The problem is transfer of learning--that is, that only 15-30% of learning transfers into actual use on the job to improve performance.  Here's how I see it.  Last year organizations spent $134 BILLION dollars on training in the U.S (according to ASTD).  That means that somewhere around $100 billion of it was wasted!!! And that is only the direct cost of training--not the salaries of the people who sat in the classroom.  That alone is a huge number that ought to get us alarmed.

But wait--it gets worse.  Research also tells us that an 8:1 return on investment is quite achievable for the right learning given to the right employees. That means that the $100 billion we wasted would have returned about $800 billion in performance improvement--if we had done the right things to make learning transfer happen. 

Throw in some money for all the wasted wages and salaries of the participants and we have a 

TRILLION DOLLAR TRAINING PROBLEM

That's right.....each YEAR we waste as much money as the U.S. government  spent to bail out the banks, AIG and the automakers.....and equal to the cost of the Obama health care reform over ten years.  But I said we do this EVERY YEAR! 

Imagine what the cost is worldwide.....it must be simply staggering.