frequently supplemented with CD-ROMs, websites, and
other means of making the content easier to read, understand, and use.

Essential Tools Pfeiffer’s Essential Tools resources save time and

expense by offering proven, ready-to-use materials—including exercises,
activities, games, instruments, and assessments—for use during a training
or team-learning event. These resources are frequently offered in looseleaf or
CD-ROM format to facilitate copying and customization of the material.
Pfeiffer also recognizes the remarkable power of new technologies in
expanding the reach and effectiveness of training. While e-hype has often
created whizbang solutions in search of a problem, we are dedicated to
bringing convenience and enhancements to proven training solutions. All our
e-tools comply with rigorous functionality standards. The most appropriate
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today’s on-the-go trainers and human resource professionals.

Essential resources for training and HR professionals

w w w. p f e i f f e r. c o m

ffirs.indd ii 6/17/08 10:54:07 AM

 A P RACTICAL
Guide TO
Training and
Development
Assess, Design, Deliver,
and Evaluate

Michael Moskowitz

ffirs.indd iii 6/17/08 10:54:08 AM

 Copyright © 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Published by Pfeiffer
A Wiley Imprint
989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.pfeiffer.com
Except as specifically noted below, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
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Certain pages from this book are designed for use in a group setting and may be reproduced for
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A Practical Guide to Training and Development: Assess, Design, Deliver, and Evaluate. Copyright © 2008
by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reproduced by permission of Pfeiffer, an Imprint of Wiley. www
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Moskowitz, Michael, 1952-
A practical guide to training and development : assess, design, deliver, and evaluate/Michael
Moskowitz.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-18946-7 (cloth)
1. Employees—Training of. I. Title.
HF5549.5.T7M676 2008
658.3'124—dc22 2008012186

ISBN: 978-0-470-18946-7
Acquiring Editor: Matthew Davis Editor: Rebecca Taff
Director of Development: Kathleen Dolan Davies Editorial Assistant: Lindsay Morton
Marketing Manager: Brian Grimm Manufacturing Supervisor: Becky Morgan
Production Editor: Michael Kay
Printed in the United States of America
Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ffirs.indd iv 6/17/08 10:54:08 AM

 Contents
Acknowledgements viii
Introduction ix

1 In the Beginning 1
Purpose 1
Overview 1
Defining Terms 2
Identifying the Two Essential Training Elements 2
Changing the Perception of Change 3
Understanding Organizational Change Culture:
Force Field Analysis 4
Identifying the Four Stages of Change 6
Role of the Trainer 11
Developing Trainer Competencies 14
No Classroom, No Facilitator, No Change? 19
Career Challenges for the Training Professional 20
Train Effectively or Face the Consequences 20
Common Training Deficiencies 23
Transmissional Not Transformational Learning 26
Effective Training for Minimized Liability 27

2 Aligning Training with Vision, Mission, and Goals 32

Purpose 32
Overview 32
Finding a Formula for Success 33

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 vi Contents

W. Edwards Deming 34
Peter Drucker 36
Vision, Mission, and Goal Alignment 38
Training’s Supportive Role 41
Determining Training Priorities 43
The Importance of Organizational Goals 43
Barriers to Achieving Goals 47

3 Needs Assessment 49
Purpose 49
Overview 49
Training Wants Versus Training Needs 50
Needs Assessment Frequency 66
Resistance to the Needs Assessment Process 73
Using Needs Assessment Results 74

4 Training Design 81
Purpose 81
Overview 81
Adult Learning Theory: Malcolm Knowles 82
Trainer Challenges and Strategies for Incorporating
Adult Learning Concepts 84
Program Design Plan 88

5 Training Delivery 104

Purpose 104
Overview 104
Achieving Training Goals 105
Instructor Competencies: Applicable Research 105
Using Internal and External Resources 109
Classroom Techniques 116
Technology-Assisted Delivery 124

