TAKING STOCK
August 8, 2016
“According to ASTD, the overall spending on employee training in the US is $165 billion and the average employee receives 30.3 hours of learning per year. The average cost to train each employee is $1,195.
What do these numbers tell us? Organizations care about training. Period. With so much effort devoted to training, the real question becomes evident: Did anyone really learn?
It’s clear that learning and development professionals are struggling to answer this question – a question we simply can’t afford to ignore any longer. . . .” (eLearning Industry, “3 Ways Organizations Can Improve The Way They Measure Training Effectiveness,” by John Eades)
With that thought in mind, let’s examine a few questions you might ask yourself when evaluating your own efforts:
1) Is your organization getting financially healthier?
a. If applicable, is the export/import ratio shifting positively?
b. Are your earnings increasing?
c. Is productivity increasing?
2) What is happening to the “training function” within your organization?
a. Is the traditional “trainee/trainer” relationship changing?
b. Is the role of “technology in the classroom” changing?
c. Is training getting more corporate management attention — and, dollars?
3) What means the most to your organization?
a. ROI?
b. Share Price?
c. Growth?
d. Earnings?
e. Market Share?
4) What effect could “change in performance” have on any of your answers to number 3?
a. Decreased Downtime?
b. Less Scrap?
c. Decreased Absenteeism?
d. Less Overtime?
e. Additional Benefits Knowledge?
f. Better Selling Skills?
g. Enhanced Communication?
If your answers to these questions are satisfactory to you and to your organization, there is no reason to read further. But, if you are looking for improvement in any of the above, the following will give you some insight into the “positive prescription to re-direct performance” that state-of-the-art training can make today.
1) Today’s training should be “Performance-Based!”
a. Job-Oriented Content!
b. The primary focus is on Performance Objectives!
c. The training is user-controlled with Built-In Practice!
2) Today’s training should be “Learner Oriented!”
a. It is based on “Multi-Sensory Media” instruction!
b. It must have an “Intuitive Interface!”
3) Today’s training must be “Accountable”
a. It must have “Integrated Testing!”
b. It must provide for “Automatic Record Keeping!”
4) Today’s training must be “Customizable!”
a. It must provide for “Facility Specific Information!”
b. It must allow for “Customized Testing!”
And, above all, effective training must be more than the organized teacher-led group environment we’ve known in the past. It must become a process that fully accommodates the uniqueness of individuals.
More on Wednesday – – –
— Bill Walton, co-Founder, ITC Learning www.itclearning.com/blog/ (Mondays & Wednesdays)