What or Why Risk Training

*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc./*

Risk training is obviously a hot topic at the moment.  It has certainly kept
us busy here at RSD Solutions.  Before you design your next risk training
interaction I would like to point out a few of the differences between
"What" focus training, and "Why" focus training.

"What" focused training tells the participants what has to be done, while
"Why" focused training gets participants to understand the reasons for
why.

A "What" focus to training produces participants who are capable of doing
things.  A "Why" focus produces participants who can do things but also
understand why.  Understanding why to do things provides the knowledge to
know when the rules or procedures will be broken – and there will be times
when a rule or procedure will need to be broken.

A "What" focus is not engaging.  A "Why" focus engages the
participants.  Engaged participants become engaged employees.  Engaged
employees have several benefits including more buy in to risk culture and
strategy and a ground level source of risk improvement ideas to name just two
benefits.

A "What" focus produces knowledge.  A "Why" focus produces wisdom.

A "What" focus produces stasis.  A "Why" focus produces risk growth.

So what's your training focus?