Given the power of learning in the midst of work itself, why should companies invest the time, money and resources to conduct formal leadership training?  There are several benefits provided by formal training.  Here is a look at a few.

Formal leadership training provides:

1.Scale -Many people can participate in the same learning experience in a relatively short time frame.

2.Consistency and Momentum for Change - Leaders and potential leaders get exposed to the same process, skills and behaviors delivered in a uniform way.  This helps to build consistency in the approach used by the organization and helps create momentum toward creating a common leadership culture with language that leaders at multiple levels understand.  Change requires multiple people moving in the same direction.  Formal training can help move an organization in a new direction.

3.Cost-Effectiveness -From a time and resources perspective, formal training generally has a lower cost per learner than individualized development activities like one-on-one coaching.

4.Community -Much of the learning that takes place during a training experience comes from the interaction of the learners.  There is opportunity to practice the skills in a "safe" environment with other learners, there are the insights gained from others who may hold different perspectives, demonstrate different strengths and come from different organizational levels and/or functional areas.                       

Beyond the formal training experience, there are the benefits of the informal learning network that can be nurtured.  Wise organizations look for ways to cultivate these informal networks that begin in the formal training.  They may create "communities of practice" in which members can continue to meet and share their experiences.  Action Learning projects can be great ways to move the community that has been formed into the future (live or online).  We´ve all seen the statistics that say that 80% of learning in organizations happens informally.  For leadership learning, we would suggest that number is probably closer to 90%.  Formal training can serve as a very powerful catalyst to drive new informal learning networks over time.

Question: Are you taking advantage of formal training experiences to serve as springboards for informal learning networks?