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 Contents vii

6 Outsourcing: Finding the Right Training Provider 128

Purpose 128
Overview 128
Putting Competencies to Work 129
Finding the Right Training Provider(s) 129

7 Evaluation Part 1: How Did the Training Go? 145

Purpose 145
Overview 145
How Did the Training Go? 146
Evaluating a Training Program: A Case Study 160

8 Evaluation Part 2: Is Training Adding Value? 167

Purpose 167
Overview 167
Determining Training’s Value 168
Learning Analytics 174
Technology-Assisted Evaluation 180

9 Ensuring and Promoting Training Success 187

Purpose 187
Overview 187
Getting Ready to Market 188

References 209
Index 213
About the Author 225

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 Acknowledgements

I have had the great pleasure of knowing many wonderful people

over the years who gave me opportunities to work with them and
for their organizations. I will be forever grateful for their inspira-
tion and for their trust in me.
Dr. Arthur Witkin, Daryl Botten, and especially Susan Roe,
Kathy Mandel-Reese, Quelda Wilson, Mary Walshok, Hugo
Aguas, Scott Hoganson and Scott Bell, Andrew Salony, Dennis
Vincent and Jill Kobrin, David Russian, Kathleen Wheeler, and
Bob Zaboronick—each played an integral role in my career.
Many thanks to all the business owners, CEOs, COOs, CFOs,
CIOs, executive directors, and human resource and training
executives who hired me as a consultant to do training and orga-
nization development projects for their companies. The best
compliment they gave me was to ask me to come back to do more
work as well as word of mouth recommendations to their friends
and colleagues. The students in my UCSD Extension Training
and Development class inspire me every Thursday night.
Judy Loeb put her magnificent editing skills to the test, and
Victor Ding applied his amazing analytical talents to this book.
Many thanks to my Congregation Beth Am family, who lead me
on the path to becoming a whole person each and every day.
Nothing in my life would have been possible without my fam-
ily. My parents, Martin and Hilda, always told me I could accom-
plish anything I put my mind to. My sister Raina has been a friend
and inspiration to me for as long as I can remember. My kids,
Eric and Jessica, are the lights of my life and the best examples of
all that is right with the world. And finally, I want to acknowledge
my wife Vickie, who is truly my better half and partner in life.

viii

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 Int r o d u c tio n

“What is training? It is changing behavior.”

William Bratton, Los Angeles Police Chief

Training is a critical organizational function. To survive and

thrive in today’s (and tomorrow’s) highly competitive and con-
stantly evolving world, employers must be able to continuously
update and improve employee knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
behaviors. Effective training facilitates change to achieve organi-
zational goals.
Accomplishing this task with a group of unique human beings
is a tremendously difficult challenge. Regardless of whether the
training audience is an individual, a work group, a department,
a management team, an entire job classification, or the whole
organization, achieving success in this undertaking requires
meticulous attention and focus on a series of distinct yet inter-
related processes. Doing right things right, while not a guaran-
tee for producing desired results, greatly increases chances for
a positive outcome. Executing any of the other three possible
options—doing right things wrong, wrong things right, or wrong
things wrong—ensures a less than optimal outcome.
U.S. organizations spent an estimated $129.6 billion in
2006 on employee training and development, according to the
American Society for Training and Development’s 2007 State
of the Industry Report (ASTD, 2007). Collectively, they seek to
make the best use of this extraordinary investment. Done prop-
erly, training is a beautiful win-win proposition for both employer
and employee. Everyone loses big time when the effort fails to
live up to its promise.

