Does Retraining Solve Human Error?

I recently had an interesting conversation about human error and the frequent desire to retrain someone after they have been involved in an incident.

This very typical response to a mistake often fails to produce the desired change in behavior or prevent recurrence. Why is this?

Unfortunately, organizations rarely look closely enough at the entirety of a situation that existed when a person chose the action or inaction that resulted in one or more undesirable results. It's easy to assume that people simply don't know what to do, but what if they are shown to have the knowledge and skills to perform their work as expected? Gathering facts and conducting root cause analyses lets us identify the evidence-based source of human error, and take corrective and preventive actions to address those shortfalls. 

So, if human error is the cause, but lack of knowledge or skills isn't the reason behind it, then what is? In addition to internal variables such as knowledge, skills and attitudes, our behaviors are influenced by external factors as well. While there are many external factors, reviewing administrative systems to ensure they provide clear and accurate procedures, instructions and other aids is a great place to start for preventing human error.

There are certainly instances where training or retraining are necessary, especially where it is evident that a lack of knowledge caused an employee’s actions to result in a deviation or nonconformance. But in the absence of root cause analyses, you are merely ticking a box to show you did something, and not solving the quality issues and related problems that exist in your organization.

When a lack of knowledge is determined to the root cause of an employee’s deviation or nonconformance, it is important to think beyond that individual when designing preventive actions. Who else might need to fill the same knowledge gap? How do you incorporate this information into the curriculum for existing and future employees?

Training can be an effect means of employing corrective and preventive actions. But only through root cause analysis and careful planning can we be assured that it is the right solution.