Quizes Flashcards
(135 cards)
1
Q
Training is
A
A formal undertaking
Designed to increase workers’ knowledge, skill, and abilities in their current job
The textbook defines training as a formal and planned effort to help workers acquire knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to improve their performance in their current job. By contrast, development emphasizes developing KSAs for future job responsibilities. The boundary between training and development are permeable. For example, it is possible for a worker to both improve their present performance and learn things that qualify them for a future job in the same training session.
2
Q
Performance Management:
A
Entails establishing performance goals.
Seeks to improve performance through interventions.
Can include punishing poor performance.
The textbook defines performance management as the process of establishing goals and designing interventions and programs to motivate and develop employees to improve their performance and, ultimately, organizational performance. While this course focuses on training interventions to remedy deficits in workers’ knowledge, skills, and abilities, poor performance that is not deficit-related (or that is the result of egregious misconduct) is still likely to be punished, through discipline or termination. This threat of termination can also motivate workers to engage in and apply training. This dynamic highlights that employment is a relationship of power and employers use their power to achieve their goals (usually related to maximize profitability).
3
Q
What are the major steps of the instructional systems design (ISD) model?
A
Evaluation, training design and delivery, and needs analysis.
4
Q
What tasks are performed during a needs analysis?
A
Organizational analysis.
Task analysis
Person analysis.
5
Q
The ISD model puts the creation of training objectives before the development of training content and methods. Why do you think this is the case?
A
The logic of the ISD model in training is intended to meet certain organizational goals that are identified in the needs analysis. Training objectives translate these needs into specific objectives that training must achieve in order for it to be successful. The content of the training and the methods by which it is delivered should be consistent with these objectives, so the objectives are developed first.
6
Q
Sometimes, organizations will buy off-the-shelf training products. What are the risks associated with this choice, given the logic of the ISD model?
A
The main risk of buying off-the-shelf training is that the objectives, content, and method are often pre-determined by the training provider. The resulting training may not meet the organizational need that has prompted the training. For example, an organization may be statutorily required to provide its cleaning staff with training about how to handle chemicals that are used in the workplace. The organizational needs may be to (1) comply with the law, and (2) ensure workers are not injured by the chemicals they are required to use.
Purchasing off-the-shelf training on handling hazardous chemicals may provide these workers with general principles for handling chemicals safely. But it may not address the specific chemicals used in the workplace or the circumstances in which the chemicals are actually used. This off-the-shelf training may meet the statutory requirement but may not provide adequate protection to workers.
7
Q
Why might organizations purchase off-the-shelf training instead of developing their own?
A
Generally, the decision to purchase off-the-shelf training is a cost-benefit decision. In a capitalist economy, employers typically seek to maximize profitability. One way to do that is by minimizing labour costs. Off-the-shelf training may be significantly cheaper than developing in-house training. For example, the training provider may have access to knowledge, skills, or content that the employer does not. It may be necessary for an employer to trade off the cost savings of off-the-shelf training against any potential reduction in effectiveness caused by the training not being a perfect fit for the organization.
8
Q
Why does the textbook suggest that training may positively impact recruitment?
A
The textbook indicates that workers may value skills development. This may be particularly true of younger employees who are looking to move up in their organization or in another workplace. This statement highlights that employment relationships are always temporary ones. One of the resulting training dynamics is that employers may be reluctant to provide training if they fear their newly trained workers will be poached by another employer (who will reap the benefit from the training).
9
Q
What benefits do workers receive from training?
A
The textbook asserts that workers receive both intrinsic and extrinsic benefits from training. Extrinsic benefits include higher earnings and greater marketability. Intrinsic benefits include greater confidence, self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and a feeling of usefulness and belonging to an organization.
It is interesting to note that the authors ignore that workers may also benefit from the break in their work routine and the opportunity to interact with others. Ignoring the idea that workers might benefit (emotionally and physically) from simply not doing their job for awhile highlights that the textbook looks at training almost exclusively through the lens of employer interests.
10
Q
The textbook suggests that a labour shortage can be the result of a skills mismatch. Can you think of other reasons for a labour shortage?
A
Labour shortages can reflect a skills shortage. But they can also reflect qualified workers not being willing to make themselves available for the wages and working conditions that employers are offering. In these circumstances, workers who have some other way to pay their bills (e.g., employment insurance) may choose to opt out of the labour force. Given this, it is important to see the training prescription for a labour shortage (often combined with a demand for governments to fund such training) as part of employers’ efforts to minimize labour costs. This prescription makes available (at taxpayers’ expense) more adequately qualified workers who are available to take on jobs at the wages and working conditions offered.
11
Q
True or False
Unitarists believe that workers refusing to apply training reflects a legitimate conflict of interest.
A
False.
Unitarism does not acknowledge that workers and employers have interests that sometimes conflict. Unitarism is more likely to explain workers refusing to apply training as deviant behaviour, worker irrationality, and/or poor communications.
12
Q
How might a pluralist explain a worker refusing to share their knowledge of their job with the employer?
A
Workers sees their knowledge as a resource that makes them valuable to the employer.
Withholding knowledge of how work is done allows workers to control the pace and/or process of work.
Hoarding work-related knowledge is a bulwark against potential layoffs.
In a pluralist view (where workers and employers have interests that sometimes diverge), workers may decline to sharing their knowledge of how a job is done because they see their knowledge as an asset that they can use to shape their working conditions and reduce the likelihood of managers sacking them.
13
Q
True or False
Historical disparities do not need to be considered in the development of training?
A
False.
Historical disparities between groups of people are often based upon one or more identity factors. Such disparities can manifest themselves in differences that affect the ability or willingness of individuals from these groups to participate in training. For example, women are often expected to be the primary caregivers for their children in addition to working. This can limit their ability or willingness to participate in training held outside of their normal work hours.
14
Q
Will a worker whose first language is not English require translated materials to complete a training module on gender-based analysis?
A
It depends.
Whether a worker requires translated materials will depend upon the workers’ fluency in English. While GBA+ analysis can be helpful in leading us to ask questions about how intersectionality can affect training, it is important to be mindful that identity characteristics do not necessarily tell us much about the experiences or capabilities of individuals in the identity group. We can only know what (if any) alterations we may need to make to training delivery methods by asking those who will be affected by them.
15
Q
What are examples of informal learning?
A
Incidental conversations.
Self-directed searching on the Internet.
Group problem solving
Informal learning is training that occurs primarily spontaneously and outside of formal designed activities. Conversations with coworkers, Internet searches, and group problem solving are examples. Seminars and structured on-the-job training programs are examples of formal learning because they involve planned and structured activities.
16
Q
In Gagne’s framework of learning outcomes, what are examples of declarative knowledge?
A
Declarative knowledge includes facts, knowledge, principles, and packages of information. In this typology, preferences and internal states are categorized as attitudes, the execution of physical movements is categorized as motor skills, and procedures are categorized as intellectual skills.
17
Q
In Krager’s framework of learning outcomes, what is the term for the fast and fluid performance of a task?
A
Compilation refers to the fast and fluid performance of a task as a result of proceduralization and composition. Automaticity is the ability to perform a task without conscious monitoring.
