Getting Work Results with the Employee Training Series: Using Educational Design

I often hear people say, “Training? Well, it’s not that hard. Anyone can train someone.” That may very well be true, but one has to consider the quality of training. Can someone train someone and be effective? Since hiring has slowed to a trickle, or stopped completely, and pink slips have been handed out like Halloween candy, the remaining employees must manage significantly chaotic workloads. Combine this with increased performance and profitability expectations, how someone is trained matters more than ever In fact, anyone I can’t just train someone. Do you want someone to train his dirty force? To be effective, training must be systematically designed, simply delivered, competently delivered, and applied again on the job.

Sound instructional design in training programs is a critical element in getting results on the job. “Instructional design” has many academic definitions, but in practical workplace terms, think of it as:

• The strategy, logic, structure, organization, learning methodology, and aesthetics behind a training initiative. Combined, these elements increase the likelihood of producing the desired results. Instructional design is the thought process and model (design) behind the learning (instruction) that employees receive and apply on the job.

To put the instructional design in a simpler context, imagine that you are training someone on how to change a tire. For many people, training has meant simply showing someone how to do a task or solve a problem, and then asking if there are any questions. However, before training on changing tires, what if you asked yourself: “How…

• Can I indicate the essential things they should learn?
• Will they learn these essentials better?
• Will I know they learned it correctly?
• How much time do I have to teach them and how much time will they need to learn it?
• Should the training begin?
• Do you have to finish the training?
• Will they practice and master it on their own? “

Instructional design helps answer these and other questions by structuring effective training. The matter of changing a tire now becomes a more concentrated and focused teaching and learning process, rather than a one-off demonstration. This is true of most training, whether you are teaching knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Instructional design involves:

• articulate a learning need (what don’t they know?)
• determine clear learning outcomes (what are the main things they need to learn?)
• create easy-to-understand content that supports the results (what details help them learn?)
• have engaging, challenging and meaningful activities to integrate, test and reinforce learning (how can they absorb, practice and demonstrate the content?)
• produce tools and aids that help reinforce on-the-job training (how will they remember and practice what they learned?)

Managers and companies that invest in effective training will find it worthwhile to employ sound instructional design methods by hiring a good instructional designer. Instructional Designers (IDs) have skills in putting together training programs and tools that also align with business goals and organizational culture. Fortunately, many IDs are available for contract or project rent. When business conditions demand more of employees, training needs to add value that makes people’s jobs easier to do and productivity (and therefore profitability) easier to achieve. In volatile economic times, if companies invest in training, they need to invest in strong instructional design and other training elements to realize real value. Going back to my opening statement, I usually reply, “Actually, quality training isn’t that easy, and no, anyone can’t just train someone. I’d be happy to explain…”