ix

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 x Introduction

Purpose of the Book

An inscription atop the main branch of the New York City
Public Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street recognizes The
Astor Library, founded by John Jacob Astor, “for the advance-
ment of useful knowledge.” I hope this book makes a contribu-
tion to this noble mission.
A Practical Guide to Training and Development bridges the gap
between training theory and organizational practice. It also pro-
vides an overview of the training function from a linear perspec-
tive, describing each of the processes that must be followed in
a step-by-step, sequential approach. Scores of practitioners and
academic instructors (myself included in both categories) have
searched for a book that presents training as it really functions
(or should function) in an organization. Many training books are
both narrow and deep, focusing in great detail on one particular
aspect such as needs assessment, instructional design, classroom
delivery, and/or evaluation. There isn’t a book that provides an
overview describing each aspect of training as one of a contin-
uum of processes that in their entirety constitute the training
function. The book is written for this population in response to
this need.
Another purpose of this book is to add to the current body
of training knowledge by including two original and unpublished
research studies, complete with methodology, data analysis,
results, conclusion, and discussion. One case study focuses on sex-
ual harassment prevention training and its effect on the trainees’
future behavior. A second case study examines the results of 314
completed training needs assessments conducted over a fifteen-
year period.

Audience for the Book

A Practical Guide to Training and Development is intended for people
in both the academic and organizational environments who wish
to achieve greater insight, a better understanding, and the abil-
ity to explain the entire training process. Professors, instructors,
and teachers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students of
degree programs, online universities, adult learners in extension

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 Introduction xi

programs for human resource development, training and devel-

opment, organization development, business administration, and
management courses will benefit from reading about the real-life
strategies and tools used to execute each phase of the training
process. Trainers, human resource professionals, and subject-
matter experts who are newly appointed or promoted to positions
with responsibility for training in their organizations can model
or adapt their practices to the ones described in this book.

Scope of the Book

This book begins by describing the role of the training profes-
sional and the competencies that must be acquired and dem-
onstrated to be effective. What follows is a logical, sequential,
step-by-step description of the processes that build on one
another to create an effective training effort. The book concludes
with a discussion of ways to ensure and promote successful orga-
nizational training on an ongoing basis. The book includes the
following elements:

• Identifying the two essential training elements

• Changing the perception of change
• Understanding organizational change culture: force field
analysis
• Identifying training roles
• Developing trainer competencies
• Reviewing the training professional’s career challenges
• Effectively train or face the consequences
• Reviewing common training deficiencies
• Strategizing to train effectively for minimized liability
• Understanding vision, mission, and goal alignment
• Conducting needs assessments
• Dealing with resistance to the needs assessment process
• Collecting and analyzing data; using needs assessment results
• Determining training’s priorities
• Recognizing the importance of organizational goals
• Overcoming barriers to achieving goals
• Designing programs to engage adult learners
• Strategizing to incorporate adult learning concepts

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 xii Introduction

• Designing a training program plan

• Achieving training goals
• Examining instructor competencies
• Budgeting and marketing strategies
• Choosing and using effective instructional methods
• Assisting training delivery with technology
• Determining internal and external training resources
• Evaluating training impact
• Reviewing technology-assisted evaluation
• Computing training’s return on investment
• Examining learning analytics
• Determining marketing strategies
• Establishing an ongoing audit process

How the Book Is Organized

Chapter 1 sets the stage for the rest of the book by defining the
role of the training professional and the competencies required
to perform effectively. The chapter also examines the change
process, and the consequences of ineffective training.
Training must support the organization’s vision, mission, and
strategic goals, and Chapter 2 explores methods to align train-
ing with strategy. The importance of understanding goals is also
discussed.
Training should not be designed and conducted until needs
are identified, and Chapter 3 describes two different models for
determining needs, ranking results, and identifying training top-
ics that will yield the greatest positive impact on the organiza-
tion’s strategic goals. Specific hands-on tools are examined.
After needs are identified and prioritized, Chapter 4 describes
how training is designed using adult learning theory to engage
trainees and facilitate knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behavioral
change. Budgetary and marketing considerations are discussed
as well.
Chapter 5 examines the option of using internal or external
training resources to deliver training. Effective classroom tech-
niques as well as technology assistance are discussed.
The option of outsourcing training design and delivery is
described in Chapter 6. Methods are discussed that describe the

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 Introduction xiii

best ways to evaluate and determine the best resource fit for the
organization.
Chapter 7 reviews a four-tier evaluation process for determin-
ing training impact. A fifth tier, return on investment, is discussed
in Chapter 8 as well as technological tools that assist evaluation.
Chapter 9 examines methods to publicize training results to
the organization. The value of a training audit is discussed as a
way to ensure ongoing training success.