18
Q
What is the key implication of resource allocation theory for training?
A
Resource allocation theory asserts that individuals have limited cognitive resources that can be used to learn a new task. The amount of resources individuals can allocate to a new task varies across the three stages of learning. Given this, training must take into account what demands and expectations are realistic to place on learners at each stage of learning.
19
Q
In adaptive character of thought (ACT) theory, what do learners accomplish during the first stage of learning?
A
The first stage of learning (declarative knowledge) sees learners learn facts, knowledge, and information.
20
Q
In ACT theory, what occurs during knowledge compilation?
A
Learners acquire the ability to translate declarative knowledge into proficient action. This involves integrating tasks into sequences to simplify and streamline the performance of the task. This eventually leads to proceduralization—when the learner has mastered the task and performance is automatic.
21
Q
Thinking about Kolb’s learning styles, if you have a group of learners who all prefer to learn using abstract conceptualization and reflective observation, which learning mode should you build into the training course?
A
Kolb notes the importance of a learning cycle in which learners use all four modes of learning in a sequence that begins with a concrete experience, followed by reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and then experimentation.
22
Q
In conditioning theory, how do negative reinforcement and punishment differ from each other?
A
Negative reinforcement entails the removal of stimulus when desired behaviour is demonstrated. For example, workers who are competently performing a new task may no longer have their supervisor watching their work closely. This increases the likelihood of the workers exhibiting the desired behaviour. Punishment is the application of a sanction in order to deter undesired behaviour. For example, workers who goof off may find themselves being subject to close monitoring by their boss.
23
Q
What are the three steps in the condition process, and how are they inter-related?
A
The three steps in the condition process are shaping, chaining, and generalizing. Shaping entails reinforcing each step in the process until it is mastered. The reinforcement is then withdrawn until the next step in the process is mastered. Chaining occurs once each step is mastered. Reinforcement is then applied only for the successful completion of all steps in a process. Finally, generalization addresses workers applying the process in different circumstances from which they learned them. This often entails giving workers the opportunity to apply what they have learned in different contexts.
24
Q
What is the central premise of social cognitive theory?
A
Social cognitive theory asserts that we learn through interactions with others. This includes observing the behaviour of others, making choices about different courses of action to pursue (based upon how things went for those whom we observed), and managing our own behaviour in the process of learning. This theory suggests that there is more to learning than simply responding to a series of rewards and punishments.
25
Under what conditions are training goals motivational?
Goals tend to be motivational when they are specific, challenging, accompanied by feedback, and are goals to which the learner is committed.
26
Do you have an internal or external locus of control? How do you know this?
If you have an internal locus of control, you believe that the opportunity to control your behaviour resides within yourself. If you have an external locus of control, you believe that external forces control your behaviour. It is possible (and likely) that you will have different loci of control depending upon the circumstances.
27
What, according to Sandlin, are critical educators primarily interested in when studying andragogy?
Sandlin asserts critical educators are interested in power relations and societal inequalities and have a concern for forms of education which are liberating, rather than merely adjusting. In this way, critical educators seek to understand education as having both technical and political dimensions.
28
What, according to Sandlin, is the central feminist critique of andragogy?
Sandlin asserts that andragogy has normalized and universalized the white, European, middle class male “adult learner” who possesses values such as individualism, self-directedness, and self-fulfillment. Andragogy also has a tendency to assume that teaching and learning are politically neutral activities, rather than ones that have embedded biases that negatively affect women and other traditionally disadvantaged groups.
29
What, according to Sandlin, is the central Africentric critique of andragogy?
Sandlin asserts that the methods, goals, and purposes of adult education are based primarily on Eurocentric values. In this view, education is not a neutral activity but one that reflects the cultural, social, political, and philosophical imperatives of society. These biases can be seen, for example, in who receives training in the workplace, what topics are considered legitimate for training, and what sorts of classroom behaviours are viewed as desirable.
30
What purpose(s) does a needs assessment serve?
A needs assessment (or needs analysis) seeks to identify gaps in worker or organizational performance, prioritizing those needs, and selecting an appropriate intervention. If the intervention includes training, a needs assessment can help trainers develop training outcomes as well as identify who needs what training.
31
What are the three broad types of analysis that may be performed during a needs analysis, and what kinds of information does each type of analysis provide?
The three broad types of analysis that can be performed during a needs assessment are organization analysis, task analysis, and person analysis.
Organizational analysis provides information about organizational strategies and tells us where in an organization training is required.
Task analysis provides information about the task and KSAs needed to perform a job effectively.
Person analysis tells us who needs to be trained and their level of performance.
32
How can environmental factors affect the need for training?
The external environment can trigger the need for training. For example, changing technologies, new competitors, and new regulatory demands can require organizations to undertake training. Economic factors, such as a booming labour market, can also result in additional training requirements as workers leave the organization and replacements are hired.
33
What characteristics of the workplace can facilitate training transfer?
Training transfer is the application of training to a worker’s job. Training transfer can be enhanced by cues to remind workers to apply training on the job, positive consequences for application, and support by supervisors and peers.
34
What are the main steps in performing a task analysis?
The six steps in task analysis include: (1) identifying target jobs, (2) obtaining a job description, (3) developing a rating scale to rate importance, difficulty, and frequency or each task, (4) survey a sample of job incumbents, (5) analyze and interpret information, and (6) provide feedback on the results.
35
What are the kinds of questions that a person analysis can answer?
A person analysis can answer questions such as how well does the worker perform the tasks, who requires training, and what kind(s) of training do they need?
36
What are the seven high-level questions that Mager and Pipe’s performance analysis flowchart asks about performance problems? Why are each of these questions important?
Mager and Pipe’s flowchart asks (1) what's the problem, (2) is it worth solving, (3) can we apply fast fixes, (4) are consequences appropriate, (5) do they already know how, (6) are there more clues, and (7) what solution should be selected? These questions are designed to quickly triage performance problems and identify solutions, which may include training.
37
Using Mager and Pipe’s flowchart, what intervention would you recommend to improve the performance of a worker who comes in late to work on a regular basis despite repeated instructions to attend the workplace on time and why?
The most effective intervention will depend a bit upon the reason for the tardiness and the cost of the fix. There may be resource issues (e.g., childcare limitations or inadequate transportation) that the employer may or may not be able and willing to remedy (step 5). On the other hand, if the issue is simply that the employee is not motivated to comply, then attaching consequences to tardiness (e.g., progressive disciplinary measures) may be more effective (step 10).
38
Using Mager and Pipe’s flowchart, what intervention would you recommend to improve the performance of a worker who fails to consistently update inventory on the computer resulting in items being out of stock and lost sales?
The most effective intervention will depend a bit upon the reason for not updating the inventory and the cost of the fix. If expectations are unclear, we might clarify them. If there is not enough time in the day to update the inventory, we might reduce the workers’ workload or add additional staff. If updating the database negatively affects the workers’ income (e.g., the worker is paid by sale), we might consider providing pay for inventory work or altering the pay system. If the worker does not know how to update the database (or is simply slow at it), we might provide training or practice.
