The Art of Boomerang Training

Imagine the existence of a mid-size company called Schiff Services. The President and Founder of Schiff Services, Mr. Girard Schiff, is a big believer in professional development and has always envisioned a robust professional development program for his employees. In fact, he encourages all employees to attend at least one workshop or conference every year.

Ashley is one of Mr. Schiff’s employees, and is a typical example of what happens when Schiff Services employees go outside the company for training. When Ashley returns from an off-site workshop, she put the handouts in her filing pile and promptly sends a copy of her attendance certificate to the HR director. She always appreciates the break from the office that such training provides and she even enjoys some of the sessions, but real life always hits her hard with an overflowing in-box after a day or two absence, and the information learned in the workshop is soon forgotten. Once in a while, her supervisor will ask her how the seminar or conference went. Ashley replies as best she can remember, sometimes mentioning the name of a particularly good speaker, but other than that, nothing more is said or done about the training.

Like many organizations that pay for employee training and education, Schiff Services hopes that the employees will come back from their learning experiences and apply their new learning to their own jobs, thus improving their performance and adding value to the company’s bottom line. However, also like many other organizations, Schiff Services does nothing to measure whether the new knowledge and skills are being applied.

Granted, it would be a challenge to obtain such measurements. A company would have to take the information gathered from every single training or educational experience, determine which knowledge and skills learned aligns with the organization’s mission and strategic goals, set performance goals based on applying the new knowledge and skills that would positively impact the organization, and then develop a way to measure success. When you consider this process would have to take place every time an employee attended a workshop, conference, or class, it is a daunting prospect.

Many company leaders are not aware that there is another way to get a return on investment for external training and education. This alternative may not be quite as rigorous as the above mentioned process, but it will ensure that the employees who take advantage of their company’s generous training dollars will, in turn, give something of value back to the organization. This alternate approach has been called by some training professionals as “Boomerang Training.”

Boomerang Training is a system in which employees who attend workshops, conferences or classes are in turn required to share their newly obtained knowledge with others in the organization. The analogy of a boomerang is a simple one: the company sends an employee out to training events like a boomerang, he or she captures new knowledge, and then brings it back to the company.

The Boomerang Training methods can be straightforward and simple, or they could be exceedingly creative. Four suggestions to get started are:

1. Conduct an in-person presentation of the information to fellow employees;
2. Write a paper about the knowledge and/or skills learned;
3. Create an audio or podcast presentation; or
4. Present a skit.

As public speaking is a fear that many people experience, allowing employees to choose an option that does not require doing a presentation in front of a group of people is very important. Every organization can be imaginative and come up with their own unique ways to Boomerang. The delivery method is not what is important. What is important is the transfer of knowledge.

It may not be a good idea to spring this concept on your organization and expect immediate participation. To be a good change manager, it would be best to introduce the idea to the organization, get input from employees as to how to design the program, and then establish a deadline after which all employees know that they will have to Boomerang the learning back to the organization when they attend a class, workshop or conference. Companies may also want to consider garnering volunteers to pilot the program before opening it up to all employees, too.

To make the process consistent and user friendly, be sure that there is a standard outline or form that every Boomerang Trainer utilizes so that the following information (or something along these lines) is captured and shared:

• The three to five key concepts of the training;
• One or two strategies for applying each concept within the organization;
• How applying the concepts might benefit the organization (or department or site);
• Possible barriers to success; and
• Suggestions for next steps.

Any organization that implements Boomerang Training should also have someone with training experience to support employees as they prepare and conduct their presentations, papers or other information sharing products. This support person could be a training professional, or a colleague who has training experience. Consider allowing two people to attend the same training and co-present the information afterward…that second person inherently becomes a form of support.

If employees know that there is a responsibility attached to attending a workshop, conference or class, then they will be more purposeful when signing up for an event. They will also be more aware and alert during the event. Once the attendees have fulfilled their Boomerang Training responsibilities, it is then up to the organization to determine how to use the information. The ideas that will arise from the Boomerang Training process will be a terrific resource for improvements and innovation. This is where companies will gain the true return on investment.