CAREER TRAINING AND LEARNING
Many companies have realised the importance of providing career training to their employees, and creating a culture of lifelong learning. There is a whole array of training and development programmes that can add value to these companies.
Some companies also set aside a sizeable proportion of working days per year to send their staff for training and development. Some larger and well-established sations have even invested in state-of-the-art training rooms to create a conducive environment for career training. Other organisations sponsor their staff to attend sponsored training off the premises. When posssible, organizations also organise ts in exotic locations just to allow staff an opportunity to recuperate and learn a few new things.
With all these efforts, there is a tendency to think that all is well. Many organisations have impressive figures on their investment in training.
Howvever, how effective are these career training programmes? Can we measure the success of such training in terms of job performance? Does proper and constant transfer of learning takes place? There are many reasons why training fails.
Among them are:
1. Apathy
Many employees feel that career training is just a waste of time and totally irrelevant to them. Therefore, they are not motivated to pay attention during the programme.
2.Lack of preparation
Sometimes, employees are not given enough time to prepare for a training programme. Participants walking into workshops and seminars looked harried, as they have been sent as a replacement for their colleagues. On some occasions, it turns out that the person has attended the training previously. This suggests that training is just a time-filler and not really important.
3. Lack of team support
The employee attending the training has no one to replace him in the workplace. When the training is over, he has to go back to clear the work that has accumulated in his absence. Sometimes, participants request time off to go back to office to clear their work while attending a workshop. Some employees even get called back to the office by their boss to clear some urgent work. In such situations, participants cannot concentrate on the training.
4.Wrong career training programme
The department that is in charge of coordinating the various training programmes in the organization is sometimes unaware of the real training needs of the staff. It is important to keep in mind the individual's learning ability as well as his training needs. Many times, participants who find it difficult to cope are actually attending the workshop with colleagues who have higher qualifications and are better able to follow the training programme.
5. No follow-up
Attending a training programme for one or two days does not mean that the staff is competent in the skill that he
has acquired. Training is actually the easy part. What is important is the follow-up that comes along with the training. Most organisations send their staff for training but fail to follow up properly. As a result, after a few weeks or a few days the staff would have forgotten what they have learnt.
To ensure that staff are able to fully benefit from the career training programmes that they attend, the organisation should look at creating a positive learning environment by making the workplace more "brain-centric". This means that the organisation has embraced the concept of lifelong learning by allowing staff the opportunity to share their learning experiences and put to use what they have learnt.
All organizations aspire to give their employee the opportunity to age in lifelong learning and career training. So what can organisations do to create an organizational learning workplaces?
Adult learning, or andragogy, is self-directed learning. The adult learner has to be self-motivated and must find a reason that is valid enough for him to learn a new skill.The trouble is that the adult learner sometimes does not know what to expect from the career training or why he must acquire a new skill or update his knowledge. This primarily arises due to lack of mental preparation on the part of the adult learner to engage in the learning process and occurs because the organization has not made an attempt to prepare its staff for the intended training programme.
If you want to get your staff to embrace lifelong learning, you need to create a brain-centric environment where people are motivated to learn. Adults learn best when the environment is non-threatening and their effort is acknowledged.
Create a learning culture
Brain-centric learning is for staff all through the organization. The people at the top are the ones who need to start this process by getting involved in employee training. When conducting employee training, top-level management should send some of their staff to attend the career training as well. This sends a signal to employees that learning and training is for everyone, which in turn motivates everyone to do their best.
Share learning experiences
Most generic training workshops last for one to three days. After the training, the participant has to clear the backlog at work. After a few days, the impact of the training programmes starts to lessen. One way to arrest this process is to have a session where staff members who have attended a career training session share their learning experience with others. This allows for an effective transfer of learning and might motivate others to attend training as well.
Make learning fun
Learning should be a fun process as this has a tendency to stay longer in your mind. This only occurs if the
employee knows that he will not only benefit from the training but also will be having lots of fun. One way to do this is to prepare him on what to expect during the training.Asked participants as to why they attend the training and I get blank expressions followed by something like: "My boss asked me to attend!" Or "I don't know, but I was told that it would be good for me!" This creates a negative mindset even before the training commences. Another way to mentally prepare the employee is to get the trainer to give a short preview of what he will cover in the career training workshop and to generate interest by sharing with the participants how the training will be conducted and what are some of the things they will learn from it.
Identify areas of improvement
Would you like someone to tell you your faults and what is good for you or what is not? Would it not be better if you are allowed to discover your own weaknesses? Adult learners learn better if they can identify their own learning weaknesses and strengths. Some organisations that I've trained with get their staff to engage in intensive brain-storming sessions to propose, potential career training programmes so that they can be customised to match the needs and wants of the employees. Learning is a wonderful thing; the ability to inspire others to learn is even more wonderful.
The sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, said: "To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is ... the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind. It prolongs life itself and enlarges the sphere of existence." You too can enlarge your "sphere" by embracing lifelong learning.
