Recognizing “dead horses” in your organization
There is shared experience among employees from multiple organizations and industries. It’s a training program and system that everyone knows is outdated, and frankly provides minimal value, yet no one has taken action to scrap or rebuild it. It may be a compliance course recorded years ago, information may be missing, or it may be on a platform that few people use. Examples like this and others are what we call “dead ends” in learning. But despite obvious inefficiencies, organizations refuse to “get down” and make changes, wasting resources and losing employee engagement along the way. This article details what the “dead horse” theory is and how you can recognize the true indicators of a failed training strategy.
What is the dead horse theory?
This theory is named after the saying, “When you realize you’re riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to get off the horse.” You may have also heard the saying, “You can’t ride (or beat) a dead horse.” These phrases symbolize the futility of continuing to waste effort and resources on something that no longer works. From an organizational perspective, a “dead horse” refers to a strategy, system, or program that has outlived its usefulness and continues to exist only out of habit. When we talk about specific learning, we may be referring to training programs that are outdated, incomplete, or unappealing to employees.
How can a training strategy become a “dead end”?
But what causes a training effort to fail, even if it worked at one point? There can be multiple reasons, but a common one is unaccounted for change. As your organization evolves and grows in number or enters new markets, old strategies can quickly become irrelevant. Similarly, neglecting to update your training program to not only include new information but also to keep it fresh and interesting for your learners can lead to a “dead end” in learning. Finally, poor learning metrics can cause training efforts to lose focus and become redundant.
5 indicators of ineffective training
Above, we discussed why one or more learning “dead ends” can occur within an organization. Of more interest, however, are the specific signs that highlight a failing training program. Let’s see what they are.
Decreasing engagement levels
The first and most obvious sign that your company has reached a dead end that needs to be addressed is a decline in learner motivation. Employees may skip or rush through modules, multitask during the course, or refuse to complete the course altogether. Reduced engagement can be reflected in low course completion rates, high withdrawal rates, limited participation in learning forums, and lukewarm or negative feedback. Engagement is a key component of a successful learning experience and leads to improved understanding and application of knowledge. If there is a downward trend, it requires immediate attention.
No performance improvement
The best way to determine whether your training efforts are successful is to observe the changes they make in your daily work. If your employees aren’t seeing significant improvements in their performance and efficiency, it likely means that your learning program isn’t converting the learning material into actionable insights that your employees can apply on the job. To identify this issue, companies should pay attention to how training impacts progress on KPIs and performance metrics. Post-training evaluations can reveal a lot about knowledge retention and reports from managers about behavioral changes in their respective teams.
Reactive training instead of proactive training
Another sign that the “dead horse” theory applies to an organization is a training program that focuses on fighting problems rather than anticipating them. Companies with successful training strategies can look ahead and develop courses to prevent problems from occurring, rather than constantly playing catch-up. If this situation sounds familiar, it may indicate a major misalignment between your organization’s goals and learning objectives. Clear indicators include training programs that are hastily created as a response to a specific problem rather than as a proactive measure.
old content
Today’s learners demand engaging learning experiences that accommodate not only their busy schedules but also advances in technology. Therefore, if the training content is outdated, there will be a lot of backlash. The red flags that learners react most poorly to are outdated visuals, irrelevant examples, inaccurate information, or crowded slides that fail to maintain interest. The duration of the module should also be kept in mind. Sessions longer than 20 minutes do not accommodate current attention spans and may result in high dropout rates.
Learning has become difficult
A final indicator of a learning “dead end” is a sense of obligation regarding an organization’s learning and development strategy. In other words, employees stop seeing learning as an opportunity for growth and are only participating because they have to. Although often not immediately obvious, this psychology becomes clearer when you realize that employees are rushing through training courses to get back to work. Another sign is minimal or no participation in non-essential training activities. This is a particularly important indicator of the “dead horse” theory, revealing that employees do not see the value in learning and have adopted an apathetic attitude that hinders growth and innovation.
conclusion
The “dead horse” theory describes ineffective programs and strategies that an organization is running out of resources but refuses to let go of. Most companies have them, but few recognize it and take steps to rectify the situation. Having a learning “dead end” does not necessarily mean your company is failing, but rather that it is evolving. Identifying ineffective or irrelevant factors demonstrates a clear understanding of organizational dynamics and allows you to take the necessary steps to effectively deal with change. To accomplish this, look out for the signs we’ve explored in this article to identify elements that no longer serve their original purpose and need to be updated or replaced.
