Training is not the goal… performance is the goal.

Companies spend thousands of hours and resources on employee training, yet reality shows that much of this investment does not translate into tangible results.

According to CIPD, about 70% of training is forgotten within just one week if not applied.

So, the real question is not simply: “Did we deliver excellent training?”
But rather: “Did employees apply what they learned in real work situations?”

Why doesn’t learning always translate into performance?

Even high-quality programs will fail to make an impact if they are not applicable. The main reasons include:

• Lack of connection between content and employees’ daily situations.

• Overly theoretical design that lacks practical context.

• No plan to follow up on application after the training ends.

Knowledge alone is never enough… unless it turns into daily behavior.

Solution 1: Design Realistic Scenarios

To achieve applicability, training must become a “mini-simulation of real work.”

How?

• Build content around real-life scenarios employees face daily.

• Present realistic challenges that require decision-making, not just memorization.

• Use interactive activities such as simulations, group exercises, and case studies.

Every minute in training should make the employee feel: “I’m practicing reality, not escaping from it.”

Solution 2: Engage Managers in Follow-Up

After training, employees don’t work in isolation.
If their direct managers are not actively involved in the process, application will be very limited.

Manager’s role:

• Define target behaviors for change.

• Discuss what the employee learned right after training.

• Link performance to learning during weekly meetings or performance reviews.

The manager is not just a “receiver of training results” but a true “enabler of application.”

Solution 3: Post-Training Support… Part of the Process

Training doesn’t end when the session ends—it actually begins afterward.

Ideas to support application:

• Weekly reminders of the acquired skills.

• A simplified application guide or checklist.

• An internal community for sharing application experiences.

• Follow-up review sessions after one or three months to assess progress.

If you don’t support application… you’re simply leaving the employee to forget on their own.

Conclusion: Good training is seen in the classroom… but real impact is seen in the workplace

The true measure of training success is not immediate feedback forms,
but how the employee behaves one week or one month later.

“Did they act differently? Did they make better decisions? Did errors decrease?”
These are the real indicators of training success.