39
Using Mager and Pipe’s flowchart, what intervention would you recommend to improve the performance of a worker in a call centre who fails to provide correct answers to customer questions despite answers being available in product FAQ housed in call centre attendant database? Consider that previous performance was good, but the worker is just back from an extended medical leave and she has forgotten several call handling procedures.
The most effective intervention will depend a bit upon the reason for not looking up the answer and the cost of the fix. Given the worker’s previous good performance, it might be that the worker is simply rusty and requires some practice. On the other hand, if there have been changes in the nature of the work, training might be required. If the pace of work has increased while the worker was away, perhaps additional resources are required.
40
Using Mager and Pipe’s flowchart, what intervention would you recommend to improve the performance of a worker in call centre who fails to provide correct answers to customer questions despite answers being available in product FAQ housed in call centre attendant database? Consider that the worker claims she does not know how to use the search function in the database.
The most effective intervention will depend a bit upon the reason for not looking up the answer and the cost of the fix. If the worker has never received training in the database, then training would be an appropriate intervention. This is an example where starting in the middle of the flowchart (i.e., asking if there is a genuine skill deficiency) might be a more effective way to use the tool than starting at the beginning. If the worker has received training but, for some reason, refuses to implement the training, then it might be appropriate to work through the flowchart, including clarifying expectations, attaching consequences, and, ultimately, replacing the worker.
41
Table 3.4 in the textbook outlines various data-collection methods that can be employed during a needs analysis. Which data collection method(s) would you use to investigate whether a skills deficit was the cause of workers not meeting production quotas on a manufacturing line, and why would you choose this approach?
42
Table 3.4 in the textbook outlines various data-collection methods that can be employed during a needs analysis. Which data collection method(s) would you use to identify the KSAs to teach HR staff in order to ensure that trans workers are treated equitably, and why would you choose this approach?
One place to start may be interviewing trans workers (individually or as a group) to identify the issues and behaviours they identify as problematic. We might also examine printed media (e.g., academic and professional journals) to see what issues other organizations have identified as well as possible solutions. We might then ask key informants in HR to discuss these issues and behaviours to understand what is the organizational reasoning or logic (if any) behind them. This data would then give us enough information to identify what training is required as well as what other organizational changes might be necessary and viable.
43
Table 3.4 in the textbook outlines various data-collection methods that can be employed during a needs analysis. Which data collection method(s) would you use to identify the fire prevention and safety training content required for gas station attendants, and why would you choose this approach?
One approach might be to consult with key informants (such as fire safety professionals) about what standard fire safety training at other gas stations entails. Since this is likely a question that other organizations have grappled with, identifying what has been found necessary elsewhere would be a cost-effective starting point. You might then examine organizational records and interview staff within the organization to see whether there are specific issues or circumstances that you’ll need to incorporate into your needs analysis.
44
What organizational purposes do training objectives serve?
Training objectives tell us what a trainee should be able to do at the end of the training experience. This allows us to focus the training on the needs of the worker(s) and evaluate whether the training was successful.
45
What value do training objectives have for learners?
Objectives inform trainees of the goals of a training program and what they will be expected to learn and do at the end of a training program.
Objectives allow trainees to focus their energies on achieving specific goals, rather than waste energy on irrelevant tasks or on trying to figure out what is required of them.
Objectives communicate to employees that training is important and that they will be accountable for what they learn in training.
46
What are the four elements of a training objective?
1. Who is to perform the desired behaviour?
2. What is the actual behaviour to be used to demonstrate mastery of the training content or objective?
3. Where and when is the behaviour to be demonstrated and evaluated (i.e., under what conditions)?
4. What is the standard by which the behaviour will be judged?
47
What are the four elements of a training objective?
Who is to perform the desired behaviour?
Employees and managers are the easiest to identify. In a training situation more accurate descriptors might be “all first-level supervisors,” “anyone conducting selection interviews,” or “all employees with more than one month of experience.” The trainer is not the “who,” although it is tempting for some trainees to write, for example, that the trainer will present five hours of information on communication. The goal of the instructor is to maximize the efficiency with which all trainees achieve the specified objectives, not just present the information.
48
What are the four elements of a training objective?
What is the actual behaviour to be used to demonstrate mastery of the training content or objective?
Actions described by verbs like type, run, and calculate can be measured easily. Other mental activities, such as comprehend and analyze can also be described in measurable ways. This represents the essence of what it is that the trainee must be able to do as a result of the training. Therefore, it is important to clearly indicate what that behaviour will be. One way to do this is to use Bloom’s taxonomy of learning objectives, which includes six main categories (remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create) that are ordered from simple to complex and concrete to abstract.5 Table 4.3 lists the six main categories and subcategories.
49
What are the four elements of a training objective?
Where and when is the behaviour to be demonstrated and evaluated (i.e., under what conditions)?
These could include “during a 60-second typing test,” “on a ski hill with icy conditions,” “when presented with a diagram,” or “when asked to design a training session.” The tools, equipment, information, and other source materials for training should be specified. Included in this list may be things the trainee may not use, such as calculators.
50
What are the four elements of a training objective?
What is the standard by which the behaviour will be judged?
Is the trainee expected to type 60 words per minute with fewer than three errors? Can the trainee list five out of six purposes for training objectives?
51
What are three components of a training objective?
1. Performance: What the trainee will be able to do after the training. In other words, what work behaviour the trainee will be able to display.
2. Condition: The tools, time, and situation under which the trainee is expected to perform the behaviour. In other words, where and when the behaviour will occur.
3. Criterion: The level of acceptable performance, standard, or criteria against which performance will be judged.
52
Why might an organization purchase training instead of developing it in-house?
Usually the answer centres on a cost-benefit analysis: Is outsourcing cheaper or is developing in-house cheaper? Sometimes internal capacity to create or deliver training is cited as a reason. But, since internal capacity could be created (at a cost), this reason is essentially another cost-benefit decision (cheaper to contract out than spend money to create capacity). Less often, there are reasons to contract out related to perceived expertise or neutrality.
53
How are training content, needs assessment, learning methods, and training objectives related to one another?
There is a linear and direct relationship. The needs assessment shapes the training objectives. Subsequently, the training objectives inform the training content. The training objectives and the training content shape the training method(s) that are selected.
54
Why do you think productive responses are said to be an effective approach to training?
Productive responses are training methods that require the trainee to actively engage with the content (e.g., use the content in a way that builds mastery). For example, language or customer service training can be delivered passively (e.g., trainee watches other people speak and perform). Or it can require the trainee to speak and perform the content. Active engagement by the learner appears to result in faster and deeper skills acquisition.
55
What are the expected effects of active practice during training?
Active practice is expected to increase learner engagement and learning as well as change learner behaviour more so than does passive learning. The effectiveness of active learning depends upon the conditions of practice that occur before and during training.
56
What is attentional advice and how does it affect training effectiveness?
Attentional advice is a pre-training intervention.
It provides trainees with information and advice about what to pay attention to and strategies to adopt during the training. This is designed to focus the trainees’ attention and help them integrate the training content into their existing knowledge.
57
What is an advance organizer and how does it affect training effectiveness?
An advance organizer is a pre-training intervention.
