KEY STRATEGIES FOR TRAINING TRANSFER Negotiation...
Transcript of KEY STRATEGIES FOR TRAINING TRANSFER Negotiation...
KEY STRATEGIES
FOR TRAINING
TRANSFER
IF IT DOESN’T STICK,
WHAT’S THE POINT?
AN EBOOK
Brought to you by:
Negotiation
skills
IS YOUR TRAINING STICKY ENOUGH? THE KEYS TO TRAINING TRANSFER.
Do the participants in your training program effectively apply what they are supposed to learn
to their day-to-day job performance? This may be the single most fundamental question every
HR and Training professional should ask about current training efforts and programs. If you are
spending valuable resources on employee training, and your employees do not apply what
they learn on the job, why continue wasting those resources? You can find better uses for the
time, energy and money currently being wasted. On the other hand, if you’re like most professionals charged with employee development, education and training, you want to prove
that your efforts are getting the training results you desire (usually improved performance), and
you want to know that your efforts support business goals and objectives.
So – where to start? How about with the baseline effectiveness of your training? Does it stick?
There are generally speaking, three broad phases for training programs or events:
For simplicity’s sake, we’ll refer to these phases as “Pre”, “Event”, and “Post.” There are several stakeholders and important players in each phase, and the ultimate effectiveness of your
training depends upon a complex series of closely interdependent actions, engagements and
decisions across all three phases. For the purposes of this exercise, we will focus on three critical
players to training transfer:
Definition: Training transfer is
effectively and continually
applying on the job what the
trainee learned during training.
Goals of successful training
transfer:
Trainees generalize skills to the
work setting.
Trainees maintain skills in the
work setting.
Training transfer is measured after
participation in a training
program.
Transfer of Training, By Holly Hutchins,
Ph.D., and Lisa A. Burke, Ph.D., SPHR,
SHRM 2008
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Before the event or program (pre-event)
The event or program
After the event or program (post event)
THE TRAINER THE EMPLOYEE THE MANAGER
These charts appear in Making Training Stick: A Training Transfer Field Guide, by Barabra Carnes. The research delved into the impact of
the combination of three time periods (Pre, Event, Post) and three roles (Trainer, Employee and Manager). The book in which the research
first appeared, called Transfer of Training by Mary Broad and John Newstrom, remains one of the leading resources in the field of training
transfer. As you can see, there are nine possible combinations in the matrix. The third column represents the level of disconnect between
impact and usage. The most significant impact is manager/before (-4) and manager/after (-6). Meaning that the impact of these roles in
combination with the corresponding time frame are the least utilized, and therefore represent the greatest opportunities to improve
training transfer.
So, we know which stakeholders can have the greatest impact and when we need their involvement. The question then becomes, how
do we do it?
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CRITICAL PLAYERS TO TRAINING TRANSFER
Power/Impact Use/Frequency Disconnect
PRE
Trainer 2 2 0
Employee 7 8 -1
Manager 1 5 -4
EVENT
Trainer 4 1 3
Employee 5 3 2
Manager 8 6 2
POST
Trainer 9 7 2
Employee 6 4 2
Manager 3 9 -6
1= MOST POWERFUL/IMPACTFUL FOR TRAINING TRANSFER
SOURCE: BARBARA CARNES, MAKING TRAINING STICK
6 best practices for aligning
training to deliver business results:
1. Identify the business objectives
and partner with stakeholders.
2. Understand the business need.
3. Establish goals.
4. Determine the performance
requirements.
5. Align the learning solution.
6. Develop and execute a
measurement plan.
PRE-EVENT
The work we do before a training event carries the most impact in transferring the learning to
improved performance. The manager’s role before training is the most impactful, and the
trainer’s role is second most impactful of the nine possible choices. Before the event, there are
three broad areas of important work that will bear a direct correlation to the ultimate transfer of
the learning objectives as follows:
1. Alignment of the learning objectives and training event to organizational goals and
objectives.
2. The actual design and development of the training content.
3. Marketing of the training to stakeholders – specifically to the affected employees and their
managers.
