With products and services evolving so rapidly in modern business, it’s easy to see why employers can’t simply rely on great hiring practices. Even when a business hires the very best educated or experienced employee, it is likely that a person’s skills will be outdated within a few years, and consequently he or she must be replaced or retrained.

Nevertheless, organizations constantly struggle to justify the expense of training and to increase the returns on their investment. Here are five tips for increasing your success:

1. Determine if the problem is really a training issue. Trainers often bear the burden of “fixing” problems that can’t really be solved in a classroom or other instructional setting. Training may not be the answer if workers do not know what is expected of them, if they do not have needed resources, or if they do not receive feedback about their work. This may also be true if doing the job right is punishing, or doing it wrong is rewarding.

Training typically solves a finite list of performance issues, such as when workers have never been trained to do the job; if they have skill deficiencies; if they once could do the job, but no longer can; if there’s inadequate opportunity to practice; if tasks and solutions have changed; and if new procedures have been established. Most other issues may demand an intervention other than training.

2. If training is deemed appropriate to solve a performance issue, make sure clear business goals have been identified and communicated by management. Workers who understand the expected outcome of training and feel supported by employees above and below their own level often retain the information much longer than those who do not have this support.

3. Make sure workers are apprised of the benefit to them of taking the training. Remember, “they need” is not a true need; only “we need” will result in effective training and performance changes.

4. Make certain the benefits of training outweigh the costs. This includes development and design, production, instructional expenses, trainer and trainee overhead, lost opportunity, etc. Sometimes job aids or a job re-design to match existing skills may be a more cost-effective solution.

5. Use sound instructional systems design to develop the training. This usually requires a professional who is well-grounded in instructional models and can methodically devise learning activities shown to transfer to the workplace well after the training event has been forgotten. The chances of success are much higher if trainers and training designers know their jobs first. Only then can they help train others.

These few items, if attended to in the design and delivery of training, can give an organization a decisive advantage. Business changes rapidly. Be ready to change along with it by employing exceptional training practices.