Why most training doesn’t stick | Get Ahead VA
Why most training doesn’t stick – and what to do instead
I’ve had a version of the same conversation dozens of times.
A founder or MD gets in touch. Their business has grown, usually faster than they expected. The team has doubled. New managers are in post. There’s a culture they want to protect, and a performance bar they need to lift. They know training is part of the answer. So they find a provider, book a programme, and send the team along.
Six weeks later, I’ll often hear the same thing: ‘It was a good day, but I’m not sure how much has changed.’
Sound familiar?
The problem isn’t training. It’s the wrong kind of training.
Most training programmes are designed for large organisations: companies with dedicated L&D functions, multi-year development cycles and the luxury of time. They’re then sold, with a few tweaks, to businesses a tenth of the size.
The result is training that’s well-structured, professionally delivered and largely disconnected from the reality of running a 20, 30 or 50-person business.
In a scaling business, your managers are often leading people for the first time, without a blueprint. Your HR function (if you have one) is probably one person building the plane as it flies. Your culture is a genuine competitive advantage, but it’s under pressure as headcount grows. These are specific, urgent challenges. Generic solutions don’t serve them well.
What actually works
In my experience, training sticks when three things are true.
1. It starts with your context, not a catalogue
The most effective development conversations I have with clients begin not with ‘what do you want to learn?’ but ‘what’s actually getting in the way?’ Sometimes the answer is a skills gap. Sometimes it’s a process problem. Sometimes it’s a confidence issue, a team dynamic, or a structural change that hasn’t landed yet.
Good training is diagnosis first, delivery second.
2. It’s delivered by people who understand the world of growing businesses
There’s a meaningful difference between a trainer who has read about managing difficult conversations and one who has sat in those conversations themselves, with real stakes, real people and no HR safety net.
At Get Ahead, our trainers work inside scaling businesses every week. That’s not a marketing line. It means that when a manager asks ‘but what do I actually say?’, we have a real answer.
3. There’s support beyond the session
A workshop can shift thinking. What embeds it is what happens afterwards: the follow-up conversation, the coaching check-in, the manager who applies it and gets reinforced rather than left to drift.
One of the things I’m proudest of in how Get Ahead approaches training is that we can stay involved. Because we often support our clients operationally too, we can help embed the learning in a way that a training-only provider simply can’t.
The moment to act is usually earlier than you think
Most businesses come to us about training at a point of pain: a leadership crisis, a performance issue, a team that’s lost cohesion. We’re glad to help at those moments. But the businesses that see the most sustained improvement are the ones who invest in development before things go wrong.
If your business is growing and you’re starting to feel the strain, if your managers are stretched, your culture is harder to maintain, or your people’s capabilities aren’t quite keeping pace, that’s the signal. Not a crisis, but an opportunity.
A conversation is the best starting point
We don’t believe in off-the-shelf answers, which is why we always start with a conversation. If you’re wondering whether structured training or development support could help your business, I’d love to talk it through. Give us a call on 0330 223 7580.
No obligation. No jargon. Just an honest conversation about what might make the greatest difference for your team.
Read more about our bespoke leadership development here.