1. ALIGNMENT
We’ve probably all heard this term used many times in a variety of business and corporate
contexts. It’s one of these “buzz words” that sounds great. And it’s a concept that many people
overanalyze and overthink to the point that it seems hopelessly complicated. Effective alignment of organizational goals to training efforts does not have to be that hard. In fact, it
can be pretty straightforward if you approach the challenge logically and systematically.
Linking of organizational goals with the employees' personal goals requires common
understanding of purposes and goals of the organization, and consistency between every
objective and plan, right down to the incentive offers.
Think about focusing a pair of binoculars. You can set them once, and then move them to look
at a different object. Do they remain focused or “aligned?” No. You have to adjust them.
Organizations have to do the same thing. Make continuous adjustments to keep their learning
programs aligned with organizational goals as conditions change – especially in this rapidly
changing and evolving marketplace. Otherwise, our training programs will remain fixed on an
objective that – just like the out-of-focus binoculars – looked clear once, but doesn’t help us
achieve our goals as conditions evolve.
• Keep it simple.
• Make sure you understand your
organizational goals.
• Work your way down the
organization one level at a time
to see how each level below
supports the goals above.
• Identify training solutions and
eliminate solutions where
training isn’t the answer.
• Design your training starting with
each employee, and take the
program up the organizational
structure until you get back to
the top.
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TIPS FOR
BETTER
ALIGNMENT
Here’s an example of how this can work.
XYZ, Co. has a total of five broad, organizational goals for 2014:
1. Improve network downtime to less than 1% per month.
2. Retain a high percentage of current customers going from 80% to 85%.
3. Increase the average current customer annual spend from $1750.00 to $2000.
4. Add 1000 new customers per month.
5. Reduce turnover from 20% to 18%.
Which of these goals might be supported by employee training? All of them in one way or
another could be training issues. But the way to make sure is to look for areas where underlying
knowledge or skill gaps might make achieving one or two of these goals difficult. Let’s assume
the network performance can be improved by switching to a different web-hosting
environment. Training won’t make a big impact there. So our challenge as training professionals
is to conduct a thorough performance analysis along each of the organizational goals. As part of this analysis, the potentially impacted managers will play a major role as they help you define
the skills, knowledge and performance gaps that need to be filled. With the support and input
from the managers, you can build the type of strong support network you need because the
managers who participate will have helped set the training goals, make decisions about
possible content and will help you define success.
By building on this foundation of manager engagement, you are poised to provide the support
your managers need as they explain the importance, value and expectations around the
upcoming training efforts.
Organizations frequently fail to achieve clear alignment of organizational goals to training
efforts for three reasons. First, they are trying to make a training solution apply to every organizational challenge. Second, they try to take on too many challenges at one time. Third,
organizations fail to identify important metrics and measures of success resulting in possibly
improved performance, but no linkage to the training efforts.
• Choose no more than three
broad training initiatives in
support of organizational goals
at a time.
• Make sure you conduct an
effective performance analysis
before selecting your training
targets to ensure the gaps in
current performance and
desired performance can be
filled by employee training.
• As a part of your performance
analysis, make sure all
stakeholders agree on success
criteria and are committed to
and can gather and report
data and metrics so you can
see actual training results.
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TIPS FOR
BETTER
ALIGNMENT
2. DESIGN
Effective alignment of training to organizational goals requires significant work on the part of
multiple stakeholders, and there is a strong need for the trainer and manager to be heavily
involved. At first glance, it would be easy to say that design is the sole domain of the trainer. It
would be easy, and it would be wrong.
The first thing to bring to mind is what we’ve learned about how adults learn in the workplace. They learn best when they see a clear and direct correlation between what we ask them to
learn and their job performance. They also need immediate opportunities to apply what
they’ve learned or they forget. A great partnership between the trainer and the manager can
positively influence the impact and effectiveness of your training efforts if you get the manager
involved in making the connection for the employee and providing immediate opportunities to
apply new learning on the job.
