5 things IT managers get wrong about upskilling tech teams

"Technology is changing faster than ever, and IT teams need to keep learning new skills to stay ahead. But many IT managers are going about training their people all wrong. They're throwing money at the wrong things, frustrating their employees, and not achieving any real results for their businesses. Here are five common mistakes that are sabotaging these training efforts before they even get off the ground."

"One of the most pervasive issues in IT upskilling is what Patrice Williams-Lindo, CEO at career coaching service Career Nomad, called the "training-and-forgetting" approach. "Many managers send teams to training without any plan for application," she said. "Employees return to overloaded sprints" with no guidance on how to incorporate what they've learned. Without application in their work, "new skills atrophy fast.""

"This problem is rooted in basic learning science. Doug Stephen, president of enterprise learning at IT service provider Computer Generated Solutions and its subsidiary CGS Immersive, referenced the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve. "People forget 50% of new information within an hour, 70% in a day, and 90% within a month if there's no reinforcement," he said. IT managers often spend their budgets training people to ensure they get well-versed in new technologies, Stephen said."

Rapid technological change demands continual IT skill development, but common training practices undermine outcomes. Managers often send teams to courses without plans for immediate application, causing rapid skill decay consistent with the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve. Organizations may invest in training without carving out time for employees to use new competencies, which prevents reinforcement and real workplace impact. Effective upskilling requires pairing training with mentorship, shadowing, and live projects within a 30- to 60-day window to cement learning. Budgeting, scheduling, and alignment with business needs determine whether training yields usable, lasting skills.

Read at Computerworld