- Keep your training program on track
- Knowledge isn’t the only thing going on with training
- Retention is a key sticking point in training programs
- Learning by example and case studies is powerful training
- Add a little concrete to your training programs
- Structured orientation and training provide objectivity
- Customized training meets the specialized needs of every organization
- Web based training modules are a great value
- How does a supervisor support training?
- Blended and supervised training offers the best results
Good training lets learners know how and why their job matters
Do your employees know where they - and their work - fit in the organization?
What does it all mean? Or, better yet: What does it all matter?
I am not talking in an existentialist framework, but in learning.
Context matters. Knowing how your job or what you are learning fits into the greater picture provides workers with understanding:
- It gives work and the ability to do it well value. It matters if you do a good job.
- It lets you understand how what you do propels the organization forward.
A couple of examples of the difference that can make:
I was a pretty good student. However, when I got to Algebra, the As quickly tumbled to Ds. I just didn’t get it. I couldn’t even say it was like a foreign language, because I did well in my Spanish class. It made no sense nor did I understand how it fit together. I was trying to just memorize it all. However, when I began the math classes in college, I saw how it all fit together. Although I had to work to learn all the math I had lost in high school, I got As in all those college classes.
On a production line in a factory, worker No. 1 makes widget A that is connected to widget B made by worker No. 2. Both pieces together make up a component that is shipped to the customer as a part in an electronic product. If worker No. 1 doesn’t understand that the quality of his widget A is critical to properly connect to widget B so the electronic product works, he may discount the need to be diligent and the quality begins slipping. After all, all he does is make widget As all day long.
In both cases, when the learner understood his influence on the larger picture, quality improved and had value. It mattered if that piece or formula was done correctly because down the line, something else counted on it. The final answer to the math problem could turn out wrong or the manufacturer could end up with a lot of pieces returned because of quality issues.
Karen Zwick of 1st Class Solutions was just explaining that employee training modules must clearly include the context of work regardless if it is classroom instruction or eLearning or a job aid. She says this is especially true when the training is connected to change.
Understanding the big picture influences implementation and quality of work. Context is key.
-Elaine of the 1st Class Solutions Blog Team