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People will not learn just because you want them to. Remember that human behavior has to be part of your effective training plan. No training program will be effective if it is not embraced from the top down.
· In corporate and business training, top management must clearly and openly make training a priority, take part in the training, and possibly conduct parts of the training.
· In Continuing Education, trial results of a process or procedure must be clearly stated. Evidence must be available to support the learner’s “Why?” A respected name or a popular procedure or process will deliver the top down embrace, helping people want to engage in the training instead of feeling like a prisoner.
Embracing the training from the top down is necessary for both the analysis that needs to happen to create effective training, and the follow-up that needs to happen to make sure people are learning.
Without human behavior, that top down embrace, your training will run into obstacles. These include:
· Company policy
· Managerial attitudes
o Lack of importance placed on the training
o “The last training we did was a waste of time.”
· Changing expectations
· Changing processes and procedures
The list can go on and on. Without the top down embrace, these and many more obstacles will prevent effective training. So get that top down embrace.
Once you have the top down embrace (have I said that enough?), start planning for the positive results you want to achieve. Begin with the end in mind.
Create training that will produce demonstrable results.
The Kirkpatrick model has been used to measure training program effectiveness since the ‘50’s, and still holds true. Here are four ways to measure effectiveness:
1. Reaction. How did the learners like the training?
You can glean this information from a questionnaire, from comments.
Find out what learners want to learn, what do they want to get out of the training?
Content Hint: Design for your learners. People who love to read do not necessarily enjoy playing video games, and vice versa. Teach your learners with the things they enjoy doing.
2. Learning. Did the learners actually learn?
This can be shown through pre and post quiz scores, feedback from people who observe the learners.
Content Hint: Pre-quizzes can whet your learner’s appetites for what lies ahead.
3. Behavior. Did the training cause the learners to improve their job performance?
On the job observation.
Do the learners refer to things from the instruction, either overtly or contextually?
Content Hint: The learner will integrate pieces of training that most closely resemble his daily job tasks/concepts more quickly and easily than pieces that do not resemble daily job tasks/concepts…
That’s a really long way of saying that people learn by doing. For example, if you’re teaching an electrician how to measure voltage with a new meter, teach with the new meter.
4. Results. People RESPECT what the Boss INSPECTS.
Are the learners performing?
Are profits rising where they were projected to rise?
Are more products being sold?
Has the time it takes to complete a task dropped, or are tasks being completed with fewer errors?
Is a concept being embraced?
Content Hint: Remember, people learn what they want to learn. Results will be more easily obtained if learners want to learn the material. What is the learner’s “Why?”
For me, “Learning” and “Behavior” blend together in this model. They may or may not for you. Either way, this is a starting point for measuring your trainings effectiveness. When you begin with Reaction, Learning, Behavior, and Results in mind, you will create more effective training.
Up there on “Learning,” I popped in pre and post quizzes. This is part of what makes eLearning so rewarding, in my humble article-writing opinion. When learners take a quiz, the results are saved in a data base, and can be reviewed by supervisors, managers, department heads, organizations - - anyone with the right level of access.
A lot more than just quiz data can be gathered and reported:
· How many times did the learner “log in” to the training?
· How much time did the learner spend on particular sections?
· Are Extra Credit, Bonus Activities, or Additional Reading Materials being used?
· How much did the learner play with an interactive tool, such as a voltage meter?
· How many times did the learner choose an incorrect quiz answer?
· How many learners from one department, city, county, state, country, are using the training?
· How many learners are not completing all the training? Where are they stopping?
· Which part of the training are learners interacting with the most?
You can gather real data on any aspect of your training program, and use it to make your training even more effective. AND use it in the evaluation to trace results directly back to an especially popular portion of the training.
Embrace. Analyze. Follow-up.
These three elements are key in making your training effective.
What’s hitting the blogosphere manana?!?! We’re going to take a look at Types of Content and Types of Training!
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