It provides trainees with a structure or framework within which to understand and integrate the training content into their existing knowledge. The expectation is that, by laying out how workers should think about and integrate the content that they are learning, the trainer is lowering the cognitive load on the trainee.
58
When might whole and part learning be appropriate conditions of learning?
Part training breaks training down into smaller pieces. Part training can be a useful strategy when the performance being trained for is complex and can be easily broken down into clear parts. After each part has been mastered, it can then be integrated into a complete performance. Whole training is often appropriate when the complexity of the task is low or the capacity of the trainee is high.
59
What is overlearning and when might it be an appropriate condition of learning?
Overlearning entails repetitive practice of training content until the performance becomes automatic. Overlearning is appropriate when trainees must be able to carry out the task without hesitation, such as emergency responses or as core functions of a job (e.g., keyboarding for a data entry clerk).
60
How does adaptative expertise differ from routine expertise?
Routine expertise are skills and knowledge that can be applied to known and generally limited situations. For example, I might be skilled enough to back a car out of the garage. Adaptive expertise is the ability to use knowledge and skills across a wide range of situations. Workers with adaptive expertise can apply what they know to novel situations. Continuing with the car example, driving requires adaptive expertise because the driver must negotiate changing road conditions and the behaviour of other drivers.
61
How can error-management training improve learning and performance?
Error-management training encourages trainees to experiment and make mistakes in training (rather than seeking perfect performance as quickly as possible). The underlying idea is that trainees can learn from their mistakes (i.e., figuring out what went wrong and why) and thus better understand the content that they are learning. This is expected to deepen their knowledge of the content and improve their eventual performance. It also teaches error-recovery strategies that can be employed on the job.
62
When is error-management training most effective?
Error-management training is most effective when trainers make room for and lower the cost of error in training and provide constructive feedback. It is also more effective when the performance being trained for requires adaptive expertise, where workers must eventually apply the training content in novel situations.
63
What kinds of training objectives are lectures effective at achieving?
Lectures are a good way to provide information to large numbers of people in a short amount of time at low cost. Therefore, lectures can be effective when training objectives centre on inculcating straightforward declarative knowledge.
A lecture is also useful as a method to explain to trainees what is to follow in the rest of a training session. For example, a lecture could be used to highlight the key learning points of a video or role play. Many employees are comfortable with the lecture method because they are familiar with it and it requires little participation.
64
What kinds of training objectives are case studies effective at achieving?
Case studies are a good way to teach analysis and decision-making. Therefore, case studies can be effective when training objectives centre on developing intellectual skills and cognitive strategies.
65
In what circumstances would the case incident method be more effective than a case study?
Case incidents are short, real-world examples designed to illustrate a single problem, concept, or issue. They require relatively little time for trainees to digest and they allow trainees to apply their own experience and knowledge to the case. They also offer a nice change of pace in a lecture-heavy training session. A case study tends to be more elaborate, complex, and requires more time for trainees to grasp and work through.
66
Which off-the-job methods have the most active forms of practice?
Behaviour-modelled training requires workers to observe and then perform training content.
Role playing requires trainees to practice new behaviours and skills in a safe environment.
Simulations require employees to demonstrate mastery of training content in practice sessions. And action learning requires participants to learn in the real world.
67
What are the pros and cons of action learning?
Action learning tends to be highly relevant and engaging for learners and provides complexity and consequences that are often missing from simulations and roleplays. On the other hand, action learning can be labour intensive, costly to develop, stressful for trainees, and potentially result in real world harm if trainees make errors.
68
Why might on-the-job training be more common in small businesses?
On-the-job training is often perceived as low cost, taking advantage of situations and expertise that already exist within the organization, to teach immediately applicable knowledge, skills, and abilities.
69
What are common perils associated with on-the-job training?
On-the-job training often suffers from a lack of planning and structure, and trainers often lack training skills. On-the-job training also entails some risk that trainers will pass on undesirable behaviours or incorrect information. Trainers may also be unmotivated to provide required assistance to trainees.
70
What are some examples of performance aids that you have seen? Do you think they were effective?
Performance aids are often found in routine workplace signage (e.g., a washroom sign that says, “Staff must wash hands before returning to work.”). The effectiveness of this signage depends upon its utility to workers. A step-by-step checklist or pictograph of how to measure the remaining gas in a gas-station tank might be more useful to staff who do this task infrequently than those who do the task every day. When there are gaps between the official way to perform work (which is represented by a performance aid) and the actual way it is performed, the utility of performance aids can decline.
71
Is it fair to say that trainees’ experiences of apprenticeship are mediated by gender? Why or why not?
In addition to a high degree of gender segregation by occupation, female apprentices often face barriers to developing and applying skills through direct and indirect discrimination in and after training.
72
When would on-the-job and off-the-job training methods be the most appropriate choices?
Off-the-job training allows for more controlled and intensive training. This can appropriate when rapid performance change or improvement is desired. On-the-job training is less expensive and often entails immediate application of training to the job, which can heighten retention.
73
How does generative learning differ from traditional training?
Generative learning places much more control over what is learned and when and how it is learned in the hands of learners, and often takes place in collaboration with other learners (perhaps mediated by technology). Generative learning is often associated with workers who already have a high degree of skill or competence in their occupation and seek to extend their knowledge, often to address novel situations or challenges. For example, a senior staff member in a not-for-profit is likely to respond to a new challenge by doing some online research and discussing the challenge with knowledgeable colleagues or experts, rather than enroll in a course about the topic (although they may do this when that is the most expeditious way to learn new skills, such as the ins and outs of a new accounting program).
74
What is gamification and in what circumstances is it most effective?
Gamification entails using game mechanics and elements to increase trainee engagement and motivation.
Most often this technique is associated with computer-based training, where mastery of content can be rewarded and trainees can compete against one another’s progress. Key components appear to be a narrative storyline, compelling characters, clear rules, and public recognition of achievement.
75
What is the intention behind adaptive learning?
Adaptive learning seeks the content of training altered depending upon trainees’ demonstrated needs and mastery. For example, trainees may be subjected to pre-testing or in-training testing to assess content mastery, which is then used to assess whether the training can move on to additional training or must repeat certain content (possibly using different training methods or approaches).
76
What are the pros and cons of technology-based learning?
Technology-based training standardized training while offering significant flexibility in when and where training takes place. On the other hand, technology-based training can also be very expensive to develop and can limit the social interaction of trainees (which can be important for learning some skills and developing or maintaining an organizational culture).
77
What criteria would you use to select among the various instructional methods?
Several criteria are likely relevant to any decision about which training method to adopt. The effectiveness of the method given the training objectives and learner abilities would be an important consideration. The cost and availability of each method would also affect the decision as would the skills and preferences of the trainer (if internal) and the preferences of the trainees.
78
What are the main training delivery activities?
Typically, training delivery requires us to:
(1) develop a lesson plan
(2) choose the trainer
(3) decide on who should attend the training
(4) determine the training materials and equipment
(5) prepare a training site
(6) schedule the training
(7) administer the training
(8) implement the training program.
79
When is the seductive-details effect most likely to occur?
