Organizations invest time, money, and human resources in training with the expectation that employees will apply what they learn and improve performance. Yet, in many cases, acquired knowledge and skills are not consistently applied on the job, and the expected performance and business results are not achieved.

This unrealized portion of a training investment is what Sandra Ihenacho (The Oracle) calls Training Scrap™.

Training Scrap™ is the portion of knowledge and skills gained from training that is never applied on the job.

Training Scrap™ does not necessarily mean that the training programme was poorly designed or delivered. Even an excellent programme can become Training Scrap™ when employees return to a workplace that does not provide the expectations, opportunities, support, accountability, resources, and reinforcement required for application.

Training Scrap™ can begin long before employees enter the training room and continue long after the programme has ended. It occurs when:

• Training is selected without properly diagnosing the performance need.
• Training is used to address problems that are not caused by gaps in knowledge or skills.
• The expected performance outcomes are not clearly defined.
• Employees are sent for training without adequate preparation or clarity about expectations.
• Training content and activities are disconnected from workplace realities.
• Employees have insufficient opportunities to practise and plan how they will apply what they learn.
• Line managers are not actively involved in supporting application.
• Workplace systems, processes, tools, or culture create barriers to application.
• There is little or no reinforcement, accountability, feedback, or recognition after training.
• Workplace application and performance improvement are not measured.

Training Scrap™ is therefore rarely the result of one isolated failure. It is often the result of gaps across all training phases.

The cost of Training Scrap™ extends beyond the fees paid to training providers. It includes the total investment made without achieving the expected value. This may include:

• Training and facilitation fees
• Travel and accommodation expenses
• Learning materials and technology costs
• Employees’ time away from their jobs
• Managers’ and administrators’ time
• Lost productivity during training
• Unresolved performance problems
• Repeated training on the same issues
• Missed business opportunities
• Reduced confidence in future training investments

Training Scrap™ also carries a hidden cost: employees may become disengaged when they are repeatedly trained but are not enabled or supported to apply what they have learned.

Your organization may be experiencing Training Scrap™ when:

• Employees attend training but return to their previous ways of working.
• The same performance problems continue long after training.
• Employees cannot explain how the training relates to their jobs.
• Line managers are unaware of what employees were expected to apply.
• Training success is measured mainly through attendance, completion, and satisfaction.
• There is no baseline against which performance improvement can be measured.
• Employees lack the tools, authority, time, or opportunities required to apply their learning.
• Post-training action plans are completed but never followed up.
• The organization repeatedly trains employees on the same knowledge or skills.
• Leaders cannot demonstrate the value generated by training investments.

A highly rated training programme can still produce Training Scrap™ if workplace application and performance improvement do not follow.

Training can build relevant knowledge and skills, but training alone cannot guarantee workplace application.

Application takes place within the work environment, where employees encounter competing priorities, established habits, managerial expectations, organizational culture, systems, processes, and resource limitations. These factors can either enable or prevent employees from using what they have learned.

Preventing Training Scrap™ therefore requires shared responsibility. Business leaders, HR and Learning and Development professionals, line managers, employees, trainers, workplace systems, and organizational culture all have roles to play.

The responsibility for training transfer cannot rest solely with HR, the trainer, or the employee.

Training Transfer Effectiveness shifts attention from merely delivering training to intentionally creating the conditions required for employees to apply acquired knowledge and skills consistently on the job.

It requires organizations to:

• Diagnose the performance need before recommending training.
• Confirm that a knowledge or skills gap exists.
• Define the expected workplace application and performance outcomes.
• Establish relevant baselines and performance indicators.
• Prepare employees and align key stakeholders before training.
• Connect training content and practice to workplace realities.
• Equip employees with clear application plans.
• Engage line managers in supporting and reinforcing application.
• Remove workplace barriers that hinder transfer.
• Monitor application and provide feedback, accountability, and recognition.
• Measure performance improvement, business impact, ROE, and, where needed, ROI.
• Establish structures that sustain application over time.

Training Transfer Effectiveness helps organizations move from hoping that transfer will occur to intentionally designing and managing for it.

Training Scrap™ is a term originated by Sandra Ihenacho (The Oracle) to describe the portion of an organization’s training investment that fails to translate into consistent workplace application, measurable performance improvement, and business impact.

Through the term, Sandra draws attention to a critical organizational reality: training expenditure cannot be considered valuable merely because a programme was delivered successfully or participants acquired knowledge.

The real value of training is realized when relevant knowledge and skills are consistently applied to improve workplace performance and contribute to business results.

Training Scrap™ gives organizations a clear language for identifying, discussing, and confronting the value lost when training does not transfer.

The Training Transfer Effectiveness Operating System (TTE-OS), created and owned by M.Bryan Consulting Limited, provides organizations with a systematic approach for reducing Training Scrap™.

The TTE-OS begins with a fundamental principle: Training Is NOT Always the Answer.

It helps organizations first determine whether training is the right solution to an identified performance need. Where training is required, the TTE-OS guides organizations in intentionally creating the conditions needed before, during, and after training to achieve and sustain workplace application, performance improvement, business impact, ROE, and, where needed, ROI.

The TTE-OS comprises three integrated components:

• The Needs Validation Process (NVP) Model
• The Pre–During–Post (PDP) Training Transfer Effectiveness Model
• The Training Transfer Effectiveness Sustainability Framework (TTE-SF)

Together, these components help organizations move from identifying a performance need to achieving and sustaining the required business results.