Adventure learning training method

Chapter Seven

Traditional Training Methods

Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to

1. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of presentational, hands-on, and group building training methods.

2. Provide recommendations for effective on-the-job training (OJT).

3. Develop a case study.

4. Develop a self-directed learning module.

5. Discuss the key components of behavior modeling training.

6. Explain the conditions necessary for adventure learning to be effective.

7. Discuss what team training should focus on to improve team performance.

Learning Develops Skills of Staff Dedicated to Battling Cancer

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nonprofit nationwide, community-based, voluntary health organization dedicated to creating a world without cancer. ACS strives to save lives by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures for cancer, and by helping those who have cancer to fight the disease. ACS is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and has regional and local offices throughout the United States that support eleven geographical divisions to ensure a presence in every community. The corporate office in Atlanta is responsible for overall strategic planning, corporate support services including training, development and implementation of research programs, health program, a 24-hour call center, and providing technical support and materials to regional and local offices. Regional and local offices deliver patient programs and services and engage in fund-raising activities.

The philosophy of the talent development department is to provide “the right learning solution at the right time for the right person.” One guiding principle is to support and drive the business through employee development and training. Another is that ACS wants employees to grow and develop, which is captured by the slogan “save lives, fulfill yours.” Staff are encouraged to participate292in leadership development, mentoring, coaching, and job-specific training classes. For staff interested in pursuing formal education, ACS has partnerships with online universities. Also, staff are encouraged to work with their manager to establish clear professional and development goals that map a path to career success.

At ACS it is important for training and development programs to be realistic in terms of taking into account budgetary constraints and job responsibilities. The programs need to be both efficient and effective and minimize the time that staff members are taken away from their primary responsibilities such as helping patients, working with the community, and planning and carrying out fund-raising events. All delivered content is evaluated on the extent to which it is related to the job, staff member performance, and the organization’s mission. For example, the Nationwide Manager Development Program is designed to help build management strength for ACS. The program is marketed as an “adventure in management” and its design is intended to make training engaging, enjoyable, and enriching for the participants. The eighteen-month program helps participants learn management concepts using virtual discussion forums and e-learning. Also, participants are put into learning teams designed to represent a diversity of thought, tenure, and experience. These teams engage in action learning, which focuses on developing management skills, while developing solutions to business issues and problems facing ACS.

Source: Based on P. Harris, “Training as a change agent,” TD (October 2014): 84–86; www.cancer.org , website for the American Cancer Society.

INTRODUCTION

The American Cancer Society uses a combination of training methods to develop the skills of its staff members. For most companies, including the American Cancer Society, training methods have to be developed or purchased within a budget, there usually is a sense of urgency for the training, and training must be made available to those employees who need it.

Several studies have shown that most workplace learning doesn’t occur through formal courses or programs but rather on the job, informally, and through social interactions with others.1 For example, one study of executives found that 70 percent of learning occurred on the job in the workplace, 20 percent occurred socially through coaching and mentoring, and only 10 percent occurred through formal classroom instruction. This is known as the 70-20-10 model of learning. Many trainers rely on this model for designing or choosing training methods that will be included in courses and programs. Similar to the emphasis on conditions for learning and transfer discussed in Chapter Four, “Learning and Transfer of Training,” this model suggests that to increase the likelihood that learning will occur in training, the content needs to be meaningful and practical, the learner has to be actively involved in the learning process, and learning involves feedback and reinforcement from others.

Before we discuss specific training methods, it is important for you to consider more broadly the training methods that companies are using to help employees learn and how the emphasis placed on these different methods is changing. Figure 7.1 shows a learning system with four quadrants. This learning system shows that how and what employees learn293varies and influences the type of training methods used.2 Guided competency development means that the company has defined a broad set of competencies or skills for positions or for the entire company. Training and development methods such as lectures or online training are directed at the most common needs in the company. Context-based learning, learning that occurs on the job and during the everyday performance of work, tends to be more unique to the employee’s needs and includes training methods such as OJT, simulations, and mobile learning. Both guided competence development and guided contextual learning are usually formal training activities designed and developed by the company to achieve specific learning goals. Employees are expected to participate in these learning activities. The bottom quadrants include social learning, that is, learning activities that involve employees collaborating with each other either one-to-one or in groups or teams. Social competency development enhances specific job-related competencies through interaction with others such as a mentor or coach, or through encountering challenging job experiences. The competencies that are developed are typically not necessary for successful performance of one’s job but help prepare employees for future roles or positions. As a result, mentoring, coaching, and job experiences are considered development activities. We discuss development activities in Chapter Nine, “Employee Development and Career Management.” Social contextual learning is informal and peer-to-peer, and it occurs spontaneously on an as-needed basis. It usually involves employees sharing knowledge on issues, problems, and topics related to their current job. Employees have always learned from face-to-face meetings and phone conversations with peers. What is new is that the increased availability and access to smartphones and tablet computers provide a multimedia, low-cost, easy-to-use, and familiar way to interact with others using social media such as blogs, wikis, social networks (such as Facebook), and microblogs (such as Twitter). This provides many possibilities for technology-aided social contextual294learning. We will discuss blogs, wikis, social networks, and microblogs in Chapter Eight, “Technology-Based Training Methods.” Keep in mind that training methods can cut across the quadrant shown in Figure 7.1 if they include multiple types of learning, such as a virtual classroom that includes simulations and use of social networks.