The seductive details effect tends to occur when trainees have limited time to compete training and when trainees have high pre-training knowledge of the content. Seductive details combined with an expressive trainer can also trigger the effect.
80
What are the main questions to ask when selecting participants?
Typically, we want to know four things when selecting trainees: (1) who can benefit from the training, (2) is the program required by law, (3) should the training be voluntary or compulsory, and (4) should participants be segregated by organizational position or level? We might also want to ask if someone is trainable (by applying the trainability test).
81
In what circumstances would it be appropriate to deliver separate training to workers and their supervisors?
Sometimes, workers will not be comfortable engaging with or asking questions in front of their supervisors. This might augur in favour of separate training. Other times, the messages or content of training might differ by organizational role. For example, workers might be instructed on how to “do” something, while supervisors may be instructed on how to “monitor compliance.” It may be practical to deliver these different messages separately.
82
When is using a trainability test appropriate?
Trainability tests serve several purposes. They can be used to sort potential trainees and eliminate those who do not have the basic skills to be successful (perhaps streaming them into remedial training first). Testing can also be used to adjust curriculum to the skills of the trainees. Finally, trainability testing can serve as a kind of pre-training intervention by giving workers a sneak peek at the content. In this way, they can serve as advance organizers and preparatory information.
83
Which seating arrangement do you prefer for training and why?
The low-involvement seating represents a traditional classroom arrangement, in which the instructor is in control and stands or sits at the front of the room behind a desk or a table. With this seating arrangement, communication is one-way and flows from the instructor to trainees. Communication among the trainees is not possible. This arrangement is most common for the lecture method.
When a moderate amount of involvement is desired, the instructor is still at the front of the room. However, trainees are seated around a table, thereby allowing them to interact and exchange ideas with one another. Although the instructor remains in control and one-way communication still dominates, participants can also communicate with and learn from one another.
High-involvement seating arrangement, small groups of trainees are seated together around small tables. As a result, group members can interact and work together on projects. The instructor’s role is more of a resource person or a facilitator. This allows the instructor to present material to the class (the work table and flipchart are at the front of the room), engage the class in discussions, move around the room and listen in on groups, provide help, and spend time with each group while they work on projects and solve problems.
84
Training administration comprises which activities?
Training administration involves coordinating all of the people and materials involved in training. This includes maintaining records and inventories of materials, booking facilities, contacting trainees to arranged scheduling and evaluation, and coordinating with trainers. It may also be appropriate to connect with supervisors to discuss expected outcomes and post-training support.
85
Why is training consent important?
Training consent means that trainers will not coerce unwilling participants into activities, such as self-disclosure or physical tasks. Preventing coercion reduces potential organizational liability (and is also just the decent thing to do). Respecting trainees’ boundaries also can increase trainee comfort (and thus their willingness to participate). That avoiding coercion has to be set out in ethical guidelines suggests that, at some point, someone has pressured trainees into participating and that this resulted in a suboptimal outcome.
86
Why do you think that cost-effectiveness is included as a dimension of training ethics?
Cost-effectiveness requires that training entails some benefit to the organization. Including this requirement in ethical guidelines suggests that, at some point, training that provided no organizational value may have been undertaken. Why would someone do this? Well, the textbook suggests someone may well have simply been intent on spending the training budget. Perhaps they expected that unspent money would then result in a budgetary cut. An alternative explanation is that a trainer provided low-quality training. This may reflect that the profit imperative in capitalism (that we discussed in Unit 1) also applies to trainers (who are in the business of training to make money).
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Why do you think that discrimination is included as a dimension of training ethics?
Discrimination in the allocation of training is a violation of human rights laws and can open up an organization to liability. It also opens an organization to significant risk of reputational harm. It is best to avoid these risks by ensuring that training does not discriminate.
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Which element of the learning climate do you think is most important and why?
There is no correct answer to this question. Rather, it is a reflective question designed to determine which aspect of learning culture (pre-arrival, greeting participants, environment, and trainer style/behaviour) that we value most.
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What is the purpose of gaining trainees’ attention?
Gaining trainees’ attention is designed to draw them into the training process. Thinking back to Malcolm Knowles’s theory of andragogy (Unit 2), adult learners like to know why they are learning about something and how they will benefit from the training. Setting aside that children might also like to be treated with that kind of respect, gaining trainees’ attention can include explaining to trainees what is the value proposition of the training (i.e., why they should care about the training).
90
What this the purpose of stimulating trainees’ recall of prior knowledge?
Again, thinking about Malcom Knowles’s theory of andragogy, adult learners are typically assumed to have a substantial amount of experience to draw upon. Stimulating trainees’ knowledge can shorten the amount of time necessary to convey material (they may already know some of this) and can deepen learning (because they can relate new material to existing knowledge).
91
What are the three basic kinds or types of delivery problems that trainers can have?
The three broad categories of delivery problems are
(1) problems pertaining to the trainer
(2) problems pertaining to relating with trainees
(3) problems with presentation techniques.
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Which two of the 15 training delivery problems resonated with you the most and how would you address them?
Again, there is no correct answer here. Typically, the problems we identify are ones we have experienced, either as trainees or as trainers. The Trainers Notebook 4.8 in the textbook identifies potential solutions to these problems.
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Why is transfer of training important?
Training transfer refers to the application of training on the job by workers. The purpose of training is to improve workers’ performance and, ultimately, organizational performance. Training only achieves these goals if it is applied by the trainees on the job. Essentially, organizations only receive value from training when training transfer occurs.
94
How are generalization and maintenance related to but also distinct from each other?
Generalization refers to the application of training to the job (whether the application is of routine expertise or adaptive expertise). Maintenance refers to the application of training over time. Maintenance is essentially the persistence of generalization over time. Therefore, generalization is a precondition of maintenance but does not necessarily result in maintenance.
95
Compare and contrast near, far, horizontal, and vertical training transfer.
Near transfer occurs when workers apply training to work situations that were close to those for which they were trained (i.e., it assesses routine expertise). Far transfer occurs when workers apply training to novel work situations (i.e., it assesses adaptive expertise). Horizontal transfer occurs when workers apply training to their jobs. Vertical transfer assesses how organizations benefit from horizontal transfer.
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Which of the barriers to training transfer have you experienced, which was the most problematic, and why?
Table 9.3 provides a handy outline of the barriers to training transfer. The context of your experience will determine which was the most problematic. The question to spend the most time thinking about is why was the one barrier so problematic in terms of training transfer? Often the most problematic barriers are those which are beyond our control as a trainee. These structural barriers are important to trainers and human resource practitioners because only an organizational actor can ameliorate them.
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What trainee characteristics are associated with greater training transfer?
Trainees with higher cognitive ability, motivation, self-efficacy, and goal orientation tend to be more likely to transfer training.
It is worthwhile considering whether trainees with these skills might also face a different set of organizational constraints than trainees without them. For example, do trainees who possess these traits have more official or unofficial power in the organization which, in turn, allows them to navigate structural barriers to training transfer? If so, then trainee characteristics may actually be a proxy for organizational power. Motivation to transfer is also listed as a factor affecting training transfer.
98
What training design factors are associated with greater training transfer?
