WHAT TRAINING DOES YOUR ORGANISATION NEED?

We just concluded another phase in our webinar series, Five Steps to Become Globally Competitive – The Training Phase. It was indeed an exciting conversation between myself and Charlene Pedro of Conventus Consultinc, an esteemed HR specialist for over 25 years. In that discussion, Charlene and I were able to touch on four key points when it comes to training in organizations. 

Listen to it here- The Training Phase  

They include: 

1. NEEDS ASSESSMENT

A needs assessment is based on the organization, the department, and then finally the individuals themselves. This needs to be done to have a true appreciation as to the specific training program necessary within the space that you’re coming in. 

2. SOCIAL CONTRACT 

A social contract, which is framed around the following key elements: 

1. what is the intention of the training program 
2. what are the deliverables 
3. and what are the objectives 

At the end of this training exercise, what knowledge do I expect my learners to gain, what do I expect my learners to be able to do in their environment? In summary these objectives must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time–based.   

3. TWO TYPES OF ASSESSMENTS 

Charlene explained that there are two types of assessments. The first occurs at the very end of the training program, where learners are evaluated to ensure they have gained the knowledge, based on your social contract, that was agreed upon.  

Second, an assessment(s) that takes place during the training program. This is a small test in most instances, to confirm that the information you’re conveying, and the learners are claiming to have understood, truly resonates with them. 

4. TYPES OF TRAINING PROGRAMS

The type of training that an organization chooses depends on the organization’s structure, size, and its culture.  

They include:  

1. One-on-one training  
2. Train the trainer, where we train one person within the department, and they now are responsible for developing their own training programs. What we recognized in our conversation with Charlene, is that learning the information and then being able to disseminate information requires two different perspectives, and when you’re able to do both, that puts you in a good position of truly understanding the material.  
3. OJT (on-the-job training) where while you’re on the job, carrying out the activities you’re learning as you go.  
4.  Group training, which we are quite familiar with where everyone gathers into a room, (well in this instance, a virtual room because of COVID,) and then we do breakout sessions.  

No matter what type of training we use, the key is to make the training as engaging as possible.  

WHAT DOES IT MEAN? 

It means, trying to touch on all the sensories when we’re interacting with our learners.  

1. What they listen to, so our voice must be energized, it must be a voice that they’re willing to listen to and learn from. You can’t sound unenthused by what you’re teaching, or what you’re sharing.  
2. You must also try and make the training program one that is physically interactive. Let them touch the keyboard, hold on to an object, make something so that you keep them interactive as much as possible.  
3. You should also try and get them to speak. Whether it’s through typing in the comments box or using their mic to speak.  

The more interaction you have, the more engaged your learners become and, the more confident you can be that the information that you’re sharing is being assimilated.  

Our final discussion was on the Benchmarking Phase. Stay tuned for more on this phase to become Globally Competitive. If you missed any of the discussions, watch them here – https://youtu.be/0WEn9Bg0ewc