Resumen de investigación: Un beneficio sorprendente del upskilling, por qué las metas pueden salir mal y más

New research can transform the way you think about leadership, team dynamics and business growth. This roundup, drawn from our May—June magazine issue, distills the most compelling findings from academics, consulting firms and beyond.

UPSKILLING EMPLOYEES FREES THEIR MANAGERS FOR MORE-STRATEGIC WORK

Organizations routinely ask whether employee training “pays off” by boosting productivity. New research suggests that when firms track the results of such programs, they often look for efficiency in the wrong places.

Researchers followed a Colombian government agency that had randomly assigned 12% of its front line staffers to attend a 120-hour program on legal analysis, writing, time management and basic IT skills. Using weekly goal-attainment scores before and after the program, the researchers found that four to six months later the performance of workers who’d participated had risen by about 10%. Their untrained peers, in contrast, showed no significant change in performance.

The researchers believe that their study provides evidence that upskilling programs should be judged not only by how much faster or better trainees do their own jobs but also by how much less assistance they then require from the people above them.

OVERLY SPECIFIC GOALS CAN BACKFIRE

Setting an explicit goal, like running a 5K or losing 10 pounds, can help you chart your progress and stay on track. But it can also cause you to miss out on more-effective ways to achieve results.

In 13 studies with English speakers around the globe, researchers examined whether explicit goals caused people to stick with their original approach instead of switching to a better one.

Across the experiments, setting a numeric goal — and making some progress toward it — tended to make participants perceive the initial method to be more effective and view the alternative as less so. But when they were prompted to reflect on the benefits of both the initial and alternative methods, that bias disappeared.

The researchers write that this has implications for managers helping their employees reach goals. Rather than tracking progress from an initial plan, they should encourage employees to pair objectives with structured prompts to periodically reassess their approach.

SIMPLIFY YOUR ARGUMENTS TO WIN PEOPLE OVER

When you’re trying to gain support for an idea, it’s tempting to pile on justifications and address every possible objection. But new research shows that approach isn’t as successful as you’d think.

Across five experiments, researchers varied how many reasons a hypothetical person gave when arguing for a position. In one experiment, for example, 475 U.S. participants read an email from a fictitious community member about an upcoming ballot measure. The email contained either one or nine arguments in its favor. Participants were then asked to rate their attitude toward the measure. The people who were given a lot of arguments were more likely to consider the community member an expert, but they also found that person’s intent to persuade them much stronger, which made them suspicious.

The researchers say that to build a convincing argument, you need to understand what your audience values. In expertise-driven settings, like technical decisions or risk reviews, a richer case can help. In contexts where audiences are wary of spin, like contentious internal changes or consumer marketing, a concise, well-chosen set of arguments may actually be more effective.