Whether a training system is a big-ticket, high-tech wonder, or simply a bound, paper manual, the quality of results it produces should be the same. No matter how corporate training programs are delivered, they should accelerate the productivity of new and existing employees (and the identification of poor performers), provide the structure to use existing resources and tools efficiently, create accountability for training results (from top management to every new hire), and enhance the ability of the trainer to provide effective training.

Technology can create platforms to help enable such results. But it cant assure theyve been achieved. Technology can deliver the programs by which knowledge is imparted. But it cant distinguish between theory and practice. Technology can be used to measure quantitative retention. But it cant evaluate qualitative application. Such assurances, distinctions, and evaluations can only be provided by people.

Even million-dollar Internet delivery systems will be ineffective unless the people who develop the curricula those systems deliver include three basic, decidedly non-technical cornerstones in their training programs: Effective implementation strategies, performance-measurement systems, and accountability for results. With those simple foundations in place, every company can experience superior training results without spending a dollar on technology.

Developing an Implementation Strategy
Just as technology cannot ensure a successful training program, an unsuccessful training program cannot be blamed on the sophistication (or lack thereof) of the technology used to deliver it. If training lacks consistencyif programs lack structure, take too much time, or contain too much material to be learned in an allotted timesound implementation strategy can proscribe those problems and prescribe appropriate remedies, while building in organization and accountability.

A training implementation strategy requires several steps, all of which help ensure the success and continuity of the finished program:

1. Identify the philosophies and purposes that necessitate the program. (I know this sounds obvious. But what becomes much more clear once youve articulated why.)

2. Identify the individuals or groups that need to be trained. (This can be a valuable, if sobering, reminder of who does, and doesnt, know what they need to.)

3. Determine the goals of the program. (This only looks obvious. Its not, but you wont realize that until you start.)

4. Determine the material to be used. (This is the point at which the value of quality starts to become apparent.)

5. Determine when the material will be taught. (Up to now, you thought you were planning. Not so fast.)

6. Determine how the material will be delivered. (If your confidence in technology starts to feel a little shaky here, trust your instincts.)

7. Determine the desired results of the program and how they will be measured. (If your results differ significantly from your expectations the first time you employ these seven steps, consider it a job well done and a lesson worth learning. Youll make every subsequent program better.)

In the larger picture, creating an implementation strategy allows training managers to make some crucial decisions. Theyll have a systematic means of assessing the best way to deliver the program (trainers, technologies, etc.), whether to build or buy the required resources (printed materials, interactive software, etc.), the best way to structure the program (number of sessions, phases, etc.), when and how to test for expected knowledge (the message), and the appropriateness and likely effectiveness of technology-based training programs (the medium).

Establishing Accountability
The real genius of training is not creating the materials, its getting them used effectively. Each year, companies waste money on resources that go unusedor are used improperly. Beyond such waste, lack of accountability for results can sink even the most expensive training programs and systems. Yet accountability seems to elude many companies.

Trainees have responsibility for being prepared and having a willingness to be trained. But the ultimate success or failure of a training program depends on managements commitment to own the outcome. That kind of accountability can be assured by establishing a concrete performance system.

Establishing a performance system is as simple as identifying standards by which results are measured, then building steps toward achieving those standards. This process of incremental measurement enables everyone with a stake in the training and its outcometrainee, trainer and managementto be aware and responsible. And it allows the following questions to be answered definitively:

1.Were people trained properly?

2. Was the trainer actively involved in the training?

3. Was management aware of the quality of training provided?

If youre a parent, you may recognize some of these questionsand the problems they presupposeas similar to those being asked about the countrys education system. Quality of the program, responsibility of the instructor, power of the technology, involvement of parents: These are all being wrestled with on a larger scale.

Keeping the Messengerin its Place
Corporate training programs may be well served by technological advances in the 21st century. But with each new program offered, it becomes increasingly important to keep technology in its place. By establishing clear implementation strategiesand by creating performance-measurement systems with clear accountability for outcomestraining programs can be efficient and effective. And we can be sure the medium will not obscure the message.

Mark OBrien is vice president of client services at Martino & Binzer, a marketing communications firm in Avon, Conn. His experience includes marketing, sales-promotion, and training positions at The Hartford, Aetna, and The Travelers.