The impact that training should aim for is a positive modification of how learners feel and act after the completion of a course.
The catch is that information and knowledge are only part of what it takes to ensure behavioral change. It’s essential for managers, employees and the entire firm culture to support this. The learning intervention is often spot on, but the results are immediately lost due to a lack of follow-up.
Let’s explore a few ways to make sure that your training programs make an impact:
1. Focus on the participants
Quite often, training focuses to meet objectives established by senior leadership. They don’t give proper consideration to the learners. It’s essential to get people on board and engaged with the learning content by convincingly demonstrating what they have to gain. This should happen at the start of any learning intervention. It’s best to build an action plan together with learners at the end of the course to ensure that they’ll follow through.
2. Leave lots of room for practice
Trainers should pay more attention to setting up scenarios in which learners get to test new skills. If the whole course is purely theoretical, there’s a good chance that they’ll apply little of it in their daily tasks. Ensure that the practice sections are realistic and highly applicable in real life or work situations.
3. Involve direct managers
Team leaders and managers usually want their direct reports to show an improvement of some kind after training. It’s important to remember that change doesn’t happen overnight, regardless of how good the learning modules are. It’s essential to talk to both team leaders and managers and help them understand what’s needed for a permanent change to happen. Ideally, they should be part of the whole process and help their team members follow the action plans.
4. Get senior leadership buy-in
Just because senior leadership defined some goals doesn’t mean they will automatically be on board with what is needed to support those goals. It’s essential to demonstrate how the learning programs will optimise efficiency and bring better results. Basically, it’s the eternal need to demonstrate the ROI of training. Luckily, the latest technology with its analytics and comprehensive reports makes that a lot easier to achieve.
Closing thoughts
When developing training courses, It’s essential to focus on the learners, design with multiple practice opportunities in mind, and build a learning ecosystem involving direct managers and partners.
