“Can you write a report about the participants? Just something short—how they performed, how they improved during the training. And maybe how likely they are to do well in their job? It’s like a hand-over to their manager!”

The new-hire trainer in this international company did not question the request. She just started writing a detailed report about each participant after the 1-week orientation program.

Let’s take a look at part of the report:

Participant 1: Minh

Minh was a bit slow to understand the training content.
During the role plays, he needed to start over three times.
He also disagreed with how some of our processes work.
He made a few good points, but I think he could be a troublemaker.
👉 Keep a close eye on this one!

The manager received the report and was very thankful.
On Minh’s first week at work, the manager had a “serious talk” with him.

Manager: “I heard from the trainer that you are a slow learner and that you don’t follow our process. You also gave strong opinions. I will not accept this kind of behavior on my team!”

What happened next?

After that, Minh never opened up again in any training at that company.
And of course, he told other new hires about his experience.

From then on:

• Nobody trusted the trainer anymore

• People just followed the training like a checklist

• Nobody took risks, nobody showed vulnerability

• The learning stopped

And the culture of average results continued.

This all could have been avoided

To fix this, companies should separate the training process from the performance judgment.

✅ Let the training be a safe space to learn, make mistakes, and grow
✅ Use a neutral, structured assessment tool—not a personal report from the trainer
✅ Use the trainer as a trainer or a coach, not an informant

It takes a bit more effort. But in return, your new hires will trust the learning process and grow faster—while you still get a good sense of their performance.

Need help training your trainers?
Contact us at No-Nonsense Training. We’ll help you do it right.