Since the people who must apply what they learn are your employees, design and build your
training with their needs front and center. In other words, don’t design the training based strictly
upon the organizational goals. Reverse-engineer the training design based upon the
performance gaps you discover at the employee level. For instance, improved sales might be
an organizational goal. The skill gap might be as basic as negotiation. So if you offer strategic sales as a training course, you will not see improvement. Look at the needs of the employees,
train to those needs, and you’re much more likely to get real results.
We are seeing more and more great information being published about improved learning
results and training transfer from shorter learning events. People are not as motivated as you’d
think to sit in an all-day class or go through a 3-4 hour eLearning course. Outside of work, we live
in a sound bite world where we can get information we want, on-demand, in short bursts or
segments. Think YouTube. It makes sense to build your training efforts along these same lines.
Keep the session short, and make as much use of online video training as you can.
• Make sure managers are
involved with both
communications to employees
about the connection between
assigned training and job
performance, with providing
opportunities for employees to
immediately apply what they
learn immediately after training
sessions.
• Reverse engineer the content.
• Keep each session as short as
you can and try to incorporate
video (think blended learning).
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TIPS FOR
BETTER
DESIGN
THE ADDIE MODEL: Analyze – analyze learner characteristics, task to be learned, etc. Design – develop learning objectives, choose an instructional approach.
Develop – create instructional or training materials.
Implement – deliver or distribute the instructional materials.
Evaluate – make sure the materials achieved the desired goals.
3. MARKETING
Marketing? Really? Yes , you have to engage in good old-fashioned marketing.
Marketing can be broadly defined as creating a value proposition for a targeted consumer
that prompts an eventual purchase. Now, let’s apply that definition to your training. You want
to help employees see how the training will help them perform better, explain what they can
expect in terms of time and inconvenience, and find ways to get as many targeted employees as possible to participate.
Which leads to a very important point. You need to target your message to the specific
employees who will go through the training. Sales professionals will need a different value
statement than your HR team or tech support team. Don’t get caught up in a “one-size-fits-all”
communications plan. If you want to reach everyone, everyone needs their own message!
You need to develop a plan to market and communicate your training program. Your plan
should include things like e-mail campaigns, newsletter articles, bulletin board posters, hand
bills, etc. In other words, figure out how your employees CURRENTLY learn about important
initiatives, and use the same communication channels, and don’t be afraid to get creative.
Remember, you’re trying to create an impression and generate enthusiasm for your training efforts.
Make sure you get senior leadership to buy into your efforts. Having a video greeting from the
President or CEO is wonderful. If you can’t get a video, get a letter or some sort of
announcement. Remember, a big element to effective training transfer is a supportive culture,
and culture starts at the top. The more visible and more direct you can make senior leadership
support, the closer you get to a really supportive culture for employee training, learning and
development.
Identifying cheerleaders,
champions and influencers.
Every complex network and
organization has “connective
tissue.” These are the people who
seem to know everyone. They are
the people you call when you
want an introduction, or want to
know who is the new employee in
accounting.
These individuals can serve a vital
and strategic role in furthering the
learning objectives and strategic
objectives of the entire
organization and every employee.
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A
SUPPORTIVE
CULTURE
For more on marketing your training program, download the
Marketing Planner and Job Aid. Click here.
THE EVENT
As you’d expect, the actual training session plays a significant role in training transfer, but
probably not in the way you’d expect. The most critical element in the effectiveness of the
training event is the instructional design – not the delivery. Now if the delivery is just so bad that
your employees can’t pay any attention, the instructional design doesn’t matter at all. But if you
have a basic level of quality in the presentation of material, the most influential element is the
design.
We’ve learned quite a bit about effective training events over the past several decades. For
instance, we know that adults react to shorter training sessions better and they retain more of
what they learn in shorter sessions. We also know that the event should be as convenient as
possible for the participants. Recent data suggests that streaming video is sometimes the most
effective single method for teaching new material. As you develop your blended solution,
make sure you have appropriate technology tools in place to facilitate easy employee access
to content, tracking, reporting, and administration of the online training elements of your
program. We’ll talk a little more about technology in the next section.