How to Use This Book

A Practical Guide to Training and Development contains basic infor-
mation for those who have limited prior knowledge or experi-
ence with training. Consider reviewing all chapters in the order
in which they are presented. The chapters present a linear,
sequential curriculum that reflects the order that the processes
contained within should unfold. I trust you will find what you are
looking for.

Introduction to Online Instructor’s

Manual
The purpose of this manual is to give instructors using A Practical
Guide to Training and Development as the text for a training and
development course some ideas for activities and exercises that
can be used in conjunction with the book. Because the book fol-
lows the basic flow of training needs assessment and program
design, delivery and evaluation, I’ve found it works well to have
learners think through the execution of a training needs assess-
ment (even for a fictitious company) early on in the course
and then proceed with the exercises as described in the manual
(and the material in each chapter) for subsequent steps in the pro-
cess. The activities will build on each other as the class progresses,
providing a rich and useful experience for all learners. The
Instructor’s Manual can be accessed through the following URL:
www.wiley.com/college/moskowitz

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flast.indd xiv 6/17/08 10:55:05 AM
 Chapter One

In t he B e gin n in g
“We cannot become what we need to be by remaining
what we are.”
Max DePree

Purpose
This chapter will enable you to accomplish the following:

• Differentiate between training and development

• Identify the two essential functions of training
• Examine the four distinct elements of the change process
• Review the role of the trainer
• Recognize the consequences of ineffective training

Overview
A successful training and development effort is more than provid-
ing well-received programs for employees—much more. It is built
on a philosophical foundation that supports the organization’s
business strategy. This chapter lays the groundwork for undertak-
ing a comprehensive training and development process. Such a
process examines the organization’s ability to use training to sup-
port its business strategies, goals, vision, and mission, as well as
manage barriers to achieving goals. We’ll start by defining terms,
review the essential elements of training and development, look
at the role of the training professional, and finally examine the
potentially devastating consequences of ineffective training.

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 2 A Practical Guide to Training and Development

Defining Terms
In the professional literature, the terms training and develop-
ment are often differentiated. Training usually refers to the activ-
ities that help employees do their current jobs more effectively.
Development usually refers to the activities that help employees
prepare for the next job opportunity. For instance, a Fundamen-
tals of Supervision program would be considered training for a
group of new or experienced supervisors. It would be considered
a development opportunity for an audience of high-potential
non-supervisory personnel.

Identifying the Two Essential

Training Elements
Many processes are involved in attempting to accomplish
organization-wide initiatives to assist employees in performing
their current jobs more effectively and/or prepare them for their
next job opportunity. The essence of these processes is composed
of two essential training elements.

Change
Ask people for words that they associate with training and develop-
ment and they will reply with terms such as facilitator, instructor,
classroom learning, simulation, policies and procedures, presenta-
tion, learning modules, results, feedback, orientation, evaluation,
goals, needs assessment, coaching, teaching, interaction, preceptor,
instruction manual, computer-based learning, role playing, and so
on. These words may appear disparate, but they are all pieces of
the processes that people associate with change: learning skills,
acquiring knowledge and abilities, modifying attitudes and behav-
iors, and altering ways of doing business to strengthen job perfor-
mance. Training and development is a euphemism for change,
and change is one of the two essential functions of training.

