Ask any training professional about his/her definition of success with any training program and in most cases the answer would be that ‘learners liked the training’. This statement would be backed by decent-enough customer satisfaction scores in the evaluations routinely conducted at the end of any training program. It’s great when learners like the learning program. But most times, the glow from the training usually lasts only for a few days before hard reality sets in. Learners who go back really charged about what they learnt get caught in the everyday grind and that new learning gets pushed onto the back burner. Sometimes, managers don’t ask where the impact is either – they are usually so relieved that their resource is now back on the job that they don’t care either way about long-term payoffs.

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When you are considering developing a training program for your employees, you would primarily focus on designing a training program that would impart the desired skills to your employees. Your primary focus would be on the ‘what to teach’ aspect of it. And you may overlook the other crucial aspect, i.e., ‘how to teach’. However, you need to respect the fact that a single pedagogical strategy cannot cater to the needs of all learners. You need to devise a multi-pronged instructional strategy to suit your learners’ learning styles and preferences. In short, if you want your training program to be effective, you need to recognize the different types of learners.

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Companies which follow certain business ethics have better chances of survival, as compared with the ones whose only goal is to make profits, even if they have to make several compromises to achieve their goals.

The recent cases of scandals, frauds and irregularities make it mandatory that ethics in the workplace make a strong comeback. While businesses focus on profitability and success, it is imperative to train employees to be ethical. Training in ethics helps build a strong team and foster professionalism amongst employees, thereby increasing work productivity.

Work ethics is like invisible employee behavior, noticeable by its absence. Some common workplace ethics include:

• Punctuality: Arriving to work on time, adhering to lunch and breaks on time and being absent for valid reasons.
• Responsibility: Utilizing work time to complete tasks and deadlines and not for personal work.
• Professional image: Be well dressed and adhere to the company dress code.
• Teamwork: Respect others and work well together and be a good team player.
• Attitude: Being pleasant and polite, and take on difficult tasks smilingly.

Employees, who have strong ethics in personal and professional life, need no explanation, unlike those employees for whom work ethics is a growing problem. So, how do you train them to be ethical to one and all, whether in the professional realm or personal?

• A written code of conduct: This clearly defines ethics to be maintained in an organization. Each employee should have one, including new hires. The aim of defining and writing a code of conduct is to let employees know what is acceptable and unacceptable.
• Training programs: Besides developing goals for the upcoming year, organizations should focus on training in ethics at the workplace. A few members from the top level management can lead the ethics training programs. Such initiatives will stress the fact that employees must cultivate and adhere to the ethics code at the workplace.
• Role model: If your employees have a role model in you, it would be easier for them to adhere to the company’s code of conduct and ethics. Seniors behaving in a morally upright manner will set an example for employees to follow.

And finally, it is essential to communicate ethical values and a code of conduct to employees as you are giving them the authority to take appropriate ethical decision in any given situations.

Do share your thoughts with me on the same.

The other day, my friend was ranting about attending a training session at her new company. She has over eight years’ experience in her field of work, but still has to attend training sessions organized by her company. Her ranting reminded me of my training sessions with the company I joined just a year or two ago. Despite finding the whole process boring, I was glad I attended the session as it helped me know more about company, people, work responsibilities and more.

Not all positions in an organization require a fresher. Some positions demand experienced new hires. Many newly hired experienced employees expect to start right away in to their new job as they feel that their experience and knowledge are more than sufficient. This is true to a certain extent, but many companies ask its new hires, fresher or experienced, to undergo induction training.

Every company has its own set of culture and standard practices that determine how each employee should go about doing their job. The entry of experienced employees into an organization requires him or her to maintain and get accustomed to its culture and decorum. Not adhering to one’s organization’s style of work can cause conflict leading to negativity, lack of motivation and enthusiasm, causing the employee’s performance to suffer. An induction training and orientation program helps new employees to be familiar with the culture and practice of the organization.

Besides the regular induction program, newly hired experienced employees need to develop a level of competency set by the new company to perform well in his or her new role. Despite having the required experience, training in developing competencies can help achieve great results.

When a new employee joins an organization, the chances of conflict arising are high. Training new hires on ways of getting along well with subordinates, colleagues and seniors will benefit them as well as the organization.

If an organization has to train its experienced employees, it is essential that they offer significant training programs. Irrelevant training sessions are a complete waste of time for the organization and the employees. Organizations should hold training programs that impart further knowledge and develop new skills on the job. Training can be off-the-job (lectures, conferences, case studies, role-play, simulations) or on-the-job (orientation, internships, coaching, instruction training).

The goals of the training program should relate to the needs of the organization. Goals should include milestones that help take an employee, fresher or experienced from his or her current position to where he or she desires to be. Allowing employees to participate in goal-setting of training programs increases their success rate and motivates employees.

The purposes of training programs are to:

• Increase productivity
• Reduce employee turnover
• Increase efficiency resulting in financial gains
• Decreased need for supervision
• Building an efficient, effective and highly motivate team to enhance the company’s position in the market
• Encourage employees to adopt and use advanced technical know-how to increase productivity.

Do share your thoughts with me on the same.

When I first read Dr. Robert Mager’s seminal book (more a booklet), “Setting Instructional Objectives”, I had my first ‘aha’ experience in the field of training and learning. At that time, I have just changed my career track from Sales to University Teaching and Corporate Training. I did not have a formal background in Learning and Performance Management and his principles guided me through my new career like a beacon of light to explore and learn further.

The book itself is a gem, so succinctly yet so humorously written that I finished my first reading in one sitting! It is one book that practices what it preaches. Its instructional objectives are so well set and so well achieved in me that I never read the book again for clarification. But I read it many times (and continue to read it) for the sheer pleasure of reading such a masterpiece.

His almost simplistic aphorism about setting quantifiable and measurable learning outcomes is so simple yet so powerfully logical. If used along with the other two principles of conditions (under which the performance has to be done) and criteria of acceptable performance, it becomes a cornerstone for all instructional interventions, be it classroom or eLearning.

ROBERT MAGER’S PRINCIPLES AS APPLIED IN COMMLAB’S PRODUCTS

For me, Robert’s principles always helped me answer critical questions while designing training programs or developing storyboards for eLearning courses.

• What will be content for the subject?
• What will be the duration of learning?
• What will be the instructional strategy (how best can a particular topic be presented)?
• What will be the type of assessments?

I would like to hear from my fellow learning professionals what they think of Mager’s principles and to what extent are they used in today’s world of rapid eLearning.

Thank you very much for reading my blog.

RK Prasad

CEO