CHOOSE WISELY !

Making your training choices should be a careful process.

If you’re going to reach all of your people, you know by now that the training choices you make must be multi-sensory in design. We have discussed many times the absolute necessity of full-motion video and optional word-for-word audio if you hope to train the 40% of your workforce who do not read above a 4^th Grade level. Most importantly, we know by now that Americans are steeped in a television-based learning culture. So use that knowledge to enhance learning in your organization.

In addition to a multi-sensory design, it is also important to analyze the learning objectives demonstrated in the courseware you are evaluating.

There are three primary aspects of learning objectives.

The first is the makeup of the population being trained. What are the characteristics of the learners in your organization? For example, does the course you are evaluating use college level vocabulary when you know that the majority of people you need to train cannot assimilate above a 4^th Grade reading level? Are the pictures used similar to the types of equipment the learner will encounter on your shop floor?

Second, what “behavior changes” do you expect after the training has been completed? Do you want the individual learners to be able to identify specific pieces of equipment? Do you want them to be able to demonstrate their ability to perform a maintenance task correctly while also using good work and safety practice. And if so, does the course you are examining accomplish that objective?

Thirdly, does the course you are evaluating prepare the students for the conditions they will encounter on-the-job? Are they armed with the references, illustrations, graphs, and, most importantly, the electronic help desk readily available in well designed E-Learning — “just-in-time training” that they will need when they are actually on-the-job?

Expect a vendor’s sales representative to be able to identify these objectives in any courseware she asks you to evaluate. Good training objectives identify the desired learning outcomes; are consistent with your company’s goals; and are specifically meaningful to your specific needs.

For the best in training outcomes, being able to evaluate any training option in these ways is far more important than the bells and whistles you encounter in a slick sales presentation.

And, of course, all these same criteria apply directly to you if you’re tasked with developing your own training programs for your own organization.