Goal Focus
The second, equally important function of training relates
to what the training and development effort is attempting to

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 In the Beginning 3

change. Training and development, when properly implemented,

attempt to facilitate change in employees’ knowledge and skill.
Knowledge is a set of facts about a subject and the level of under-
standing that a person achieves through study or experience.
Skill is knowledge that a person applies in a particular situation.
Enhancing employee knowledge and skill through effective train-
ing leads to attitude and behavior change and improved job per-
formance. Overall improvement in employee job performance
supports the organization’s vision, mission, and goal achieve-
ment. In order for the organization’s training and development
effort to be successful, it must be all about facilitating change that
assists the organization achieve its goals. More about this piece of
the puzzle in Chapter 2.

Changing the Perception of Change

Ask employees at any organizational level how they feel about
change, and many will answer negatively. Words like difficult,
unnecessary, unpleasant, uncomfortable, and resistant roll off
people’s tongues. Employees are generally wary of change.
Employees are especially wary if what you are asking them to
change (because it is a barrier to goal accomplishment) involves
ingrained skills, abilities, behaviors, attitudes, opinions, or ways
of doing business. It is a very challenging dynamic. The training
and development professional is charged with the goal of facili-
tating change to improve current and future job performance,
often in the face of negative associations with the very concept of
change. Moving people from point A to point B when they think
they’re just fine and dandy at point A is tough. And moving peo-
ple in a way so they feel good about both the journey and the
final destination is both art and science.
William J. Bratton, City of Los Angeles Chief of Police, stated
on February 13, 2003: “What is training? It is changing behav-
ior.” A Practical Guide to Training and Development focuses on the
many, many steps the training professional must take to make
this change process successful. If there were one simple path or
method to achieve this result, the literature would simply say just
do this, and employees would magically migrate from one point
to another. As one might guess, that is not the case. There is
no magic wand or formula to make the right changes happen.

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 4 A Practical Guide to Training and Development

There are certainly ways to help change happen, and there are
ways to hinder it from happening, but there are no guarantees.
There are, however, definite ways to improve chances for success.

Understanding Organizational Change

Culture: Force Field Analysis
Behavioral change can occur through knowledge and skill acqui-
sition in an instructor-led classroom experience, in front of a
computer terminal, or in a virtual classroom, but what happens
when the attendee goes back to the real world of the organiza-
tion? Many forces help or hinder knowledge and/or skill acqui-
sition and behavioral change to either flourish or die. Senior and
middle managers, supervisors, co-workers, processes, resources,
and equipment may help or hinder new behaviors. Force
field analysis, a model developed by Kurt Lewin (1947) and
reported and adopted by many others, provides a framework for
examining variables that influence the change process.
Lewin, a pioneer of social, organizational, and applied
psychology, found that in any situation there are both driving
and restraining forces to change. Driving forces push or initiate
change and sustain it over time. Training combined with mana-
gerial encouragement, incentives, and collaborative and/or com-
petitive work group activities, may facilitate change and improve
job performance. As a counterbalance, restraining forces act to
decrease driving forces. Peer and/or management apathy, hostil-
ity, outdated technology, and/or poor equipment maintenance
may undo any change in knowledge, skill, attitude, and behav-
ior that training produced. A state of equilibrium, or status quo,
exists when the sum of the driving forces equals the sum of the
restraining forces. In the training world, a state of equilibrium
means no change is apparent. As shown in Figure 1.1, once train-
ing is completed and employees return to the workplace, forces
abound that will help or hinder implementing and sustaining
newly learned attributes.
To sustain training induced changes, one must add or delete
driving and restraining forces. The organization’s commitment
and/or receptivity to change, whether implicit or explicit, is a
mirror of its commitment to the training and development effort.

