How to Fit Training Into Your Production Schedule: Part 2

Clearly, a motivated learner is critical to protecting your training investment.

Lead by Example

Rule number two is to lead by example, and it speaks to your role as a learning champion. It is critical that you celebrate an employee’s new knowledge and reinforce the prospects for improved workplace performance. Furthermore, you must do this even if it means uncovering your own knowledge gaps.

We once delivered a three-day training program to a company’s Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP, team. The team’s manager politely declined the first two days of training, explaining that she was well versed in the topics. She joined for the final day’s advanced session, which began with a review quiz of the material presented to date. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, she scored very low. Such loss of face was not acceptable. The course was blamed, the trainer was criticized, and even the quiz questions were condemned. In 30 minutes, she succeeded in nullifying two days of valuable training. It was money down the drain.

Think how different the outcome would have been if the manager had praised her team for their successes. They would have felt empowered and motivated to continue learning; and she would have seen a positive return on her training investment.

Be open to new learning and willing to admit when you do not know something. If you do, you’ll surely see an improvement in your company’s learning culture.

Provide Post-Training Support

The final rule focuses on providing post-training support because unless learners have the opportunity to apply the new skills, the learning will be lost. A sanitation engineer may learn better methods for environmental swabbing, for example, but initially he will be slow in putting them into practice because they are unfamiliar. Give him time. If necessary, re-assign some of his duties until he feels confident in the new skill. Remember that you embarked on this training program to address a performance gap or business need; now is not the time to lose focus.

There are other actions that can be done post-training to strengthen the transfer of knowledge to the workplace.

• Ask the learner for immediate feedback on the program. This reinforces the learning and signals that you take this seriously.
• Set performance goals. If you provided clear expectations pre-training, these are easily mapped. If not, discuss goals with employees and be sure they take responsibility for their learning.
• Look for continuous improvement. A training program is only the beginning of the journey. You might schedule follow-up meetings to reinforce what was learned or consider whether job aids, mentors, and coaches would be beneficial. Ask the learners how you can support their goals.

Ultimately, learning must be viewed as a process, not a single event. To draw the most benefit from formal training programs, you must provide employees the support they need to attain and then maintain successful on-the-job performance.

By applying the steps discussed in this article, you will recognize a return on your company’s training investment and employees will reap the benefits of a successful learning process through improved competency on the job.

Kolk is manager, technical training, for NSF. She can be reached at [email protected]. Lefaive is manager, instructional design, for NSF-GFTC. She can be reached at [email protected].