You invested in the training. Attendance was solid; the feedback scores looked fine, and yet three months later the behavior on the floor looks exactly the same.
Before you book another session, it helps to ask the question that separates wasted budget from tangible results: are you facing a training issue or a performance issue? That distinction sits at the heart of performance consulting, and getting it right is the difference between fixing the problem and paying to repeat it.
Decades ago, Robert Mager and Peter Pipe gave us a straightforward way to tell the two apart in their book Analyzing Performance Problems. It still works today.
Why This Question Sits at the
Center of Performance Consulting
Training is only the right fix for one kind of problem: a genuine gap in skill or knowledge. Apply training to a different problem, and you spend real money while changing nothing. And maybe adding frustration to the learner at the same time.
Mager and Pipe made this point plainly: training is just one possible solution, and it is usually the most expensive one. That’s why performance consulting starts by questioning the training request instead of simply filling it.
Guess wrong and the costs stack up fast. You pay to design and deliver a program; you pull people off the job to attend, and the underlying barrier is still waiting for them when they get back.
The One Question That Tells a
Training Issue from a Performance Issue
Mager’s model hinges on a single, almost blunt question:
Could the person do it if their life depended on it?
If the honest answer is no, you are likely looking at a training issue. The skill or knowledge simply is not there, and no amount of motivation would produce it on demand.
If the answer is yes, they could do it if they truly had to, then training is the wrong tool. This is a performance issue, and the cause lives somewhere other than the person’s ability. Performance consulting practitioners often shorthand it as the difference between a “cannot” and a “will not.”
When It Is a Training Issue
A real training issue usually leaves fingerprints. The person is new to the role, the task, or a system. The skill is used so rarely that it fades between uses. Or the work changed and no one was ever shown the new way.
In these cases, the fix is some form of learning: structured training, hands-on practice, timely feedback, or a simple job aid that puts the steps where the work happens. This is where a skilled instructional designer or corporate training consultant earns their keep because the need is real, and the solution is well matched to it.
The point is that you have confirmed training will actually move the needle before you spend a dollar building it.
When It Is a Performance Issue
If people already know how to do the work and still are not doing it, more training will not help. Mager and Pipe pointed to a handful of usual suspects, and this is where performance consulting spends most of its time.
Sometimes doing the task well is quietly punished. The reward for being the fastest, most accurate worker is simply more work, while slower colleagues are left alone.
Sometimes poor performance carries no consequence at all, so there is little reason to change.
Sometimes not doing the task is rewarded. A common situation is the case of sales reps and CRMs. Management wants them to keep the CRM up to date, but taking time away from sales activities to update the systems results in fewer sales conversations. So ignoring the CRM results in higher commissions.
Other times the obstacles are purely practical. The tool is clunky, the process has a bottleneck, the information is buried, or no one has the authority to act. None of that is a knowledge gap, and none of it is solved by a course.
Sometimes, the task simply doesn’t matter. For instance, any parent with teenage children can tell you, the kids don’t pick up their clothes off the floor. It doesn’t matter to them. It’s only completed if the parents create a consequence for not doing it.
Sometimes, there are obstacles to performing the task well. A customer service representative may know exactly how to resolve a customer’s issue, but the approval process requires sign-off from three different managers. The employee has the skill and the desire to perform well, but the process itself prevents timely action. Additional training will not remove the bottleneck.
Spotting these patterns is the everyday work of a performance consultant, and it is part of why the discipline has come back into focus for L&D leaders. The real answer might be a process change, clearer expectations, better tools, or a realignment of incentives.
How Performance Consulting Separates the Two
A performance consultant works the problem backward from results. They define the gap in observable terms, confirm it is worth solving, and then run the diagnosis that sorts a training issue from a performance issue before anyone designs a thing. That disciplined, question-first approach is what protects your budget.
It is also why many learning leaders choose to hire a performance consultant on a contract basis rather than guessing internally or defaulting to the most expensive solution. You can bring in a seasoned performance consultant for the diagnosis, scope the work to the real problem, and reach genuine performance improvement without adding permanent headcount.
If you want a head start, the Sample Needs Analysis Report walks through pinpointing performance gaps and turning them into clear recommendations. For a quick primer on how this role supports corporate learning, this short TrainingPros video is a helpful overview.
If you want to run that first-pass diagnosis yourself, try the short companion worksheet below. It walks your team through the same performance issue versus training issue check, one step at a time.
From Instructional Designer to Performance Consultant:
The next time training does not deliver, resist the urge to schedule more of it. Ask whether you are facing a training issue or a performance issue first and let the answer guide the spend.
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Does your L&D team have more projects than people? TrainingPros has been named a Top 20 Staffing Company internationally by Training Industry. We’re also proud to be named a Champion of Learning by the Association for Talent Development (ATD)—an international honor that reflects our dedication to excellence in corporate learning. These accolades underscore TrainingPros’ unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality, tailored training solutions.
If your projects need instructional designers, virtual classroom producers, facilitators, or other L&D consultants for your leadership development design projects, reach out to one of our industry-expert relationship managers today.
When you have more projects than people™, let TrainingPros find the right consultant to start your project with confidence.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring Instructional Design Contractors
What is the difference between a performance issue and a training issue?
A training issue is a real gap in skill or knowledge, so the person cannot yet do the task. A performance issue means the person can do it, but something in the environment, consequences, or motivation gets in the way. Training fixes the first, not the second.
What is the quickest way to tell which one I am dealing with?
Ask Mager’s acid-test question: could the person do it if their life depended on it? If no, it points to a training issue. If yes, it points to a performance issue that training will not solve.
Can a problem be both a performance issue and a training issue?
Yes. Many real situations are mixed, with a genuine skill gap sitting alongside an environmental or motivational barrier. A performance consultant helps you weigh the causes and sequence the fixes, so you do not overspend on training that only solves part of the problem.
Why not just provide training to be safe?
Because training is one of the most expensive solutions, and it does nothing for a performance issue. Defaulting to it drains budget and time while the real barrier stays exactly where it was.
When should I hire a performance consultant?
When results are not improving, the cause is unclear, or you keep retraining without lasting change. Performance consultants diagnose the root cause before you invest, so your next solution is the right one.
