Toolkit · Article 09 · Learning & Development

Before Training Kit

Before a training, the manager and learner agree one or two actions. Then you check they happen.

3Tools
4Steps
45Minutes
FreeTo use
DAY 1 MY ACTIONS SIGNED ATTEND
01

At a glance

What it is

Agree the change before the class

Most training ends on the last day. No one checks what people do after it.

The fix starts before the class. The manager and the learner agree one or two things the person will do. They also agree by when, and who will see it.

This kit helps you set that up in about 45 minutes for each team, in the week before the programme.

Who it is for

The people who send others to training

L&D leads, HRBPs, and the managers who pick people for training.

When to use it

Three moments

  • You are planning the training calendar for April to March.
  • A manager wants to send people to a programme.
  • A leader asks, "What did we get from that training?"
Kyun, the Mimansa loris
Kyun

A training is coming up. What will people do after it?

02

The four steps

Steps 1 to 3 take place in the week before the training. Step 4 happens on day one of the training.

  1. 1Hold a 20-minute manager huddle20 min
  2. 2Write the actions15 min
  3. 3Filter the nominations10 min
  4. 4Sign the card on day oneDay 1
1
Step 1 of 4

Hold a 20-minute manager huddle

20 min

The L&D lead runs this with each learner's manager.

  1. Share the goal of the training in two lines.
  2. Ask what the manager wants to see the person do after it.
  3. Use the Skill or Will Check to see if training is the right fix.
Kyun

Is this a skill gap, or something else?

20 MIN
2
Step 2 of 4

Write the actions

15 min

The manager writes them, with help from the L&D lead.

  1. Write one or two actions with a verb, a number and how often.
  2. Set a date by when it should show.
  3. Name who will see it, and set the check-in dates.
Kyun

Could someone see it happen? Then write it down.

ACTIONS 1. 2.
3
Step 3 of 4

Filter the nominations

10 min

The manager and the L&D lead do this together.

  1. Run each name through the Nomination Filter.
  2. Keep people with a real gap and a chance to use the skill soon.
  3. Move the rest to a later batch or a different fix.
Kyun

Who really needs to be in the room?

ATTEND
4
Step 4 of 4

Sign the card on day one

Day 1

Each learner does this at the start of the training.

  1. Hand each learner the card their manager filled in.
  2. Ask them to read the actions and sign.
  3. Keep one copy for the manager and one for L&D.
Kyun

Day one. Everyone knows what comes after.

MY ACTIONS SIGNED
03

Example and how-to

Filled-in example · Manager Contract Card

Field Sales Officer

Field sales team, 12 people, Pune. Names are made up. Copy the shape, not the words.

Participant
Rahul K., sales officer
Programme
Selling by asking, 2 days
Action 1
Visit one more customer a day, five days a week.
Action 2
Open each call by asking the customer's view. Every call.
By when
Within 30 days of the training.
Who observes
Meena S., area manager, on two joint visits a month.
Check-in dates
Day 7, day 30 and day 60.
How-to guide · 3 minutes

How to write one behaviour you can see

  1. Start with a verb you can see, like visit, ask or show.
  2. Add a number. One more, two each, five a week.
  3. Say how often. Each day, each call or each week.
  4. Say by when it should start.
  5. Name who will see it happen.
  6. Read it aloud. If no one could see it, write it again.
04

What you get

3 free tools. Each one is a single page or a single sheet.

Kyun

That's the kit. Each one fits on one page.

05

Why it matters, and what's next

36%

of L&D professionals say line managers help their teams use new learning back at work.

Source: CIPD, Learning at Work survey report, 2023 (1,108 L&D professionals, mostly UK; fieldwork Jan-Feb 2023)
37%

of L&D professionals say managers help decide what training their people need.

Source: CIPD, Learning at Work survey report, 2023 (1,108 L&D professionals)
54%

of the new skills employees learn is all they actually use at work.

Source: Gartner press release, Aug 19, 2020 (sample not stated)
Kyun

Then check, on day 30, that it happened.