Finding the Value of Training

I found myself moaning a bit today about the value of training in a corporate setting. Why do we do what we do? Are people coming to the class (or logging into an online session) just to check off an item on a to-do list or get their supervisor off their back, or are they there because they want to learn something? It struck me as resoundingly similar (sometimes I can be hopelessly naive) to the challenges that educators face in classrooms every day. I thought that in corporate training, there was a bit more urgency attached to it, because potentially one's livelihood could be at stake. I wonder if there's much that can be done -- especially from a distance education standpoint -- to add more value to training and make it less of a pill and something of a treat. True, we can make e-Learning interactive, aligned with the best learning theories, interactive, and even fun, but value has to be added at the learner level or the organizational level. Where does that value come from? I'm going to keep searching for answers, but I'm certainly open to suggestions.