In today’s cutthroat work environment, enablement is the secret weapon that separates the winners from the losers. Without it, you risk your reps floundering and your managers morphing into super reps, drowning in work instead of developing others to shine. So, let’s break down why enablement matters—and what happens if you ignore it.
Enhance Employee Performance: Empowered employees are like race cars on the Nürburgring—zooming ahead and leaving the competition in the dust (Bersin, 2018). Skip enablement, and you’ll have a pit crew full of stalled engines, frustrated and unproductive.
Encourage Innovation: Enablement sparks creativity, giving employees a blank canvas, a clear direction, and a full set of colors—let the ideas flow! Organizations that emphasize enablement see a boost in innovative outcomes (McKinsey & Company, 2020). Without it, you’ll stifle creativity and watch your competitors outpace you.
Improve Retention: Organizations that prioritize enablement retain top talent like a loyal fanbase. If employees feel supported, they stick around for the encore. Research shows effective enablement strategies can lead to a 50% drop in turnover rates (SHRM, 2021). Skip this, and your best performers will be jumping ship faster than you can say “career move.”
Build a Stronger Culture: Enablement fosters a positive workplace culture where employees feel valued and supported in their growth, much like a women's conference where everyone is cheering for each other. A strong culture of enablement is linked to 30% higher employee engagement (Harvard Business Review, 2019). Neglect it, and you’ll create a toxic environment where no one wants to stay.
Enablement often doesn’t get the attention it deserves because it has a long tail. When organizations invest in a point-in-time training session, it usually takes up the entire org’s time and comes with a sense of excitement. But similar to hiring a house cleaner who makes everything sparkle, you still have to straighten up daily and load/unload the dishwasher. It isn’t a one-and-done action—results require ongoing effort, and that can lead to fatigue and improper associations.
In a shifting market, it’s easy to attribute performance to external factors rather than recognizing that enablement is working behind the scenes. It is in fact, the skill reinforcement that keeps your team steady in tough market conditions, allowing you to avoid addressing issues that enablement is already managing.
Similar to the chicken and egg conversation, it is hard to prove that enablement is working if you have leadership that would prefer to attribute trends and shifts to external factors versus internal efforts. Because most people don’t study adult learning, or may have had traditional training that was frustrating, outdated, or poorly facilitated, it can make it even easier to dismiss components of enablement (like training) as low value or predict that they will be ineffective.
Enablement fails when a company’s strategy shifts before full implementation can occur, creating a cycle of ineffective, one-off training without follow-up. This leads top executives to believe change is necessary rather than recognizing that reinforcement is crucial. Even worse, those in charge of enablement often lack a clear understanding of what enablement truly entails.
As a result, training rolled out by enablement teams becomes just another session rather than a comprehensive enablement effort. It’s alarming when leaders who misunderstand the full scope of enablement engage with senior leadership that is equally uninformed. If you think it's impossible for an enablement leader to lack knowledge of enablement, think again. A quick look at many senior enablement leaders’ LinkedIn profiles reveals significant experience and knowledge gaps. Having leaders who don’t know enablement, guiding others who are equally clueless, is a recipe for disaster.
These well-meaning but underqualified enablement leaders plan and secure approval only for the major training sessions. They don’t develop or get approval for at least three fast follow reinforcement sessions. In fact, they are so taxed by the logistics and planning of the training sessions they shirk their responsibility and leave reinforcement informal or even worse up to frontline managers. Let’s be real, front-line managers are too busy and not incentivized to effectively reinforce what’s been taught. These overtaxed managers fall back on teaching reps what they know instead of embracing the newer, unfamiliar, unproven training concepts. The result? A workforce that’s trained to do the bare minimum, lacking the confidence and skills to replicate and excel in the newly taught skill. Finally, at the end of all the work of setting up and delivering mass training sessions, the enablement team is labeled as having wasted money and precious time. Reinforcement is key and without it, failure is imminent.