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 In the Beginning 5

Figure 1.1. Force Field Analysis Behavior Change After Training

Negative Forces Pushing Downward Lack of Management Direction, Support, and Encouragement

Limited or No Opportunities to Utilize Newly Acquired Skills

No Incentive or Recognition Programs

Salary and/or Benefit Deficiencies

Unsafe, Undesirable Workplace

Outdated, Malfunctioning Equipment

_____________________________________ Equilibrium (No Change)

Management Direction, Support, and Encouragement

Opportunities to Utilize Newly Acquired Skills, Knowledge, and Behavior

Positive Forces Pushing Upward

Incentive Systems that Recognize and Reward Performance

Efforts to Maintain Positive Peer Relationships

Competitive Salary and Benefits

Safe, Clean Workplace

Modern, Functional Equipment

The reach of the training and development effort can only go so

far. In many organizations, depending on size and resources, there
is an OD (or organization development) department that has the
responsibility of facilitating cultural (systemic) change by nurturing
driving forces and minimizing restraining forces. Ideally, training

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 6 A Practical Guide to Training and Development

works hand in hand with OD so the organization embraces

change to better fulfill its mission and achieve its strategic goals.
According to ASTD’s 2007 State of the Industry Report (ASTD, 2007),
organization development received the most resources of any non-
training performance improvement solution.

Identifying the Four Stages of Change

A plethora of models describe the change process and the inter-
mediate stages involved in getting from a starting point to an
ending point. While these models may use different words to
describe each stage along the way, the essential features of many
change models are similar. Let’s examine four change stages
(denial, resistance, exploration, and commitment) from the non-
supervisory employee, supervisor and manager, and training pro-
fessional perspectives using the following example.
Organization A’s Customer Service Department has a three-
tier hiring interview process. First, a panel of five employees
interviews each customer service representative job applicant.
Next, two customer service supervisors interview the panel’s top
three candidates. Finally, the customer service department man-
ager interviews the top candidate. Human resources perceives
that the interview process at each tier needs to change.

Denial
a. Non-Supervisory Employees. When change was first suggested
to the interview panel employees, their overwhelming reaction
was to deny that a change was necessary. The employees assumed
that the current state, or status quo, was satisfactory, so why
change? It didn’t matter whether the suggested change was attitu-
dinal (“You need to take this more seriously”), behavioral (“The
panel is doing more talking than the candidate”), skill (“Some
of the questions you’re asking are illegal”), process (“The panel
is giving information about the job to the candidate before ask-
ing the candidate for job-related background information”), or
procedural (“The method the panel is using for evaluating can-
didates is flawed”). The overriding feeling was: “We don’t want
to change, and we don’t need to change because things are just

c01.indd 6 6/17/08 10:27:41 AM

 In the Beginning 7

fine the way they are.” The best chance for getting employees
past denial is to help them understand the consequences of not
changing and to reinforce the perception that the consequences
of not changing are more negative than the consequences of
changing. In this case, the negative consequence risked by the
employee hiring panel is recommending customer service rep-
resentatives for hire who were not the best qualified candidates
in the pool. Additionally, asking illegal interview questions opened
the organization to the possibility of a lawsuit.
b. Supervisors and Manager. The supervisors and manager
saw the root cause of the problem differently. They thought
their interviewing skills were fine. They felt the candidates they
selected were willing and able to do the job they were hired to do.
They blamed other factors—noncompetitive wages and benefits,
outdated technology, equipment and facilities, lack of effective
human resource policies and procedures—as the reasons good
hires turned bad. They admitted that some hires only minimally
met requirements, but they justified these hires as a reaction to
pressure from senior management to fill openings as quickly as
possible. And after all, as long as they had been conducting inter-
views they had never been sued for asking illegal questions. So
how bad could their interviewing skills be?
c. Training Professional. Feel the plight of the training pro-
fessional attempting to change the behavior of employees and
experienced supervisors and managers in denial about their inef-
fective interview techniques. Human resources had documented
the history of bad hires that resulted in excessive turnover from
both voluntary and involuntary terminations after short employ-
ment periods; inordinate time had been wasted attempting to
resolve employee relations issues; disability and workers’ com-
pensation claims had risen; poor productivity occurred because
of high absenteeism; and costs had increased from relying on
temporary employment agencies.
In this situation, the best chance the training professional has to
change the interviewing behavior of employees, supervisors, and
the manager is to clearly debunk the myth that the process is
fine as is, so it doesn’t need to change, making a case for behav-
ioral change by presenting data that exposes the exorbitant costs
of excessive turnover in new hires—their rising health claims

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 8 A Practical Guide to Training and Development

and poor productivity, the negative effect on the organization’s

bottom line (money unavailable for pay raises), staffing shortages
that contribute to excessive workloads, and lower morale.

