Despite the time, energy, and investment of money that organizations make in employee training, one sobering truth continues to emerge: most of what is taught never reaches the workplace. The culprit? Not poor facilitation or disengaged learners—but the failure to design training that actually prepares people to apply what they learn.
This article highlights a commonly overlooked but essential step in the learning process: training design. It is a deliberate design process that ensures that training leads to real-world applications, observable behavior changes, and measurable business outcomes.
Effective training design occurs when a business strategy becomes actionable and implementable. This is where planning meets performance. It is also a linchpin that connects intent and impact.
From Strategy to Results: Bridging the Gap
L&D professionals are highly skilled in course creation, facilitation, and instructional design. However, when it comes to understanding business strategies, conducting comprehensive needs assessments, or aligning training with stakeholder expectations, significant gaps often exist. These critical front-end activities—linking learning to performance outcomes—are not always part of the traditional L&D skill set.
Consequently, training is often developed based on assumptions, and stakeholders do not verify performance gaps or strategic priorities. The result? Well-designed training courses fail to solve problems and demonstrate measurable results.
This is where the framework of the Five Essential Questions becomes a game-changer. It equips L&D teams with a practical, repeatable approach to asking the right questions before development begins by systematically addressing what behaviors should change, how those behaviors will be observed, and what business outcomes will result. The Five Questions guide learning professionals through the often-overlooked but absolutely critical steps of strategic alignment and performance consulting.
Rather than relying on intuition or generic templates, instructional designers can use the Five Questions to ensure that every learning objective, activity, and assessment serves a specific purpose—one that leads directly to improved performance and tangible business results.
In this way, the Five Questions do not just guide planning—they bridge the knowledge gap many L&D teams face and help turn training design and development into a results-driven, performance-focused strategy.
Anchoring Design in the Five Essential Questions
One proven way to ensure alignment between training content and business impact is to design around the Five Essential Questions. These questions serve as a high-impact framework to guide the development of training.
- What specific behaviors and performances should be changed as a result of this training?
Development begins with clear, observable behaviors tied to performance. This ensures that learners know what is expected and that designers know what to build toward.
- How will behavioral changes be observed and measured on the job?
The instruction must prepare learners to perform behaviors that supervisors or peers can recognize and track. This includes embedding assessment tools, rubrics, and feedback mechanisms in the learning experience.
- What are the business outcomes of this training program?
Every activity, scenario, and objective should contribute to a meaningful business goal—whether it is improving customer satisfaction, reducing safety incidents, or increasing efficiency.
- What metrics are available for measuring these business outcomes?
If we do not plan for the measurement, we cannot prove its impact. Training development must include the design of evaluation tools that tie individual behavior to business performance.
- How long after training do you expect to see behavioral changes, improved performance on the job, and business results?
Development should prepare learners and managers for an application timeline—immediate, medium, and long-term—so that everyone knows when and how the results are expected.
Designing around these questions ensures that training is rooted in both strategic relevance and practical application.
Making Transfer Possible: The Role of the Dynamic Transfer Model
Training does not end when a session is completed, but it continues to evolve and improve. According to the Dynamic Transfer Model (DTM) developed by Blume et al. (2019), learning transfer is an ongoing cycle, not a one-time event. Training development must consider this reality by preparing learners to apply, adapt, and reinforce new skills in the workplace.
The following describes how this model informs the design and development:
- Prepare for the first transfer attempt. The first time a learner uses a new skill is critical. Training content should include planning tools to help learners identify when and where they will apply their learning, usually within 1–2 weeks.
- Incorporating feedback loops: Training should introduce mechanisms such as reflection prompts, peer discussions, and manager coaching tools that continue beyond the completion of training.
- Enables continuous adaptation: No one achieves perfect performance for the first time. Training development should create opportunities for learners to analyze what has worked, adjust their approach, and try again.
- Extending learning over time: Job aids, nudges, and short follow-up modules can be developed to keep skills fresh and top of mind.
Without this forward-looking design, the best training can be forgotten or ignored. However, by applying the DTM Model, learning has become a launchpad for improving performance.
Grounding Development in Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction
To ensure that training is not only engaging but effective, lesson design and development should apply Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction:
Problem-Centered
Training should focus on solving real-world problems. Scenarios, decision-making activities, and simulations help learners see the relevance of their learning.
Activation
Learners should be prompted to reflect on their prior knowledge and experiences. Pre-training surveys, warm-up reflections, and early knowledge checks and previews are used to prepare the mind for learning.
Demonstration
New skills should be modeled clearly, using expert examples, videos, or instructor demonstrations to show what good performance looks like.
Application
Learners should practice applying new knowledge and skills, performing real-world tasks, and solving problems in safe, realistic environments with opportunities for feedback and correction.
Integration
Learners should be encouraged to reflect on how they will use their skills on the job, discuss their plans with peers, and receive managerial support to integrate their behaviors and skills into their workflow.
These principles ensure that training is learner-centered, performance-focused, and grounded in cognitive science.
What Effective Training Development Looks Like
The training development is more than building slides. Here is what a strong design and development process produces.
Performance-based learning outcomes
Written using real-world language and aligned with job tasks and business goals.
Scenario-based activities
Case studies, simulations, or decision trees that replicate on-the-job challenges.
Application planning tools
Worksheets that ask, What will you apply? When? What might be obtained in this manner?
Feedback structures
Peer feedback templates, manager observation guides, and self-reflection prompts.
Reinforcement tools
Microlearning boosters, job aids, email nudges, or digital check-ins.
Evaluation instruments
Pre- and post-assessments, behavior checklists, and metric trackers are aligned with business key performance indicators (KPIs).
When these components are designed intentionally, the result is a training program that does more than inform —it transforms.
A Practical Example
Imagine a company launching training on a new customer complaint protocol.
- Behavioral goal: Customer service reps use a 4-step de-escalation process during live calls.
- Business outcome: Reduce call escalations by 20 percent within three months.
What design and development should be included?
- Learning objectives are tied to call scenarios and observable behaviors.
- A branching eLearning simulation in which learners make choices and see the consequences.
- A planning tool in which reps identify their first opportunity to apply the model.
- A manager’s guide for observing calls and providing coaching.
- Weekly email reminders with reinforcement tips.
- A Dashboard for tracking call escalation rates over time.
All of this was built before the first session was delivered during the training development process.
Why It Matters
When we overlook these critical analysis, design, and development steps, training becomes a box to check rather than a tool for change. Learners may feel satisfied but not equipped. Managers may endorse training but do not reinforce it. Business leaders may support the initiative but later question its value when no results materialize.
In contrast, when we treat training design and development as the engine of behavior change, we set up the entire program for success. We connect learning with work. We build for transfer. We prove our impact.
Final Thought
If your training does not produce results, the answer may not lie in delivery or attendance but in design. The way we develop training determines whether learners can share ideas or take action. Therefore, the most important step is not skipped.
Ask and answer the Five Performance Questions, and develop an application design that drives business impact.
That is, the training earns its seat on the strategy table.
Training is now impacting business outcomes rather than being something that takes place.
