Overcoming Employee Resistance to Workplace Training

In an economy filled with rapid technological advancement, continuous learning is vital for both organizations and their employees. It has to be. A 2017 Deloitte report estimated a 5-year half-life for learned skills, and four years later, an IBM study estimated that the half-life for technical skills is closer to 2.5 years. Given the rise of Generative AI, the current half-life of skills may be even shorter — and decreasing with every new disruptive technology that hits the market in years to come!

In the face of such monumental shifts, many organizations and employees grasp the importance of workplace training. But with big change comes anxiety, which can often result in a fear of change. Learning, people, and talent leaders need to everyone on board with new training initiatives – especially those employees or managers who are averse to change or simply unconvinced of the need for training. This article will provide several tips for turning the cultural tide at your organization and convincing even the most stubborn employees to give training a try.

The half-life of skills is shrinking

Executives are acutely aware of the need for continuous upskilling and reskilling, especially as budgets for hiring tighten. According to a Deloitte survey, 90% of executives expressed that they were placing more importance on training. More than half of C-suite leaders also stated that their organizations would be focusing on skills-based hiring in 2024.

Just as the pandemic has disrupted where and how we get work done, so has it completely upended the way we train and learn in the workplace. Companies and employees understand that in order to keep up with increasing complexity and ambiguity, traditional training methods won’t cut it.

Continuous learning allows employees to consistently acquire new skills and knowledge that help them apply current and valuable expertise within and beyond their organizations. Employers know that promoting a culture of continuous learning makes them attractive to potential candidates and fosters a more innovative and productive workplace.

With these conditions in mind, you’d think that everyone in an organization might be able to see the value in workplace learning. But, to paraphrase the famous quote: you can please some of your employees all of the time, and all of your employees some of the time, but you can’t please all of your employees all of the time.

No matter what change a company makes, there are always going to be some employees who resist it. So, how can you convince employees to participate in training? We’ll explore a few actionable steps you can take to socialize, normalize, and gain enthusiastic buy-in for employee training programs. But first, we have to dig into why your employees might be hesitant to participate in learning and development programs.

Why employees resist workplace learning

The implementation of continuous learning is itself a big cultural shift,and those sorts of big changes within an organization are often met with resistance from employees.

Such resistance might seem like something a manager must overcome, but according to Rossabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard Business School, it’s more effective to start with the employee’s mindset, by understanding the root of their resistance. In most cases, employees resist change out of fear. Rare, however, is the employee that will come out and say they fear the implementation of continuous learning. Mostly, this resistance will take the form of complaints, resentment, foot-dragging, or a series of excuses – behavior that is often rooted in anxiety.

If they’re very used to learning in a certain way, employees may fear a loss of control over some aspect of their training. Or they may feel that a training initiative was sprung on them suddenly, or hasn’t been explained clearly. No one wants to feel as though they’re stumbling into a training session with no preparation, especially if management may be tracking their progress and using learning as a performance indicator.

Getting everyone on board with training in the workplace

There are several things leaders can do to bring reluctant learners into the continuous learning fold. Most of these tactics involve empathizing with your team members, addressing their concerns, and making them comfortable with the culture shift continuous learning entails.

1. Get to the bottom of your employees’ concerns. If you’re as excited about workplace learning as we are, then it may be tempted to give your employees the hard-sell by listing all of its merits. Instead, start by actively listening to and responding to your employees’ concerns. They may be less motivated in general, or they may be set in their ways. For a variety of reasons, continuous learning can be intimidating maybe an employee doesn’t know where to start with their learning, or they might be embarrassed to admit to not having skills that other employees have. Sit down with your employees and talk to them about the gaps in their skills, their goals, and what they need to learn to achieve those goals.
2. Introduce your continuous training plan with transparency. Before expecting your team to start learning on their own, you have to introduce your continuous training plan. Give your learners a timeline for when and how they’ll be expected to learn on their own. You should also be clear about what support will be in place for them throughout their training. Let them know, for example, that continuous learning is designed to give them more control over their development, not less.
3. Illustrate the relevance of your training. Knowing what’s in it for them can help learners stay motivated. By illustrating how training can impact the quality of their work and their performance, you can help them feel more invested in their own development. This can also help them see how the training will benefit them in their current and future roles, making it more meaningful and valuable. In addition, emphasize that continuous learning isn’t a one-time event, but rather an ongoing process that can help them stay relevant and adaptable in a constantly evolving workplace.
4. Give them a “big picture” understanding of their training. Beyond explaining why this training is necessary for personal professional growth, you can also tie your employees’ learning into larger organizational goals. Explaining how their training meets the business or learning goals of your organization can give your employees a broader understanding of the importance of training, and could also help instill a sense of pride in their learning accomplishments by making them feel like part of a larger, organizational objective.
5. Give them time and resources to learn. Employees shouldn’t have to study on their own time, but some may be nervous about training because they expect that to be the case. Be clear about how they will supported in their training and consider setting aside time during the workday for learning. If your company has invested in a library of learning content for them, point them towards it.
6. Check in with learners. To ensure that your employees are learning what they need to improve their skills and competencies, regular check-ins should be a priority. These can be as simple as adding an item to your regular meeting agenda, to discuss what an employee has learned this week. For a more hands-off approach, pulling reports within your LMS can help you get an overview of learner productivity.
7. Be frank with actively disengaged employees. Do you have an employee who dislikes their job, rankles at any change, undermines new initiatives to their co-workers, or even sabotages them? Gallup calls these employees “actively disengaged,” and they make up 16 percent of the workforce, costing the United States between $450 billion to $550 billion each year in lost productivity. If you’ve got one of these employees on your team, you’re probably already aware of it, and dealing with them in any capacity may stress you out. Sitting down with them and talking about their needs as an employee is a good first step, especially since actively disengaged employees tend to be job hunting, and may need to boost their skills. Have an honest discussion with them about that, and make a plan for them to learn based on what they’re doing at work now, and what they’d like to do in the future.

If you’ve gotten this far into the article, you’ve probably noticed a common theme across each of these strategies for overcoming resistance to training: clear and honest communication. Employees may be hesitant to dedicate time and effort to training if they do not understand how it will directly benefit them, how it will improve their work performance, and what is expected of them from their employer in a workplace training setting.

By highlighting the skills and knowledge they will gain, as well as the potential for career advancement and increased job satisfaction, employees may be more willing to embrace training initiatives. Moreover, giving employees a voice in their own development can also increase their motivation and engagement. By making employees feel heard and addressing their training concerns, you may be able to make them feel more invested and empowered in their own growth and development.