Training is more than just running through a list of instructions or plopping an employee in front of a video. If you want training to take root, you should understand the basics of successful learning:
• Motivation. Employees need to understand why it’s important for them to master the information or learn the new skill. Explain the benefits—what’s in it for your organization, and what’s in it for them. Even though the training is meant to improve their workplace performance, point out how it will help them personally (by enhancing their career prospects, for example, or helping them in situations outside of work).
• Reinforcement. Training should reward and reinforce positive performance. Employees need to know when they’re improving, and when they’ve achieved the training’s main goals. Don’t keep them in the dark about their progress. At the same time, point out when they’re missing the mark. Feedback is important to keeping them from continuing in the wrong direction.
• Retention. Will employees remember what they’ve learned after the training session ends? The answer to this question comes back to motivation. If they see why it’s important, they’ll be much more likely to remember what they’ve learned. Reinforce this throughout the training, not just at the beginning and again at the end. Show employees how they can use their new skills in many different on-the-job scenarios.
• Transference. If employees don’t actually use the new skills they learn, you’ve just wasted everyone’s time (and your organization’s money). Follow up. Give them positive feedback when you see them putting their new skills to work.
—Adapted from the Suite 101 Web site