RightToLead.com

Training for the technical parts of jobs is easy. But training people to be flexible, develop empathy, to have interpersonal skills and be conscientious is much more difficult.

Training in industry has ignored these differences and generally used the same methods for both the technical information and emotional competence.

Cognitive abilities are based in one part of the brain and social and emotional competence is based in another part of the brain. When we learn technical information we use the neocortex. This operates as a distribution and storage center for information.

Every additional piece of information is stored in the relevant area through the six layers of the neocortex.

As you develop social and emotional competence additional brain areas are used. These include the amygdala and the pre-frontal lobes which are the brain’s command center.

Learning for technical skills is best done in a classroom environment. Concepts can be mastered relatively easily so can all those subjects that can be learned effectively away from the hurly-burly of life on the job. On the other hand, to establish behavioral change, the environment that is suitable is the one where the change will take place.

It will take practice over a longer time and is a process not an event. This more complex training requires meaningful feedback and repetition as well as carrying a higher cost.

Learning technical knowledge requires adding information and understanding to the memory banks of the neocortex. The neocortex learns by aligning new data and insights into existing frameworks of understanding. During this process the appropriate neural circuitry is strengthened.

Developing social and emotional competence involves much more. We have to engage our social and emotional circuitry because that’s where our habits are stored. Changing habits such as leading people to discover solutions rather than just telling them the answer is a much more challenging task then just adding to our information banks. Establishing changes like this means that existing habits have to be diluted and replaced with a better one.

One of the biggest mistakes made by organizations is trying to train people to develop their emotional competence in areas like leadership, sales and customer service, using the same techniques that they use to teach people cognitive skills. Not only are they wasting a considerable amount of money but are also creating disillusioned staff members who are suspicious of subsequent training programs and may not contribute at a very high level.

The solution is to clearly understand the differences in the underlying brain functions with the two types of learning and design programs to meet the requirements of both types separately. Developing emotional competence requires an understanding of the basis of behavioral change. Historically, and currently, the failure to do this has wasted a huge investment in training and development.

Many organizations shy away from the higher cost associated with this sort of training. This can be a false economy because the results can give a substantial Return On Investment on training.