1. The signs
- Training happened months before people needed the skill.
- People passed the quiz and still can't do the task.
- The refresher is the same slide deck, a year later.
- Supervisors weren't in the room and don't know what was taught.
2. Why it happens
First, retire a number: the claim that "only 10% of training transfers" began as a rhetorical line in a 1982 trade article. Nobody knows the real rate, which is a reason to measure your own. LSC-TRF-01
Too far from use. Skills that go unused decay; software training months before deployment largely evaporates. LSC-TRF-03
Not like the job. For fixed procedures, the strongest lever is training on the real files, templates and equipment. LSC-TRF-02
No practice. Showing isn't enough: people need to do it, get it wrong safely, and be corrected. LSC-TRF-06 · LSC-TRF-05
A workplace that doesn't back it. Supervisor and peer support predict whether training gets used, more strongly for judgment than for fixed procedures. GOL-TRF-01 · SOP-TRN-05
Sometimes it isn't training at all. When the workflow doesn't fit the work, more training won't help. GOL-WKA-03
3. What good looks like
- Practice that means doing the task from memory, with feedback. LSC-PRC-01
- Mistakes made in practice, not on site: scenarios and error-management training improve how well skills carry into new situations. SOP-TRN-03
- Spaced over weeks and timed to real use. LSC-PRC-02 · LSC-TRF-03
- Supervisors with a follow-up role, and a short guide to do it. LSC-TRF-04
- Tested on job-like tasks without aids, and re-tested after 30 to 90 days. LSC-MSR-03 · LSC-MSR-04
Expect the methods that work best to feel harder while people are learning. Fluent, easy sessions feel better and stick worse. LSC-PRC-05
A full day in March for a system that goes live in September. A quiz at the end. Same deck next year.
Two weeks before go-live, on the team's own files, with a scenario where things go wrong, a supervisor follow-up in week 3, and a check on the real task at 60 days.
4. Your first three moves
- Before ordering more training, check the workflow fits. Watch the work for an afternoon. GOL-WKA-03
- Turn one course into practice on the real task, using real files and forms. LSC-TRF-02
- Schedule refreshers at weeks 1, 3 and 8, with a supervisor follow-up. LSC-PRC-02 · LSC-TRF-04
5. Stress-test it
A TPC Stress Test is training built the way this brief describes: your team's real work, decisions made under pressure, mistakes made in a room instead of on site, and a debrief that ties each call to the practice behind it. Then a re-check at 90 days to see what stuck.
The short version. Check it's a training problem first. Then train close to use, on the real task, with practice, safe mistakes and feedback, spaced over weeks, backed by supervisors, and checked on the job after 30 to 90 days.