Employee training is more than the content in the manual

“We have all the content ready for you.”

Lee Wood of 1st Class Solutions and I were talking the other day about taking training that was already in a classroom-based format or from a manual and turning it into eLearning training modules. She says clients usually understand the cost and learning benefits to eLearning, which is often one of the reasons for the conversion in the first place.

What they sometimes don’t understand is that for the instructional designer, the content of the course – the information in that binder – is just like clay to the sculptor. The instructional designer shapes it and molds it into a final form. And the challenge they face is shaping and molding the content into a form that is efficient and, most importantly, effective.

Of course the organization wants the worker to learn the new information and/or skills and be able to apply them in their work. To do that, the instructional designer has to engage the learners – hook them with relevance and context. Each organization and each set of learners is unique so understanding the environment, work and culture is important to the designer and will drive how the employee training is structured and completed. 

In order to communicate the relevance and how the job fits into the greater picture of the organization, the designer has to have the overall picture. Each of the different jobs, processes, skills and information may best be delivered through different means:

• simulations,
• case studies,
• step-by-step graphics or
• discussions.

For example, the use of practice assignments and feedback can be more productive with problem solving situations than a simple multi-answer assessment. In Ruth Colvin Clark’s book, Evidence-Based Training Methods, she explains how learners learn and the architectures that are best used for specific sorts of learning. There is no one-size-fits-all instructional strategy to educate or train people – young or old. Lee says that instructional designers take the learners, the content and the desired result into consideration in order to determine the most effective methods – and that takes time.

Let experienced instructional designers help you in workplace training development. They can help convert your employee training to eLearning or a blended learning solution - it could be the most cost-effective and best result you can get!

-Elaine of the 1st Class Solutions Blog Team