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Does training preach to the converted?

September 15th, 2010

Twice over the last few months, I’ve been asked whether training ‘preaches to the converted’. The first occasion was at a management training session I delivered to Arts practitioners in Manchester. The second was after I gave a presentation on the requirements for successful professional development to a roundtable convened by charities within the music sector.

As a trainer, the definitive answer to this question is; ‘I don’t know’. This is because trainers are rarely involved in selecting the participants that attend their courses. However, more often than not, I think the likely answer is; ‘Yes’. Without meaning to pass the buck, I believe that preventing a ‘preaching to the converted’ scenario rests with the organisation(s) of the participants. This then raises the broader issue of how organisations can influence staff with the greatest development needs to attend appropriate training/learning opportunities.

In my view, the answer lies with the organisation’s culture. If all mch’s training participants came from organisations with a strong culture, where professional development was valued, then I don’t think I would be preaching to the converted. Instead, I would simply be training people who were from organisations where high levels of professionalism and quality were expected and the norm. Sadly though, my experiences in working with dozens of organisations suggest that such cultures are rare.

Given the importance of organisational culture, mch will shortly be producing a briefing paper on the topic, which will be added to mch’s resource centre. To be kept informed of this, sign up to mch’s mailing list via our website. The sign up form can be accessed via the link at the bottom of every page.

Thanks,

Mark Hughes