The Path to Smart Training Decisions

How do you determine if a training program will deliver on its promises or miss the mark - before you invest valuable resources? One solution is The Path to Smart Training Decisions flowchart and worksheet, which provides a practical, step-by-step process for evaluating prospective training programs using the Criterion-Referenced Instruction methodology.

Here's a quick summary of the major steps of this process:

1. Is there a business need?
There should be a substantial need for new training, such as preparing new employees, enhancing the performance of current employees with skills they don't yet possess, or implementing business strategies (such as new processes or systems, culture change, restructuring, downsizing) which will require employees to acquire new skills.

2. Is the focus on performance?
The program should focus on things you want learners to be able to do that they can't do now. The performances should be described with action verbs and outcomes. Good examples would be to prepare a budget, to ride a bicycle, or to repair a washing machine.

3. Are tasks and skills detailed?
The specific job tasks and skills should be named and described in detail to ensure that the program focuses on all the right performances.

4. Is practice realistic?
It is crucial that learners practice the skills they need to learn in realistic job contexts - that is, in the same manner that they will be expected to perform on the job.

5. Does practice include a mix of job situations?
The program should include practice in a representative mix of job situations. Without representative practice - including appropriate triggering cues - there will be a sharp learning curve on the job.

6. Do learners practice to job competence?
Each learner's job competence in each skill should be verified during the program. Requiring each learner to demonstrate competence ensures self-efficacy upon return to work, in addition to proving the effectiveness of the program to management.

7. Does practice equal at least half of training?
The program needs to provide learners with skill mastery. To ensure mastery, each learner should spend at least half of his or her time practicing needed skills.

8. Will practice cause negative feelings?
Instructional practices should not produce anxiety, embarrassment, or frustration. Attaching negative emotions to the training experience interferes with learning.

9. Is the program of value?
The benefits of the program must outweigh the costs. What are the optimal program benefits, and how effective do you expect the program to be?

The Path to Smart Training Decisions flowchart and worksheet comes FREE with the purchase of How to Make Smart Decisions About Training: Save Money, Time & Frustration by Paul G. Whitmore, Ph.D. ($22.95, 1-879618-20-6, 155 pgs., CEP Press, 2002). In a recent review of How to Make Smart Decisions About Training, Training Magazine said the flowchart and worksheet are "worth the price of the book and will prove invaluable tools in sitting down with a manager and determining whether, and what, training is indicated - or in feeling more confident that a vendor can deliver on promises made."

To order the book or to view a FREE chapter excerpt, click here. To order The Path to Smart Training Decisions Flowchart and Worksheet (pkg. of 25, $72), click here.