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The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal

Bridging the Gap Between Training and Performance Through Adviser Training and Development

Jeffrey L. McClellan, Utah Valley University

Introduction

One of the rising trends in advising administration is the emergence of personnel and offices dedicated to adviser training and development. This is a wonderful trend with powerful implications for practice; however, if such training personnel are to avoid the tragic fate that befalls many training offices in large institutions, they must learn to become strategic partners by engaging as much in the professional development side of their work as the training.

Development Work of Training

While it is commonly recognized that adviser training and development offices coordinate training, the professional development role is not often clearly understood. At the same time, it is likely more important to achieve training goals than to accomplish the training itself. The development role refers to the responsibility of assisting organizational leaders to transform training into performance. This is absolutely critical because training, by itself, is never enough to achieve performance. The goal, and indeed the most that can be expected of training, is to increase knowledge and improve the potential to perform skills, due to initially learning a practice (Russo & Morrow, 2006). Whether or not increased knowledge and skills translates into performance is dependent on far more than effective training.

For example, Stuart-Kotze (2006) suggested that once an individual has the ability, through training, to improve performance, the following factors become essential in order to translate that ability into practice:
  1. availability of resources
  2. effective, integrated, clearly communicated strategy
  3. clear expectations
  4. accountability
Without these supporting elements, it is difficult for advisers to incorporate into their daily work many of the knowledge and skills developed in training. These things truly can trump training.

Critical Contributors to Performance

Therefore, while effective adviser training is an important part of improving performance, it is not necessarily the most important part or even an appropriate option in many situations. The most essential contributors to effective performance are the organization, the leader, and the employee.

The organization: The way an organization is organized structurally, politically, culturally, relationally, etc. has a significant impact on the behaviors that can and will be implemented in order to achieve results (Bolman & Deal, 2003; Senge, 1990). The reality is, however, that it is not really the organization, but the interplay, activities, organizational practices, and effectiveness of its various formal and informal leaders that truly matter. Critical variables that leaders influence and manipulate and that may either encourage or impede performance are culture, structures, processes, conflicts, environment, context, etc. (Birnbaum, 1998; Bolman & Deal, 2003; Costantino & Merchant, 1996; Schein, 1992). Some performance expectations cannot be achieved because of these variables.

The leader: The ability to effectively alter behavior is largely a result of effective leadership; in fact it is perhaps the primary objective of leadership. Furthermore, with regard to effective performance, effective coaching is perhaps the best way leaders can influence employees' behavior (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002; Russo & Morrow, 2006; Latiff, 2003). Coaching is also the key factor that translates training experiences into practice (Boss, 2000). Leaders who regularly meet with employees to discuss behavior-based, outcome-oriented performance are more effective. Such meetings might include:
  1. discussion of current behaviors and outcome performance (leaders must have tangible examples to discuss, i.e., they must observe behavior and assess outcomes)
  2. discussion of goals (ideal behaviors and outcomes)
  3. provision of support and guidance regarding the achievement of goals (training, resource allocation, process restructuring, etc.)
  4. follow-up on provision of support and guidance
  5. observation and discussion of behavioral and outcome changes
Leaders can also support performance by addressing organizational issues that impede performance, developing appropriate reward structures, and fostering supportive team environments.

The employee: Perhaps the most powerful determinant of training as it translates into performance is the individual employee. Ultimately, he or she must choose whether or not to apply the learning to performance and change (Flinders, 1990; McClellan, 2006). This choice, however, is dependent upon multiple variables, including:
  1. knowledge and skills (can he or she do it?);
  2. desire (does he or she want to do it?);
  3. support and environment (can it be done within the context of structure and processes?) (Russo & Morrow, 2006).
In the case of advising, there is one more contributor—the student. Since advising is an educational process, an adviser is a teacher to the student (Crookston, 1972; Lowenstein, 2005; NACADA, 2006). This said, the student must also be able and willing to engage in the learning behavior required of the adviser, just as the adviser must be able and willing to teach the student.

A Process for Practice

Because bridging the gap between training and performance is the ultimate goal of all adviser training programs, it is imperative that those responsible for training engage in the development side of their jobs by providing support and assistance to leaders as well as to advisers. The following process should support them in doing this.

In order for training to translate to practice, advisers should support administrative leaders by:
  1. collaboratively establishing a vision and strategy for advising based on the needs of the institution and effective strategic planning;
  2. defining the behaviors and outcomes that are expected of advisers and the advising process;
  3. assessing the extent to which such behaviors and outcomes are being achieved;
  4. identifying the factors contributing to the gap between desired behaviors and outcomes and actual performance;
  5. determining appropriate and integrated intervention methods for bridging the gap;
  6. implementing these methods;
  7. evaluating results (Russo & Morrow, 2006).
In order to assist in these processes, it is important that leaders who train advisers develop skills in human performance management. These include, but are not limited to, organizational design, systems thinking, leadership development, coaching and performance management, human motivation, conflict management, etc. Armed with these skills, leaders can truly contribute to the outcomes intended by their training.

Conclusion

To the extent that adviser training and development offices can begin to engage in the professional development side of their work as well as the training function, they will increase their contribution to the effectiveness of training and advising at the institutions they serve. Admittedly, they must first acquire institutional support for taking on this new role, as well as the knowledge and skills necessary to do so; however, the rewards of this effort are well worth the energy and time expended to achieve them.

References

Birnbaum, R. (1998). How colleges work: The cybernetics of academic and organizational leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2003). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Boss, R. W. (2000). Preventing regression in teambuilding: A longitudinal study of the personal management interview. In R. T. Golembiewski (Ed.), Handbook of organizational consultation (2nd ed.). New York: Marcel Dekker.

Costantino, C. A., & Merchant, C. S. (1996). Designing conflict management systems: A guide to creating productive and healthy organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Crookston, B. B. (1972). A developmental view of academic advising as teaching. Journal of College Student Personnel, 13, 12–17.

Flinders, N. J. (1990). Teach the children: An agency approach to education. Provo, UT: Book of Mormon Research Foundation.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2002). Primal leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Latiff, D. A. (2003). Using supportive communication to foster the department head/junior faculty relationship. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 67(4).

Lowenstein, M. (2005). If advising is teaching, what do advisors teach? NACADA Journal, 25(2), 65–73.

McClellan, J. L. (2006, November 29). Student motivation: How much can we really do? The Mentor: An Academic Advising Journal, 8(4). Retrieved January 29, 2008, from http://www.psu.edu/dus/mentor

National Academic Advising Association. (2006). National Academic Advising Association concept of academic advising. Retrieved March 6, 2007, from http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/Concept-Advising.htm

Russo, C. (Series Ed.), & Morrow, M. (Ed.). (2006). ASTD learning system: Improving human performance, (Vol. 3). Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Schein, E. H. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Senge, P. M. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday/Currency.

Stuart-Kotze, R. (2006). Performance: The secrets of successful behaviour. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

About the Author

Jeffrey L. McClellan is director of adviser training and development at Utah Valley University. He can be reached at mcclelje@uvsc.edu.
Published in The Mentor on March 26, 2008, by Penn State's Division of Undergraduate Studies
Available online at www.psu.edu/dus/mentor/
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