Training designs that use identical elements, teach general principles (rather than rote responses), and provide stimulus variability affect training transfer. The underlying reasoning is likely that these design features give workers greater opportunity to apply training to their work.
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What work environment characteristics are associated with greater training transfer?
Pre-training enviroment - Management actions prior to a training program send signals and messages to employees about the importance of training and the extent to which the organization supports training. These messages can influence employees’ training motivation.
Post-transfer environment - Events that occur after a training program in the post-training environment can also influence transfer. Factors in the post-training environment can encourage, discourage, or prevent employees from applying new knowledge and skills on the job.
Training transfer climate - A positive transfer climate is one in which there exist cues that remind employees to apply training material on the job, positive consequences such as feedback and rewards for applying training on the job, and supervisor and peer support for the use of newly acquired skills and abilities.
Continuous learning culture - A continuous learning culture is a culture in which members of an organization believe that knowledge and skill acquisition are part of their job responsibilities and that learning is an important part of work life in the organization.
100
Which transfer of training strategies look most effective and why?
Again, there is no obviously correct answer here as context drives which strategy will make the most difference. All things being equal, giving workers opportunities to apply their training is likely the most important strategy because, without an opportunity, workers won’t apply their training.
101
Which aspects of training readiness might be the most difficult for an organization to assess and why?
Readiness to learn/trainability is a function of ability, motivation, and perceptions of the work environment.
Ability can often be observed or assessed. It can be harder to infer whether workers are motivated to learn the training content and how they perceive the organization’s support for training transfer. This reflects that workers can have an incentive to hide critical views about their organization (to avoid retaliation) and may provide the answers that they believe their employer sees as desirable. This goes back to the fundamental divergence of interests in capitalist workplaces discussed in Unit 1.
102
Why might trainees balk at being made responsible for training transfer?
The textbook suggests that workers often don’t take training seriously and this poses a barrier to training transfer. This tendency to blame workers for poor outcomes recurs throughout human resource management (most notably around workplace injury). Focusing our attention on the alleged failings of workers obscures that workers’ behaviour is structured by how workplaces are organized. Making workers responsible for training transfer when they face structural barriers such as having no opportunity to use training and no management support for doing it is unfair, and puts workers in an impossible situation. It is also interesting how using terms like trainer and trainee (rather than employer and worker) elides the power dynamic in workplaces.
103
In what circumstances do you think performance contracts are likely to be effective?
A performance contract is an agreement made by trainers and trainees regarding which skills will be applied on the job.
Trainees’ behaviour can then be monitored and rewards or sanctions attached to their performance. A contract may be effective when workers have a reasonable opportunity to comply with the contract.
104
Why is supervisor reinforcement said to be so important in training transfer?
Behaviourism suggests that rewarded behaviour will reinforce it. Supervisors are generally the people best positioned in the organization to reward workers’ behaviour. Similarly, unrewarded behaviour tends to peter out over time (unless there is some other reason for the worker to perform it).
105
What is the logic underlying relapse prevention interventions?
The logic underlying relapse prevention interventions is that, by telling workers that they will face certain obstacles and helping them identify coping strategies, workers will be better able to navigate barriers and avoid transfer failures. In essence, relapse prevention acts as attentional advice, advance organizers, and preparatory information for training transfer (see Table 4.4 in the textbook).
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What is the logic underlying goal setting interventions?
The logic underlying goal-setting interventions is that workers with specific measurable goals for applying training to their work are more likely to do so than those without goals.
Essentially, goals make workers accountable for their behaviours. Making visible worker behaviours, in turn, incentivizes workers to behave in desired ways.
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What training transfer strategies do you see evident in this unit of the course? And do you think they are effective?
Pre-training strategies centre on the preparatory work done in earlier units to prepare you for both the content and approach to training used in this unit. The strategies used during training include incorporating adult education principles (explaining the reason for learning and connecting content to your existing knowledge through reflection) and making learning activities relevant by linking them to the next assignment. Post-training strategies include giving you the opportunity to use what you know in these review questions and evaluating your knowledge in Written Assignment 2.
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What is the purpose of training evaluation?
Broadly speaking, the purpose of evaluating training is two-fold: (1) to evaluate the effectiveness of training, and (2) to identify ways that effectiveness could be increased. Trainers and human resource practitioners may also use evaluation to assess whether or not training is the best use of organizational resources and/or to advocate for additional resources.
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What is the key trade-off that we make in job evaluation?
When we evaluate training, we are often forced to trade off the quality and completeness of the information against the complexity and cost of the evaluation process. Generally, better information costs more. Sometimes we may decide that “good enough for the task at hand” information is all we can afford.
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What types of variables can we collect data about when evaluating training?
- reactions (i.e., trainee perceptions)
- learning (e.g., acquisition of knowledge or skills)
- behavioural change (i.e., training transfer to the job)
- motivation (e.g., desire to apply training on the job)
- self-efficacy (i.e., confidence applying training on the job)
- support (i.e., assistance anticipated or received)
- organizational perceptions (e.g., trainee’s understanding of learning culture)
- organizational results (i.e., outcomes flowing from training).
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What barriers exist to undertaking training evaluation?
Evaluation can be stymied by concerns about complexity and cost (either money or time). There may also be skepticism about whether results can be meaningfully evaluated, whether it is ethical for trainers to evaluate their own work, and whether the results will reflect favourably on the trainers or the organization. Poor results can result in reduced budgets and layoffs for those responsible. This kind of conflict of interest demonstrates that, even with an organization’s management structure, there can be conflicting interests at play.
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What is the putative relationship between the steps in Kirkpatrick’s model? Do you agree this relationship exists? Why or why not?
Kirkpatrick hypothesizes four levels of training outcomes that can be measured: (1) reactions, (2) learning, (3) behaviours, and (4) impact. The putative relationship between the levels is that achieving each level requires success at a prior level and contributes to success at the next level. Research suggests that this causality does not necessarily hold (e.g., positive reactions are not required for training to have organizational impact).
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What does the COMA model measure?
A training evaluation model designed for formative evaluation that involves the measurement of cognitive, organizational, motivational, and attitudinal variables
The COMA model measures variables that fall into four categories: (1) cognitive variables (e.g., knowledge and skills gains), (2) the organizational environment (e.g., opportunity to practice), (3) motivation (e.g., trainees’ desire to apply training on the job), and (4) attitudes (e.g., trainees’ self-efficacy).
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What decisions need to be made in decision-based evaluation?
The basic idea of decision-based evaluation is that evaluation should be based upon what the evaluator needs to know.
Assessors need to identify the target of the evaluation (i.e., what do we want to find out?), the focus (i.e., which variables do we need to assess?), and the methods (how are we going to gather the data?).
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How can we evaluate trainee behavioural change post-evaluation?
Post-training behavioural change by trainees can be assessed through self-reporting (e.g., trainees document application of training), observation on the job (e.g., supervisor reports of behaviour), or performance measures (or indices), such as data drawn from company records.
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What is the value of a time-series design?
