Written By Cari Borden

We’ve all seen it: a struggling company, high turnover, toxic leaders, disengaged employees, and the quick solution? “Let’s send everyone to more training!” Cue the glossy PowerPoints, the mandatory e-learning modules, the half-day workshops with stale coffee and colder bagels.

Here’s the hard truth: training doesn’t fix culture. In fact, without the right culture, training is just window dressing on a crumbling building.

Why Training Alone Doesn’t Work
Training is a tool. Culture is the soil it’s planted in.

• If your culture breeds fear, no amount of communication training will make people speak up.
• If your leaders don’t value empathy, no module on emotional intelligence will change behavior.
• If your workplace rewards burnout, resilience workshops will feel like a cruel joke.

Culture sets the stage for whether any learning sticks, or whether it’s dismissed as “another flavor of the month.”

Culture First, Training Second
Organizations that thrive understand that:

1. Values Drive Behavior – When culture emphasizes respect, trust, and accountability, training reinforces what’s already in motion.
2. Leaders Model the Way – Employees don’t copy what leaders say in training; they copy what leaders do every day.
3. Safety Fuels Learning – A psychologically safe culture encourages people to experiment, fail forward, and apply training without fear.

Signs You’re Using Training as a Band-Aid

• Workshops rolled out after every employee survey without real changes.
• Mandatory compliance training with zero follow-through in daily practices.
• Employees rolling their eyes at “the next new program.”

What to Do Instead
Flip the script. Build the culture first.

• Audit your culture honestly. Ask: do people feel safe, valued, and supported?
• Align leaders. Make sure they understand that culture is modeled, not mandated.
• Use training as reinforcement. Once the culture supports the right behaviors, training amplifies, strengthens, and evolves them.

Final Thought
Training can teach skills. But only culture can turn skills into habits. Before you sign the next contract for a shiny new program, ask yourself, are we building on fertile ground or planting seeds in concrete?

Because at the end of the day, culture doesn’t just fix training. Culture makes training matter.

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👉 Call to Action:
If you’re questioning whether your organization is trying to train its way out of a cultural crisis, let’s talk. I mentor leaders and teams on building cultures where training isn’t a fix, it’s a force multiplier. Connect with me on Fiverr or my blog at LeadBoldly1.blog.