Unfortunately, it gets worse. The most demoralizing thing that occurs in failed enablement motions is when those in enablement who actually understand measurement conduct pre- and post-training evaluations and achieve impressive results (yes, a 5% lift is a huge win!). They proudly share these measurements across their internal and external orgs with pride and optimism. However, these gains are often discredited or ignored. By the time the results are socialized up the chain, the training skill or topic has fallen out of favor, the person delivering the training or enablement plan has lost credibility, or there are other shiny objects (new training methods, methodologies, thought leadership voices) that distract from recognizing the training that is actively addressing the critical need/problem. Senior leadership requests new training on the next new thing and the cycle repeats.
Now that we know the stakes, let’s dive into what your enablement plan should include at a minimum—and remember, we’re all about measuring pre- and post-understanding!
Pre and Post Training Measurement: What do your learners know, and how confident are they in applying that knowledge? This benchmarking process is critical before you even start training. Equally important is tracking the increase (or decrease) in their confidence and comfort using the tools or finding solutions after training. A rigorous measurement process ensures your training is accessible, effective, and, dare I say, edutaining.
Core Training: First up, core training. Let’s keep it snappy—no one has time for a three-hour lecture that feels longer than elevator music on hold. Limit it to 30 minutes and focus on no more than two main concepts. Think of it as the catchy chorus everyone remembers, based on real-world scenarios that make you go, “Oh, I totally get it!” And don’t forget those supporting one-pagers for post-training reference; they’re like the lyric sheet for karaoke night—handy when you forget the lyrics!
Weekly Reinforcement: Next, we need three short reinforcement sessions. Just 15 minutes each, once a week, because this isn’t about cramming; it’s about retention. These sessions should be as refreshing as your favorite commercial jingle! Keep them small and let your frontline managers run the show. This is key: make sure your front-line managers have been fully trained, are comfortable and qualified to reinforce the newly acquired skills, and have been given a full meeting template that is pick up and deliver. If not, bring back the experts to ensure reinforcement occurs. Reinforcement should contain these key elements:
Best Practice Reminder: A quick reminder of what good looks like.
Scenario Practice: Use real-life scenarios to practice the skills—this is how you play.
Follow-Up: Send me an example of you doing this in real-time. We want to see those skills in action!
Underperforming Support: For those who need extra support, we’ve got the underperforming or remediation support session. Managers must be ready to redirect and support underperformers immediately after the session (not months down the road). Show managers what it looks like if there’s a skill issue. What dashboard, behaviors, or metrics indicate a problem? Here are the essentials:
Identify the Skill Gap: Managers should demonstrate how they identified the skill gap using data.
Step-by-Step Breakdown: Break the skill down into simple steps and present it again to the underperforming rep. Make sure the steps are crystal clear.
Role Play: Let’s get into character! “If you hear this, do that.” It’s practice time, baby! Show me how you do it—like you’re auditioning for the next big talent show.
Resource Library: Last but not least, every rep needs access to a resource library. This should include visual and written instructions that are easier to navigate than finding your favorite playlist on Spotify. Think of it as the ultimate guide to mastering your craft, complete with all the hits and none of the skips.
Enablement isn’t just a process; it’s a mindset that revolutionizes how organizations approach employee development. Skip it, and you risk turning your managers into super reps who are too busy doing the work instead of coaching others to succeed. Recognize the differences between teaching, training, and enablement to create a supportive environment for your employees.
As we navigate an increasingly complex and competitive landscape, organizations that embrace enablement will be better equipped to tackle challenges, seize opportunities, and drive long-term success. Investing in enablement isn’t just about employees; it’s about securing your organization’s future.
1. Bersin, J. (2018). The Future of Work: Employee Experience and Engagement. Deloitte Insights.
2. Harvard Business Review. (2019). The Employee Experience: How to Make It Work for Your Organization.
3. McKinsey & Company. (2020). The Future of Work After COVID-19.
4. SHRM. (2021). The Importance of Employee Retention.