A time series design sees measurement before the training (possibly multiple times) and multiple measures after the training. Its utility is its ability to identify post-training change and the persistence of change over time. It is important to note that this design does not establish that the training was the cause of any change. As the textbook notes, establishing causality requires an experimental design with a control group such that the effect of the change can be isolated. That said, most trainers using a time-series design will assert causality between the training and any effect because they are training off cost against data quality, and a time-series design offers “good enough” evidence of causality upon which to make decisions.
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Why do organizations care about return on investment?
Training is often costly. Organizations generally want to see that training provides value. For-profit organizations may have an obligation to consider shareholder value in making decisions about training costs. Not-for-profit organizations may face pressure from funders to demonstrate value.
It is interesting that the textbook virtually never talks about the training provided by government agencies and the voluntary sector. Yet governments and not-for-profits deliver significant amounts of training that affect labour force development. This includes literacy, language, and basic skills upgrading, as well as vocational, workplace safety, and job search training. If you are interested in exploring this topic further, you may wish to consider enrolling in EDUC 210: Labour Market Training in Canada.
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What factors are considered in a costing analysis?
There are five broad categories of training costs to consider in a costing analysis:
direct costs (e.g., trainer salary, equipment rentals)
indirect costs (e.g., administrative costs of this training program)
developmental costs (i.e., costs of creating training)
overhead costs (e.g., general administrative costs associated with training)
trainee compensation costs (e.g., salaries while training, replacement staff costs, travel costs).
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What factors are considered in a benefits analysis?
Benefits can be either monetary (e.g., improvements in the organization’s financial status due to reduced costs or increase revenues) or non-monetary (e.g., improvements in morale, culture, satisfaction, or capacity).
Sometimes it is possible to attach financial values to non-monetary benefits. For example, reduced turnover allows an organization to avoid the costs of hiring replacement staff (a cost savings that can be quantified).
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What factors are considered in a utility analysis?
Utility analysis forecasts the financial benefits from HR functions, such as training.
Assessing the difference in job performance between trained and untrained employees (the effect size), the number of employees trained, and the duration of the training effect indicate the utility of the training program.
121
Why does the credibility of benefit estimates matter?
The purpose of a cost-benefit analysis is to demonstrate to someone the value of the program. If the benefits estimate is viewed as not credible, the target of the analysis will dismiss it. This results in wastage (the time and money spent on the analysis) and can also have negative consequences for the purveyor of the estimate.
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How can you increase the credibility of benefit estimates?
The textbook suggests five strategies for increasing credibility (be conservative and transparent in your approach and claims and use credible and hard data). It is interesting to consider the tensions these recommendations reveal. One of the effects of quantifying phenomena (e.g., training benefits) is to make the effects concrete and objective. Yet, the suggestion for making the estimate more credible is to sometimes fiddle the numbers to make them appear more credible. This highlights that there is always a degree of subjectivity in evaluation (e.g., we make choices when we decide what to measure, how to measure it, and what to measure it against). The implication is that, just because something has been quantified doesn’t mean it’s true. There is value in looking beneath the numbers to see what assumptions drive those numbers.
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Gagné’s Classification Scheme
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Verbal information (declarative knowledge)
Intellectual skills (procedural knowledge)
Cognitive strategies (how and when to use information and knowledge)
Motor skills (physical movements)
Attitudes (internal states)
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Kraiger framework of learning
1. Cognitive outcomes. The quantity and type of knowledge and the relationships among knowledge elements. This includes verbal knowledge (declarative knowledge), knowledge organization (procedural knowledge and structures for organizing knowledge or mental models), and cognitive strategies (mental activities that facilitate knowledge acquisition and application, or what is known as metacognition).
2. Skill-based outcomes. This involves the development of technical or motor skills and includes compilation (fast and fluid performance of a task as a result of proceduralization and composition) and automaticity (ability to perform a task without conscious monitoring).
3. Affective outcomes. These are outcomes that are neither cognitively based nor skills based; they include attitudinal (affective internal state that affects behaviour) and motivational outcomes (goal orientation, self-efficacy, goals).
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Kolb's Learning Styles
Kolb notes the importance of a learning cycle in which people use each of the four modes of learning in a sequence. The learning cycle begins with concrete experience (learning by experience), followed by reflective observation (learning by reflecting), then abstract conceptualization (learning by thinking), and finally active experimentation (learning by doing).
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Converging
Abstract conceptualization (AC) and active experimentation (AE) - Thinking and doing
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Diverging
Concrete experience (CE) and reflective observation (RO) - Feeling and watching
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Assimilating
Abstract conceptualization (AC) and reflective observation (RO) - Thinking and watching
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Accommodating
Concrete experience (CE) and active experimentation (AE) - Feeling and doing
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Organizational Analysis
| The study of the entire organization, including its strategy, environment, resources, and context
Strategic Alignment - that consists of the organization’s mission, goals, and objectives, such as a dedication to quality or innovation
Environment - New technologies, competitors, recessions, and trade agreements can profoundly affect not only the need for and content of training, but also employees’ receptivity to being trained.
Resource analysis - Involves identifying the resources available in the organization that might be required to design and implement training and development programs.
Organizational context - Organizations are social entities made up of people. The people in the buildings have feelings, attitudes, and values that make up the climate of an organization.
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Instructional methods
1. Lecture. The trainer presents to trainees the content to be learned.
2. Discussion. Two-way communication between the trainer and the trainees as well as among trainees.
3. Case study. Trainees discuss, analyze, and solve problems based on a real situation.
4. Case incident. A problem, concept, or issue is presented for analysis.
5. Behaviour modelling training. Trainees observe a model performing a task and then attempt to imitate the observed behaviour.
6. Role play. Trainees practise new behaviours in a safe environment.
7. Simulations. The use of operating models of physical or social events designed to represent reality.
8. Games. Structured competition that allows employees to learn specific skills.
9. Action learning. Trainees study and solve real-world problems and accept responsibility for the solution.
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Training Delivery Problems
1. Fear. Fear that is due to a lack of confidence and a feeling of anxiety while delivering the training program.
2. Credibility. The perception that they lack credibility in the eyes of the trainees as subject-matter experts.
3. Personal experiences. A lack of stories about personal experiences that can be used to relate to the training content.
4. Difficult learners. Don’t know how to handle problem trainees who may be angry, passive, or dominating.
5. Participation. Difficulty getting trainees to participate.
6. Timing. Trouble with the timing and pacing of the training material and worries about having too much or too little material.
7. Adjusting instruction. Difficulty adjusting the training material to the needs of trainees or being able to redesign the presentation of material during delivery.
8. Questions. Difficulty using questions effectively and responding to difficult questions.
9. Feedback. Unable to read trainees and to use feedback and evaluations effectively.
10. Media, materials, facilities. Concerns about how to use media and training materials.
11. Opening, closing techniques. The need for techniques to use as ice-breakers, introductions, and effective summaries and closings.
12. Dependence on notes. Feeling too dependent on notes and having trouble presenting the material without them.
These 12 common delivery problems of novice trainers have three basic themes:
1. Problems pertaining to the trainer
2. Problems pertaining to how the trainer relates to the trainees
3. Problems pertaining to presentation techniques
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Solutions to Training Delivery Problems
1. Fear.
A.Be well prepared and have a detailed lesson plan.
B.Use ice-breakers and begin with an activity that relaxes trainees.
