'Things to Consider Before (During) and After Training (Part 2… After)

 

As I mentioned in my previous article, (you can read it herehttps://aboutbusinessculturedevelopment.blogspot.com/2023/04/things-to-consider-before-during-and.html ), is very important to consider many things before creating a training program, during the training program and of course (is very important), after the training program.

 

Training should be treated by teams and organizations as a lifelong/ continuous process….so my advice especially for organizations is essential to treat after training support as a continuous improvement for your employees and for having healthier workplace, because I’ve had realize many times that organizations don’t understand the importance of after training support.

 

As a small tip for the trainers, during the training program you must learn to be flexible and always should analyze the reaction of the trainees, with interaction, engagement and debatable conversations.

 

Let’s go to the content of this article. Regarding the after training for the L&D trainer you will need to assume also the role of mentor and coach as an valuable skill by providing invaluable support and encouragement throughout the learning journey.

 

You must create coaching and mentoring methods, tactics and strategy, always in collaboration with your stakeholders, to meet the individual needs of your learners and provide personal, ongoing support cause is a great way to meet learners where they are.

 

Using coaching and mentoring immediately after training to build on what your people have learnedcause isn’t about telling someone what to do, it’s a long-term tool for facilitating learner-driven growth, especially If we consider Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve that we remember less than 20%, without or small retention after a week from the day we’ve learned a new information.

 

More than likely, your learners will come to the initial training with diverse backgrounds and experiences, which means the individual challenges they encounter will vary widely, too.

 

So let’s deep into the topics about some things you have to consider after training…

1) Involve All the Managers – Directions to support training, rather just seeing it. When managers support training, rather than seeing it as a separate activity, employees are bound to improve their skills more quickly. Managers can discuss what the individual is learning and provide opportunities aligned with the person’s learning goals. They can provide encouragement and reinforcement and create a learning plan if the employee is interested in following one.

2) Create and share support resources – Build a learning portal via platforms, apps, (cloud) emails, videos, etc. Whether physical, online or apps, performance support materials close the gap between training and assistance during the flow of work. Job aids are essential when there is a gap between training and use, for skills that are infrequently used and difficult to remember and for dangerous situations. Think of checklists, step-by-step procedures, decision aids, trouble shooting guides, frequently asked questions, scripts and many other formats. 

 

3) Facilitate online conversations – Invite leaders and employees to share their experience, feedback, suggestions by creating an opened dialogue environment. In this approach, the learning experience designer works with a SME to seed the discussion with real-world questions, case studies and problems to solve. If the discussions are relevant, the learners will often take over.

4) Promote mentoring programs – Use mentoring strategy, method and tactics to help the trainees to recall what they ‘ve had learn during the training. Mentoring refers to developing a long-term professional relationship between an experienced guide and a person who is seeking advice and guidance for professional development. Successful mentoring not only helps th                     e mentor and mentee, but it helps organizations maintain and grow their pool of talent.

 

5) Share quotes, tips, paragraphs and highlights from the training program’s topic and content via platforms, emails and other tools. Send short presentations that extend learning to participants on a regular schedule. Sending boosts in spaced intervals helps learners recall information after some forgetting has occurred, which in turn strengthens the memory for the next time it’s needed.

 

According to all the above, it is essential to share quantitative and mostly qualitative questions to the trainees for receiving a constructive feedback and <material> for your every next course.

 

Always focus on employees reaction to the training program, their behavior and how this aligns to business results & income… of course Kirkpatrick has his model here, which is very effective approach to calculate and evaluate a training program.

The object of training is for people to learn, but learning is not an event, it’s a process.

As a supplementary, learning reinforcement is also a very good tactic which help employees be able to recall what was learned and use it on the job. With reinforcement, the brain has no indication that the information learned is important to keep, and its natural cognitive processes will flush that information away instead of transferring it to long-term memory for future use.

The goal of training reinforcement is to extend the learning process and provide content that allows the learner to think critically about how they’ll apply that new knowledge on the job and to have a broad perspective…

Types of post-training reinforcement content should include:

• Multiple choice questions 
• Short answer questions
• Poll questions
• Micro videos on similar topics
• Thought questions

The point is, do not hesitate to ask questions, questions, questions…and I repeat quantitative and qualitative as well!

You must understand that, stakeholders hold the ultimate seal of approval on the effectiveness of training. They observe whether employees are able to transfer the knowledge/skills to their jobs. They are also responsible for the performance metrics of employees as well as the team as a whole. Knowing all this, it is safe to assume that stakeholder satisfaction is a crucial indicator of effective training programs.

Training evaluation based on learning analytics revolves a lot around data mining and number crunching. However, quantitative data and reports often fail to give a solution to the problems. This is where qualitative evaluation shines. And the best sources of qualitative feedback are your stakeholders.

About KPIs evaluation we must understand that KPIs act as a compass for the measurement and the effectiveness of the training program. Showing If we taking the right path towards to strategic goals.

 

Especially for after training KPIs you could start searching about the impact several months after the training, but I believe it is many times wiser to think about the expected impact and how you are going to measure it beforehand.

When you’re looking at the right key performance indicators (KPIs), it’s much easier to see if your training is having the outcomes and return on investment you’d hoped it would.

Training and successful KPIs also means looking at goals and progress for individual employees – after all, organizational success only comes from individuals’ collective successes. 

Tracking KPIs maybe seems like a lot of work, but there is plenty of LMS available to make it streamlined and simple.

You must have in mind that the bottom line of any training or a workshop is whether it helped the organization to execute its strategy more efficiently and effectively or not.

Always respect and listen your stakeholders and trainees and treat them both as your partners for the ultimate success of your training programs…Yes is about Teamwork!

It’s not just about getting the training program done, it’s about doing it right, effective and exceptional.