The best training events are almost always designed as part of blended learning programs.
People learn better, retain and apply more when they are given several different ways to learn. Blended learning traditionally involved some combination of classroom, discussion groups,
online training, books, etc. If you’re looking for the best possible results, make sure you are
delivering a blended learning solution.
Malcolm Knowles identified the six
principles of adult learning which
we now call “adult learning
theory” in the 1970’s.
1. Adults are internally motivated
and self-directed
2. Adults bring life experiences
and knowledge to learning
experiences
3. Adults are goal oriented
4. Adults are relevancy oriented
5. Adults are practical
6. Adult learners like to be
respected
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ADULT
LEARNING
THEORY
According to an Aberdeen Group Learning and Performance Study, featured
in the April/May 2013 edition of Elearning! Magazine, 59% of all Best-in-Class organizations indicate they are using some form of video content.
Some of the advantages of video include:
• Easy and convenient
• Short
• Multiple devices
• Shareable
• User-generated comments and ratings
• Higher learner retention and engagement
POST EVENT - MANAGERS
TIPS FOR MANAGER SUPPORT:
• Work with managers before the
event to emphasize the
importance of their support.
• Reach a shared understanding
among all of the stakeholders
about what a successful
training event will look like 30, 60
and 90 days after the event.
• Develop resources to help your
managers support your training
efforts.
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Power/Impact Use/Frequency Disconnect
PRE
Trainer 2 2 0
Employee 7 8 -1
Manager 1 5 -4
EVENT
Trainer 4 1 3
Employee 5 3 2
Manager 8 6 2
POST
Trainer 9 7 2
Employee 6 4 2
Manager 3 9 -6
The chart below shows us that the third most influential combination of impact for role and phase is the manager after the training event.
But the same research tells us this is the least utilized role/phase combination in actual practice. This is a classic “good news/bad news”
type of situation. The good news is that we have a perfect opportunity in front of us to make a big improvement in the application of
training to job performance. The bad news is that currently, most organizations are not engaging managers effectively after training
events.
If you think back to the interaction we suggest between the trainer and the manager before a training event you will see strong
indicators of exactly what the manager needs to do at the post event phase to impact training transfer.
Make sure you have developed the tools, job aids or any other resources necessary so the managers are ready to support your training
efforts by providing immediate opportunities for employees to apply what they learn as soon as possible after the event. This type of
manager support will prove invaluable as you move towards greater training transfer.
Your marketing efforts should continue after the event or course completion. Go back to the
definition of marketing we suggested earlier.
Marketing is creating a value proposition for a targeted consumer that prompts an eventual
purchase.
After the event you might be tempted to say that you’re finished marketing because the
“purchase” (attend the training session) is complete. But that’s not entirely accurate. The
“purchase” you are trying to get is not just attendance. It also includes the application of the
learning objectives to each participating employee’s day-to-day job performance. So, to
complete the purchase, you have to continue marketing the value and benefits of the training.
Success stories can be impactful.
Get employees who went through the training share what they learned and how they’ve used
the training to perform better. Get managers to share their observations of improved
performance. For employees working with customers, either external or internal, get testimonials
or examples of how the lessons from the training made their experience more positive.
Job aids and follow-up communications can be effective and impactful. Everyone loves
training takeaways. So why not provide them 30, 60 and 90 days after the event too? We’ve
found that things like FAQ or checklists are good follow-up tools when appropriate to the
training content and lessons.
• Pre-launch: purpose is to build
excitement.
• Launch: purpose is to drive
utilization.
• Process/Instruction: purpose is
to communicate processes and
instruct on system navigation
• Reminder: purpose is to sustain
utilization and expand
audience if needed.
• Follow-up (every 3 months
minimum ongoing): purpose is
to re-energize the program,
drive utilization and
encourage/drive feedback.
Provide means for feedback
even if that is only referencing
the existing course evaluations.
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MARKETING
PHASES
POST EVENT - MARKETING
For more on developing a marketing plan, download the a sample
marketing action plan. Click here.