C.Acknowledge the fear and use self-talk and relaxation exercises prior to the training.
2. Credibility.
A. Don’t apologize. Be honest about your knowledge of the subject.
B. Have the attitude of an expert and be well prepared and organized.
C. Share personal background and talk about your area of expertise and experiences.
3. Personal experiences.
A.Relate personal experiences.
B.Report experiences of others and have trainees share their experiences.
C.Use analogies, refer to movies or famous people who relate to the subject.
4. Difficult learners.
A.Confront the problem learner and talk to them to determine the problem.
B.Circumvent dominating behaviour by using non-verbal behaviour such as breaking eye contact or standing with your back to the person.
C.Use small groups to overcome timid behaviour and structure exercises where a wide range of participation is encouraged.
5. Participation.
A.Ask open-ended questions and provide positive feedback when trainees participate.
B.Plan small-group activities such as dyads, case studies, and role plays to increase participation.
C.Invite participation by structuring activities to allow trainees to share early in the program.
6. Timing.
A.Plan for too much material and prioritize activities so that some can be omitted if necessary.
B.Practise presenting the material many times so that you know where you should be at 15-minute intervals.
7. Adjusting instruction.
A.Determine the needs of the group early in the training and structure activities based on them.
B.Request feedback by asking trainees how they feel about the training during breaks or periodically during the training.
C.Redesign the program during breaks and have a contingency plan in place.
8. Questions.
Answering questions
A.Anticipate questions by writing out key questions that trainees might have.
B.Paraphrase and repeat a question so everyone hears the question and understands it.
C.Redirect questions you can’t answer back to the trainees and try to find answers during the break.
Asking questions
A.Ask concise and simple questions and provide enough time for trainees to answer.
9. Feedback.
A.Solicit informal feedback during training or breaks on whether the training is meeting their needs and expectations; watch for non-verbal cues.
B.Do summative evaluations at the conclusion of the training to determine whether the objectives and needs of trainees have been met.
10. Media, materials, facilities.
Media
A.Know how to operate every piece of equipment you will use.
B.Have back-ups such as extra bulbs, extension cords, markers, tape, and so on, as well as bringing the material in another medium in case one has problems.
C.Enlist assistance from trainees if you have a problem and need help.
Materials
A.Be prepared and have all the material placed at trainees’ workplace [in the training room] or ready for distribution.
Facilities
A.Visit facility beforehand to see the layout of the room and where things are located and how to set up.
B.Arrive at least one hour early to set up and handle any problems.
11. Opening, closing techniques.
Openings
A.Develop a file of ideas based on experimentation and observation.
B.Develop and memorize a great opening.
C.Relax trainees by greeting them when they enter, taking time for introductions, and creating a relaxed atmosphere.
Closings
A.Provide a simple and concise summary of the course contents using objectives or the initial model.
B.Thank participants for their time and contribution to the course.
12. Dependence on notes.
A.Notes are necessary.
B.Use cards with an outline or key words as prompts.
C.Use visuals such as notes on the frames of transparencies or your copy of the handouts.
D.Practise and learn the script so you can deliver it from the key words on your note cards.
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Barriers to the transfer of training
* Immediate manager does not support the training.
* The culture in the work group does not support the training.
* No opportunity exists to use the skills.
* No time is provided to use the skills.
* Skills could not be applied to the job.
* The systems and processes did not support the skills.
* The resources are not available to use the skills.
* Skills no longer apply because of changed job responsibilities.
* Skills are not appropriate in our work unit.
* Did not see a need to apply what was learned.
* Old habits could not be changed.
* Reward systems don’t support new skills.
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Transfer of training strategies
| Before Training
MANAGEMENT
•Decide who should attend training.
•Meet with employees prior to training to discuss training programs (e.g., WIIFM).
•Get employee input and involvement in the training process.
•Provide employees with support for learning and training (e.g., release time to prepare for training).
TRAINER
•Ensure application of the ISD model.
•Find out supervisor and trainee needs and expectations.
•Make sure that trainees and supervisors meet and discuss the training.
•Make sure that trainees are prepared for the training.
TRAINEES
•Find out about training programs prior to attendance.
•Meet with supervisor to discuss the training program and develop an action plan.
•Prepare for the training program.
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Transfer of training strategies
| During Training
MANAGEMENT
•Participate in training programs.
•Attend training programs before trainees.
•Reassign employees’ work while they are attending training.
TRAINER
•Incorporate conditions of practice, adult learning principles, and other learning principles (e.g., identical elements) in the design of training programs.
•Include content and examples that are relevant and meaningful to trainees.
•Provide transfer of training interventions at the end of the content portion of a training program (e.g., relapse prevention, self-management, goal-setting).
•Have trainees prepare and commit to a performance contract for the transfer of trained skills on the job.
TRAINEES
•Enter a training program with a positive attitude and the motivation to learn.
•Engage in the training program by getting involved and actively participating.
•Develop an action plan for the application of training on the job.
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Transfer of training strategies
| After Training
MANAGEMENT
•Ensure that trainees have immediate and frequent opportunities to practise and apply on the job what they learn in training.
•Encourage and reinforce trainees’ application of new skills on the job.
•Provide positive feedback for the use of new skills on the job.
•Develop an action plan with trainees for transfer and show support by reducing job pressures and workload, arrange practice sessions, publicize transfer successes, give promotional preference to employees who have received training and transfer, and evaluate employees’ use of trained skills on the job.
TRAINER
•Stay involved in the training and transfer process by conducting field visits to observe trainees’ use of trained skills, provide and solicit feedback, and continue to provide support and assistance to trainees.
TRAINEES
•Begin using new knowledge and skills on the job as soon and as often as possible.
•Meet with supervisor to discuss opportunities for transfer.
•Form a “buddy system” or a network of peers who also attended the training program.
•Consider high-risk situations that might cause a relapse and develop strategies for overcoming them and avoiding a relapse.
•Set goals for transfer and use self-management.
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Learning Climate Elements
Pre-arrival factors - A trainer can begin to create positive perceptions of the learning climate before trainees arrive for training. For example, contacting trainees before the training begins can help set a positive tone.
Greeting Participants - Trainees might be anxious about the training and some will be skeptical about its value. Others will be upset that they are spending time away from work. Therefore, the trainer should meet and greet participants and make them feel welcome when they arrive for training.
Learning Facility/Environment - An important factor in trainees’ climate perceptions is the training site itself. In this regard, the trainer should ensure that the physical set-up of the training room is attractive, comfortable, bright, relaxing, and clean.
Training Style and Behaviour - Trainees’ perceptions of the learning climate are also based on how the trainer interacts with trainees and conducts the training. If the trainees do not know the trainer, then one of the first things trainers should do is to provide a brief personal introduction about themselves and their involvement in the training program.
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Following these guidelines can increase the credibility of estimates of the benefits of a training program.
1. Take a conservative approach when making estimates and assumptions.
2 .Use the most credible and reliable sources for estimates.
3. Explain the approaches and assumptions used in the conversion.
4. When results appear overstated, consider adjusting the numbers to achieve more realistic values.
5. Use hard data whenever possible.
