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Christy R. McKinney

Christy R. McKinney

Aspiring stay-at-home dog mom meeting learning and development needs with creativity and enthusiasm.

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Why have a training program?

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It’s simple: Employees desire opportunities. Learning and development allow employees to gain skills, acquire positive behaviors, grow knowledge, and become empowered in their jobs. Effective training, which HR professionals and training managers play a crucial role in, improves retention as employees feel that they can learn and grow in their roles. To be effective, training initiatives must clearly define goals and objectives and communicate those to participants.

Effective training is manageable, memorable, and measurable and starts before the training session begins. Design and Development of the learning program requires time and evaluation. Obstacles to effective training must be anticipated. Goals and competencies must be established before content can be created. Why is the training necessary? Who is the audience? What is the desired result? How will the results be measured? What is the best format to use? Does the content meet the goals and adjectives? Will the content and method of implementation achieve the desired result? These questions should be repeatedly addressed in the development process. After delivery, evaluating the training from a presentation standpoint and receiving participant feedback is essential. Review the feedback, document results, and strive to improve the next time. It should be a learning and development cycle that does not stop.

Training can rarely be thrown together and effective without careful development, addressing the questions above. The participant will recognize the halfhearted approach. Training also should not be like drinking from the firehose. There must be a reasonable schedule with time to digest the content. We’ve all sat through marathon learning sessions and walked away overwhelmed, retaining virtually nothing. A jam-packed agenda with no opportunities to digest content is counterproductive. Training sessions have to be manageable. Breaking content into chunks with breaks for both discussion and pause is essential.

Participants need to actually apply the content and interact with/reflect on it for the content to “stick.” Interactive game-based learning isn’t just more interesting and engaging; it works. Blended learning strategies offer a show, do, review approach. The participant engages multiple senses, which increases content retention. In-person training should have interactive components as well. Show/Do/Review makes training memorable.

Learners need to be engaged and able to connect learning to their day-to-day lives. Building engagement involves building interest, identifying how to make the learning content relevant, and delivering content in a way that is appealing and promotes retention. If well executed, the learning becomes authentic and important to the participant. They are then motivated to engage, seek further knowledge, and implement what they have learned.

Learning must be measurable. If you can’t or won’t measure effectiveness, what’s the point? To say it is done? So many times, this is the case, and employees know it. Training completion becomes another box to check, leading to inattention and no retention. Without measurability, there is no way to see what works and what does not. What may be fun and engaging may not solve the problem.

What makes training effective? Essentially, the little things add up. A strong, well-organized learning program with sound principles and objectives is ineffective if the environment is uncomfortable and riddled with distractions. Organizational leaders play a crucial role in creating a conducive learning environment. If learners participate strictly in checking a box, little value will be taken away. Negativity breeds negativity. If training is poorly planned and poorly executed, it wastes time for everyone involved. The training environment must be conducive to learning. Basic human needs must be considered. Snacks and breaks are important. Goals, objectives, and implementation strategy work in tandem with participants and place to build effective training.

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