Your technology tools become extremely important during the event for any online delivery of
training resources. There are many excellent learning management systems on the market,
including, by the way, CompanyCollege from BizLibrary. All of the better systems have similar
core functionality. However, your technology tools will become really powerful in offering
appropriate learner and manager support after the training event.
How can your LMS drive and support better transfer? Here are some ideas…
Send a pre-training email to employees that summarizes what they will learn and how they are
expected to use it to do their job.
Send a pre-training email to the employee’ supervisors. Summarize the key learning objectives,
remind the supervisors to plan for the time required to complete the training and encourage
them to plan for the new behavior or skill when the employee completes the training.
Send a link within an email of a short video from the CEO or senior leader describing the
importance of the training and how the new skills or behaviors will impact the organization.
Use the LMS survey tool to find out how skills are being used 60 and 90 days post-training.
Sending follow-up e-mail messages can be an excellent way to keep the training lessons visible
and timely for your employees. When you can couple regular follow-up e-mails with job aids,
follow-up quizzes and assessments, you can begin to encourage training transfer, and you can
also begin to build important data to track just how much training employees are applying at important intervals like 20, 60 and 90 days.
Use the social learning application. Social and informal learning are powerful. Create discussion
groups before the training event or course. As training or HR professionals, we need to learn how
to keep the learning objectives in mind, and learn to facilitate ongoing conversations in social
and informal learning settings around these same objectives. A social learning platform can
help you do exactly that. You can share relevant files. Employees can share their successes, ask
questions, post comments, etc. Our best advice – don’t fight the power of informal learning.
Learn instead how to facilitate your employees’ learning along learning objectives regardless of
where and how they learn.
Social learning isn't new. In fact, it's
how most of us learn. What is
changing is that many
organizations are beginning to
work to incorporate social learning
tools into their employee learning
strategies and programs.
DOWNLOAD THE EBOOK, How To
Embrace Social Learning And
Improve Employee Performance
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SOCIAL
LEARNING
POST EVENT - TECHNOLOGY
3 PRACTICAL STEPS TO GET SOCIAL AND INFORMAL LEARNING TO WORK FOR YOUR
ORGANIZATION
1. Identify the right technology tools for your employees.
Start with your employees’ perspectives to ensure broad utilization. Changing demographics
and behaviors have a big impact on learning in organizations. You need to make sure the tool
– or tools – you select are easy to use. You also want to ensure that you provide a secure
environment for an open and complete exchange of company content.
2. Build a community and set an example.
You will have a hard time getting your employees to use a system you don’t use yourself. So –
get engaged in your chosen tool right from the start. The next step is to find your “early
adopters.” These will be the foundation for your vibrant community. Remember – informal and
social learning are true “grassroots” developments.
3. Locate great content to share in your technology platform.
Your employees are not going to use a platform effectively and efficiently unless they find
value. Value for employees means content – answers to questions, searchable posts, links, files,
tips, best practices, suggestions, etc. You can jump start the content several ways. For instance,
start collecting links to articles and online resources that you believe are helpful in your business. Find files and documents that you know have broad use and application that are currently in
your system some place. Post them on your tool, and make sure employees can readily search
for that information.
Training transfer can be a complex and tricky thing to accomplish. Our colleagues come to
employee training and development with all of their internally held preferences and biases. Our
job as training professionals is to reach them anyway, and we can do that if we approach
each phase of the training with the ultimate stakeholder in mind, and that’s the individual
employee. The success of each employee benefits the whole organization. So, we have to take
training transfer seriously as a critical element of the success of every training initiative we launch.
Whatever training your employees
need, you’ll find it with BizLibrary.
Content and technology all in one
place. BizLibrary provides its clients
with the industry’s largest and
fastest growing collection of high-
quality training videos and
eLearning courses, covering 25+
topic areas.
Additionally, the cloud-hosted
LMS, Performance Management
and Social Learning applications
help smaller organizations
streamline and simplify important
talent management processes.
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