Resistance
a. Non-Supervisory Employees. Resistance is different from denial.
The resistant employee says/thinks, “I know I need to change,
but it is difficult to change. I know I need to change my interview-
ing technique, but it is hard to because I have been doing it this
way for years and I am comfortable doing it this way.” Resistance,
though, is one step closer to achieving change, because at least
the employee acknowledges that change, albeit difficult, is neces-
sary. The best way to help an employee past resistance is to clarify
the benefits of the change and to brainstorm (with them) ways to
remove the barriers to trying something new. Sometimes, the best
way for employees to get past resistance is to suffer the unfortu-
nate consequences of not changing. Recommending the hiring of
a co-worker using ineffective interviewing techniques and then
experiencing the difficulties working alongside a “bad hire” might
be the impetus for changing interview practices.
b. Supervisors and Manager. Consider the circumstances of the
customer service supervisors and manager. They are busy deal-
ing with other priorities that significantly impact the Customer
Service Department’s goals—customer satisfaction and retention,
staffing, facilities, and information technology issues. The super-
visors and manager know that they are not attending to the pro-
cess of hiring interviews the best they can but, given their other
pressing issues, something has to take lower priority. Finding
the time to invest in this process right now is challenging. The
supervisors and manager feel they are doing a decent job. If they
weren’t, they wouldn’t have hired and retained any customer ser-
vice representatives. These supervisors and manager are in a state
of resistance about changing their hiring interview behavior and
the process they are following; they know they need to change it,
but it is hard to do.
c. Training Professional. Again, consider the plight of the train-
ing professional attempting to move customer service department
employees, supervisors, and the manager past resistance. Explain

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 In the Beginning 9

the benefits of an effective hiring process—for instance, using

employees for the hiring panel who take the task seriously and
see it as a true developmental opportunity, and training interview-
ers to (1) conduct effective interviews that get the candidate to
do most of the talking, (2) ask legal, job-related questions, and
(3) evaluate candidates based on previously established job- related
selection criteria—will produce a new hire pool that will turn over
less frequently, acquire skills and knowledge more completely, and
contribute to reduced staffing issues and better morale.

Exploration
a. Non-Supervisory Employees. After denial and resistance are over-
come, exploration is the next step in the change process. The
exploring customer service employee says/thinks, “I’ll try this
change and see how it feels. I’ll try doing interviews this new and
different way and see how it goes.” The best way to help employ-
ees embrace exploration is to identify the positive outcomes
and benefits of the new behavior. In training jargon, the term is
WIIFM (What’s in it for me?). WIIFM implies that employees will
be more likely to try something new if they clearly envision how
the change will benefit them personally. In this case study, a bet-
ter hiring interview will lead to recommending better customer
service representative candidates, which will lead to better hires
which will lead to more effective and compatible co-workers.
b. Supervisors and Manager. Consider the circumstances of
the customer service supervisors and manager who are willing
to explore change. They approach an organizational change
initiative with curiosity. They are interested in attempting to
implement new interview behaviors and processes for incoming
customer service representative candidates. Additionally, their
employees will be more likely to understand and accept the ratio-
nale behind the request for new behaviors and processes if they
see their supervisors and manager doing the same. A powerful
message resonates throughout the department when supervi-
sors and manager experience the process and benefits of change
together with the other employees.
c. Training Professional. The training professional is in an
advantageous position with an audience that is exploring change.

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