The Truth About Professional Development Training That Nobody Wants to Admit
Let me tell you something about professional development training that might ruffle some feathers.
I’ve spent the better part of two decades in this industry, running sessions, attending courses, and watching organisations waste serious cash 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 Sydney for the better part of two decades, so I’m essentially criticising my own industry here.
The fundamental problem is that training gets designed in boardrooms by people who’ve never been on the shop floor. You know the type. Straight from university with their MBA certificates, armed with PowerPoint presentations full of buzzwords and theoretical frameworks that sound clever but fall apart the moment someone asks “okay, but how does this work in the real world when everything’s on fire?”
Sat through a course a few weeks back with one of the big name training providers and the facilitator spent nearly an hour banging on about “genuine workplace engagement.” Lovely slides. Nice graphics. Then during the break, I watched him tear strips off the admin team because they’d messed up some minor detail.
That’s the industry in a nutshell right there.
Let me tell you what really makes a difference, though it wont win any innovation awards. 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 proper time investment, not quick check ins to work through issues together.
The training that changed my career happened with Bob, this straight talking site supervisor in Adelaide. Spent three months shadowing her, watching how she handled difficult clients, how she organised 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 mastered their craft over decades.
But you cant scale that, can you? Doesnt work for those profitable group bookings. So instead we get these mass produced training sessions where everyone sits in sterile conference rooms, going through the motions, and goes back to their desk with resources they’ll forget about by next week.
There are definitely times when classroom training makes sense. Skills based workshops often work well. 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.
It’s the soft skills stuff that’s mostly rubbish. Management training. People skills. Collaboration workshops. Productivity courses. 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 distinct.
I’ve seen middle managers from mining companies sitting through the same emotional intelligence workshop as kindergarten teachers. Makes about as much sense as applying identical strategies to running a hospital and managing a coffee shop.
The mining manager needs to know how to have difficult conversations with union representatives and handle safety incidents without losing his cool. The retail manager needs methods for handling customer complaints and motivating casual staff. Different problems. Distinct solutions. Same training program.
And another thing we’ve become obsessed with measuring everything except the things that actually matter. Attendance numbers? Satisfaction ratings? Cost per head? Meanwhile, nobody checks six months later to see if anyone’s actually applying what they learned.
I track my own participants for a year after training. About a third apply something worthwhile from what we covered. That’s not awful, actually typical results across the sector are closer to 10 15%. But it means 70% of the time and money spent is essentially pointless. Try explaining that to a CFO.
The stuff that sticks usually has three things in common. First, it addresses a real problem the person is currently facing, not some hypothetical scenario. Second, there’s proper hands on practice with expert guidance. Third, someone follows up to ensure implementation.
Everything else is just expensive entertainment.
Online training is even worse. These online courses where people can finish “Strategic Management Fundamentals” while eating a sandwich. People complete hour long modules in fifteen minutes by skipping all the content. Their completion certificates look exactly the same as someone who actually took it seriously.
But here’s where I might lose some people I think a lot of the blame sits with the participants themselves. We’ve created this culture where development is done to people rather than with people. Participants arrive thinking they’ll be magically changed by attending a session, then complain 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 serious skill building rather than a day off.
I had this woman in a project management course a few years back. Sarah, worked for a construction company in Perth. Brought real team challenges he was facing, took comprehensive notes on solutions, stayed back afterwards to work through detailed 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 diagnose precise requirements, implement focused programs, and establish ongoing support. They dont just send people to random courses because there’s money left in the training budget.
Wesfarmers does this really well. Their management development programs are focused, practical, and tied directly to business outcomes. They follow career progression of participants and modify the programs based on what actually works. Not revolutionary stuff, just simple common sense applied systematically.
Too many companies see training as optional rather than essential. They’ll spend millions on new equipment or software, then baulk at investing properly in the people who have to use it.
What’s mad is that staff capability determines whether everything else works. You can have world class systems and processes in the world, but if your people dont know how to use them correctly, you’re finished.
Here’s what training companies dont want to hear you can probably do most of this in house. Your best performers, the ones who’ve actually mastered the skills you want to develop, teaching others in your organisation how they do it. Industry knowledge matters. Workplace context matters. Knowing your particular environment matters.
Outside experts make sense for niche skills or independent insights. But for core skills development? Internal staff often know the context better.
The training industry wont like hearing that, but it’s true. The training sector has persuaded companies to outsource everything, when they should be developing internal capability.
So where does that leave us? Professional development training isnt going anywhere the demand is too strong and the regulatory requirements keep growing. But maybe we can get serious about separating useful from useless.
Stop pretending that every training need can be solved with a half day workshop. Start measuring outcomes that actually matter. 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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