Or Are We Just Using Training to Avoid the Real Issue?

When performance drops, mistakes happen, or results stall, the default response in most organizations is immediate and predictable: “We need training.”

• New onboarding.
• New workshops.
• New LMS modules.
• New certifications.

However:

👉 Most performance problems are not training problems.
👉 Training is often used as a band-aid for broken systems.

Before you spend another dollar, hour, or ounce of energy building a training program, there’s a better question to ask: Is training really the answer?

Cathy Moore, has been helping organizations answer that exact question for years. Her flowchart, “Is Training Really the Answer?”, walks leaders through a simple but powerful logic check that prevents wasted effort and misdirected solutions. I benefited from this flowchart a long time ago and it’s still beneficial today!

You can explore her work here:
https://blog.cathy-moore.com/is-training-really-the-answer-ask-the-flowchart/

Cathy boils it down to this:

If people know what to do but still aren’t doing it, training won’t fix the problem.

The Most Expensive Mistake Leaders Make

Confusing performance issues with knowledge gaps is costly.

Training solves only one problem:
👉 People don’t know what to do or how to do it.

Often workplace problems look more like:

• People know exactly what to do, but…
• The process is broken
• The expectations are unclear
• The tools don’t work
• The incentives are backwards
• The system punishes good behavior

Before You Build Training, Ask These Questions

If you want real results, start with diagnosis. Here’s a simple performance check you can run before committing to any training initiative. These questions help identify whether the issue is truly a skill gap or something else.

Performance Reality Check

Yes / No

1. Does the employee or group have VERY clear expectations about the work?
Do they know what “good” and “great” actually looks like?

2. Is the expectation realistic?
Is the workload, timeline, and scope achievable?

3. Is there timely feedback or status information available?
Can they easily see how they’re doing or are they guessing?

4. Does the person have enough information to do the job?
Or are they constantly missing context, data, or direction?

5. Does the employee have the right tools, access, and systems to do the function?
Or are they fighting technology, permissions, and broken processes?

6. Are there incentives to not do the work or to do it incorrectly?
For example:

• Does it take too long, so people skip steps?
• Is speed rewarded over quality?
• Is compliance punished with extra work?

7. Are there administrative obstacles that prevent success?
For example:

• The process says “call this number”, but no one answers.
• The system crashes at submission.
• Approvals take weeks and weeks….and weeks…

8. Is the right person in the job?
Is this a skills mismatch, not a training gap?

9. Is there appropriate communication between the worker and leadership about this work?
Or are expectations shifting without explanation?

10. Is there any other process, policy, or system issue preventing success?

What Your Answers Will Tell You

If you answered “No” to any of these, congratulations! You just saved yourself from building training that won’t work.

Because the problem isn’t knowledge.
It’s environment.
It’s process.
It’s structure.
It’s leadership.
It’s incentives.

Training can’t fix any of those.

When Training Is the Right Answer

Training is absolutely the right solution when:

• Expectations are clear
• Systems support success
• Tools work
• Incentives are aligned
• People simply lack the skill or knowledge

That’s when training becomes powerful, when it sticks, and when it actually changes outcomes.

Final Thought

Training is a tool. Like any tool, it only works when you use it for the right job. Before you build another program, workshop, or course, follow Cathy Moore’s lead:
Diagnose first. Design second.

Your people and your results will thank you.

Resources:

• Cathy’s blog: https://blog.cathy-moore.com/
• http://www.hg-people.com
• Books for 2026

Some links on this site are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through them—at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!