What Award-Winning Performance Improvement Work Actually Looks Like

When people hear about award-winning learning or performance initiatives, they often imagine innovative training programs. In reality, some of the most impactful initiatives start by questioning whether training is the problem at all.

Over the years, I've worked on initiatives affecting hundreds of thousands of employees, and one lesson has stayed with me:

The best solutions don't start with training. They start with curiosity.

I've learned to ask:

• What's the business problem?

• What does success look like?

• What's preventing people from performing today?

• Is training really the answer?

Sometimes the answer is yes.

Many times, it isn't.

The Problem Isn't Always What It Seems

One of the biggest mistakes I see organizations make is jumping straight to solutions.

Someone identifies a challenge and immediately requests training.

Before building anything, I like to understand what's actually happening.

Over the years, I've found that performance problems are often caused by things like:

• Unclear expectations

• Lack of feedback

• Complicated processes

• Poorly designed tools

• Competing priorities

• Lack of accountability

Training can help people learn something new, but it won't fix a process that makes success difficult. If you solve the wrong problem perfectly, you still don't get the right result.

Look Beyond the Learner

When investigating performance issues, I try to look at three things:

Workplace

What's happening in the environment?

Are expectations clear? Do leaders reinforce the right behaviors? Do systems support success?

Work

What are people being asked to do?

Are the processes practical? Do the tools help or hinder performance?

Worker

Do people have the knowledge, skills, confidence, and motivation needed to succeed?

Looking at all three gives a much more complete picture than focusing on skills alone.

Stakeholders Matter More Than Most People Think

One thing I've learned from large-scale initiatives is that success rarely comes from a great learning solution alone. Success comes from getting the right people involved.

Executive sponsors, HR partners, business leaders, communication teams, subject matter experts, and front-line leaders all influence outcomes. In many cases, stakeholder engagement has been just as important as the learning solution itself. People support what they help build.

Measure What Matters

I've never believed that measurement should happen after a project launches.

Measurement should begin during planning.

Before starting any initiative, I like to answer a few questions:

• How will we know we've been successful?

• What business outcomes are we trying to influence?

• What behaviors should change?

• What data will tell us whether progress is being made?

When those answers are clear from the beginning, decisions become much easier.

Focus on Sustainment, Not Just Launch

Many organizations put a tremendous amount of effort into launching initiatives.

Far fewer invest the same energy into sustaining them.

Real change happens over time. People need reminders, support tools, coaching, feedback, reinforcement, and opportunities to practice. That's why some of the most successful initiatives I've worked on included communication plans, stakeholder engagement strategies, performance support tools, measurement plans, coaching resources, and sustainment activities alongside learning solutions. 

Final Thoughts

Award-winning performance improvement work isn't about creating the perfect course.

It's about understanding the problem, identifying what's getting in the way, engaging stakeholders, measuring what matters, and building solutions that people can actually sustain.

Training may be part of the solution.

But the real opportunity begins when we stop asking:

"What training do we need?"

and start asking:

"What will improve performance?"

That's where the best work happens.