Why Most Professional Development Training is Just Expensive Theatre (And the Bits That Actually Work)
Here’s the thing about professional development training that’s been bugging me for years.
After twenty plus years of delivering training and sitting through countless workshops on training that does absolutely nothing except tick boxes for HR departments. And before you think I’m just having a whinge, this is literally how I pay the bills. Been a workplace trainer in Melbourne for the better part of two decades, so I’m essentially criticising my own industry here.
The problem isnt that professional development doesnt work. It’s that most of it is designed by people who’ve never actually had to implement what they’re teaching. You know the type. Fresh out of uni with their shiny business degrees, armed with PowerPoint presentations full of buzzwords and theoretical frameworks that sound impressive but fall apart the moment someone asks “sure, but what happens when reality hits and everything goes pear shaped?”
Sat through a course a few weeks back with one of the big name training providers and the facilitator spent the better part of an hour discussing “transformational leadership principles.” Beautiful slides. Lovely graphics. Then during the break, I watched him tear strips off the catering staff because they’d messed up some minor detail.
That’s the industry in a nutshell right there.
Here’s what actually works, and it’s going to annoy a lot of people because it’s not flashy or revolutionary. One on one mentoring. Genuine mentoring relationships, not the tick box exercises most companies run. I’m talking about pairing people who actually complement each other, then giving them time actual time, not some rushed coffee catch ups to work through challenges together.
The best professional development I ever got was from Janet, this cranky accounts manager at a freight company in Brisbane. Followed her around for the better part of a quarter, seeing how she dealt with workplace drama, how she planned her day, how she knew which battles to fight and which ones to walk away from. No workbook. No certificate at the end. Just real skills from someone who’d learned the hard way what actually works.
But you cant scale that, can you? Cant run mass sessions and bill big corporate rates. So instead we get these mass produced training sessions where everyone sits in uncomfortable chairs, pretends to be engaged, and goes back to their desk with a pile of materials that’ll gather dust.
There are definitely times when classroom training makes sense. Technical training generally delivers results. Show someone how to use a new software system, let them practice it, job done. Health and safety training is literally life or death. Regulatory training protects the business. These are solid things with measurable outcomes.
The problem is with all the touchy feely development programs. Leadership development. Communication skills. Team building. Time management. All the things that actually matter most for career progression, and we’ve turned them into these template driven, universal solutions that ignore the fact that every workplace is different.
Recently watched construction supervisors doing team building exercises designed for retail managers. Makes about as much sense as applying identical strategies to running a hospital and managing a coffee shop.
The finance director requires techniques for board presentations and stakeholder management under pressure. The kindergarten teacher needs strategies for managing parent complaints and dealing with challenging behaviours from four year olds. Different problems. Separate solutions. Same training program.
The measurement obsession in this industry drives me mental. How many people attended? What were the feedback scores? Did we stay within budget? Meanwhile, nobody checks whether people are using any of this stuff back at work.
I follow up with course attendees for twelve months. About a third apply something significant from what we covered. That’s not awful, actually most trainers see maybe 15% application rates. But it means 70% of the time and money spent is essentially pointless. Try explaining that to a CFO.
What actually works tends to share three characteristics. First, it solves an actual workplace issue, not theoretical situations. Second, people actually rehearse the skills with qualified coaching. Third, someone follows up to ensure implementation.
Everything else is just costly entertainment.
Digital training modules are another level of useless. The e learning programs that let you tick off “Executive Communication” during a coffee break. I’ve seen people finish forty minute courses in twelve minutes by clicking through without reading anything. Their completion certificates look exactly the same as someone who actually took it seriously.
This might be controversial, but participants need to take some responsibility too. We’ve created this culture where training is a passive experience instead of active learning. People expect miracles from just showing up to a course, then whinge when it doesnt change their lives.
The participants who get the most out of any training are the ones who come prepared with specific questions, take notes, ask for clarification, and follow up afterwards. They treat it like genuine professional development instead of a break from routine.
There was this bloke in one of my leadership programs, David from a logistics firm in Adelaide. Arrived with specific workplace scenarios, engaged deeply with every exercise, stayed back afterwards to work through particular scenarios. Twelve months on, she’d moved into a director role. Coincidence? Maybe. But I dont think so.
The companies that get value from professional development treat it strategically. They assess actual needs, select targeted solutions, and build follow up processes. They dont just send people to random courses because there’s money left in the training budget.
Telstra does this really well. Their executive development programs are focused, hands on, and tied directly to business outcomes. They monitor career progression of participants and refine the programs based on what actually works. Not revolutionary stuff, just fundamental common sense applied systematically.
Too many companies see training as optional rather than essential. They’ll pour millions on new equipment or software, then hesitate at investing properly in the people who have to use it.
And the irony is that in most businesses, human performance is the biggest variable in success or failure. You can have world class systems and processes in the world, but if your people dont know how to use them effectively, you’re wasting your time.
Here’s what training companies dont want to hear you can probably do most of this in house. The experts within your business, people who’ve proven they can deliver results, sharing their knowledge with colleagues. Understanding your specific challenges matters. Sector experience matters. Understanding your specific challenges and constraints matters.
External trainers like me should be brought in for specialist knowledge or when you need an outside perspective. But for core skills development? Internal staff often know the context better.
My industry colleagues will hate this, but it’s accurate. We’ve sold businesses on external dependency instead of building their own expertise.
What’s the way forward then? Professional development training remains essential as skills requirements and regulations increase. But maybe we can start being more honest about what works and what doesnt.
End the fiction that brief sessions create lasting change. Begin tracking results that count. Concentrate on applicable knowledge with immediate use. And for the love of all that’s sacred, end the practice of one size fits all mandatory training.
Real development occurs when experts share their knowledge with people ready to learn. Everything else is just paperwork.
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