A TYPICAL STORY
ane is a manager at a large telecom company. Three months ago, she was promoted to head up a regional service center. As part of her development plan to take on this more challenging role, her manager has enrolled her in the organization’s mid-level manager training program. Jane is a believer in personal development, so she is pleased that she will be provided with training. Her motivation is high, but it’s unclear to her exactly how this training will support her new role; perhaps that will become clear later, she thinks. Jane attends the training program and thoroughly enjoys it; the faculty is both entertaining and inspirational. She learns a lot. Back at work, though, her new role is consuming a lot of time and energy. Jane struggles to find the time to apply all the tools and methods she learned during the training. And a lack of feedback makes her insecure if her new behaviors are working or not. Her action plan slips further down her priority list. Pretty soon, Jane has fallen back into her old routines and behaviors. A few months after the training, she receives an evaluation form asking about her experience of the training. She has no hesitation as she answers the first questions about the quality of the faculty and materials – full marks.
