The Training Physical: Diagnose, Treat and Cure Your Training Department

To remain in a healthy physical body, medical practitioners recommend an annual physical where you are thoroughly looked over, poked and prodded and run through a series of diagnostic tests to catch anything that might be ailing you before it gets the better of you. This annual event is known the world over as a physical, and anyone that has ever gone through one can testify that it is not necessarily a fun experience, but it does often provide good news, or at the very least news that can be treated and often cured. In corporate America, industries and companies put themselves through audits each year, most often dealing with financial results. Many times the company will include functional audits on the productivity and results of individual departments. One such department that often employs the self-audit function is Human Resources. Self-audits are much like handing over the chicken house to the wolf and asking for a report on security issues. It does not reveal anything of consequence and thus is a waste of time, energy and money. Ultimately every organization should be reviewing the condition of every department that participates in the workings of their business. The Training Physical is all about evaluating the condition of the training department (Diagnose), recommending action plans (Treatment) and making training responsive (Cure) to the needs of the company. This annual review does provide the same therapeutic results if done correctly as our human annual physical. However, just like your own Medical Doctor, very few will say that self-diagnosis is as effective as getting another professional involved. In the world of auditing this also holds true, and getting an external consultant to conduct or help you with your Training Physical is just as important.