Thrown Into Training

It never ceases to amaze me that training programs are created, marked as complete, and then never revisited.  The assumption is made that a need has been met and therefore, it does not require review.

However, we know that the one constant in life is change:  the employees change, the technology changes, and yes, the needs change.  There is no finish line; there should always be a way to do something better, faster, stronger.

Talk to the people who are actually performing the job.  Yes, you do need management’s input, but they usually have lost touch with the nuances of functions.  Talk to the people who are in the know:  the computer operator, the file clerk, the ones on the front lines.

I like to send out surveys.  My questions for the most part are close-ended,  usually a statement such as:

I utilize the sum function in Excel… and then I have a scale of Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always.

At the end of the survey, I leave a spot for anything not already covered and for suggestions.  I then collect the data and put it into an Excel spreadsheet.  I convert Never to 1, Rarely, to 2, Sometimes to 3, Often to 4, and Always to 5.  I then average out the totals and anything above 2 or 2.5 (depending on the subject matter) should be covered in a generalized training session.

Anything that is more specific to one department should be covered by that department’s training team in a specialized training session.  Or, this might take the form of job aids for that department.

I was recently in a situation where the training had been “as is” for nearly eight years.  I prepared a survey and send it out to the entire company.  I found out that we were covering three portions that we didn’t need to cover (the options weren’t being used) and needed to develop training for five “new” sections.

Not only did this open our eyes about what needed to be trained, but it also showed how many departments were now involved with this particular piece of software.  This was a piece of software that was supposed to “go away” at some point.  This survey gave us a clear indication of how many employees that would affect.

The point is, if you are not the end-user of the training, you can’t be the one who makes the decision as to whether or not it’s truly effective or even still useful.   Communication with those who do use the equipment/software/tools is key to success.  Your training program should be ever-evolving, just like the folks who are involved with it.

add to digg | add to stumble | bookmark on del.icio.us | submit to reddit