FIGURE 7.1 A Learning System

Source: From J. Meister and K. Willyerd, The 2020 Workplace. How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today (New York: Harper Business 2010).

Today, most companies’ training methods would be found in Quadrants 1, 2, and 3, but some are beginning to explore how to facilitate learning from peers either face to face or through the use of social media. This is because traditionally training and development activities have been largely “instructor focused.” This means that the instructor or trainer, along with the company, has the primary responsibility for ensuring that employees learn.3 The learner plays a passive role as the receiver of information, and learning occurs to the extent that the appropriate conditions are provided by the learning “experts” or are inherent in the learning method. For example, the instructor bears the responsibility for identifying what should be learned, determining the most appropriate methods, and evaluating the extent to which knowledge and skill acquisition resulted from the learning activity. Increased recognition of the 70-20-10 model has resulted in training emphasizing a more active role for the learner and informal learning.4 Also, the greater availability and use of online and mobile technology (e.g., iPads) to deliver instruction and facilitate social collaboration gives the employee the opportunity to choose when, how, from whom, and even what content to learn.5 Figure 7.1 provides an overview of how much companies are using different training methods. Instructor-led classroom training remains the most frequently used method, but the use of online learning, virtual classroom, or a combination of methods continues to grow.

Regardless of whether the training method is traditional or technology-based, for training to be effective, it needs to be based on the training design model shown in Figure 1.2 in Chapter One, “Introduction to Employee Training and Development.” Needs assessment, a positive learning environment, and transfer of training are critical for training program effectiveness. Recall the discussions of needs assessment, learning, and transfer of training in Chapters Three to Five.

This chapter and Chapter Eight present various training methods. This chapter focuses on traditional training methods, which require an instructor or facilitator and involve face-to-face interaction between trainees. However, most methods discussed here can be adapted for online, virtual reality, mobile learning, or other new training technologies used for training delivery or instruction. For example, a classroom lecture can occur face to face with trainees (traditional training) or can be delivered through a virtual classroom, in which the instructor is not in the same room as the trainees. Also, instruction can be real-time (synchronous) or time-delayed (asynchronous). Through technology, a lecture can be attended live (although the trainees are not in the same classroom as the trainer), or the lecture can be videotaped or burned onto a DVD. The lecture can be viewed by the trainees at their convenience on a notebook computer that gives them access to the appropriate medium for viewing the lecture (e.g., DVD player or Internet connection).

Chapter Eight discusses web-based training, e-learning, virtual reality, and social media. The increased use of technology-based training for delivery of instruction is occurring because of the potential increases in learning effectiveness, as well as the reductions in training costs.

Keep in mind that many companies’ training programs use a combination of methods to capitalize on each method’s strengths for learning and transfer. For example, LQ Management, LLC is an owner operator of limited service hotels in the United States.295It operates more than eight hundred hotels in forty-six states, Canada, and Mexico, under La Quinta Inns and Suites brands.6 La Quinta wants its employees to provide the best rooms, atmosphere, and courteous service at every hotel. La Quinta’s culture emphasizes continuous improvement and its operating philosophy stresses taking care of employees and guests, and keeping the hotels spotlessly cleaned and well maintained.

This means that training plays an important role in the success of every employee. La Quinta uses different training methods to help employees learn, including web-based training, small-group training involving games where they are challenged with real-world scenarios that have occurred at hotel properties, and DVDs. The goal of the small-group training is to make learning fun and at the same time promote learning through conversation and idea sharing. Additionally, employees have multiple training resources available, including LQUniversity (LQU), LQ Connect, and LQ Video Portal. LQU provides access to formal training courses, LQ Connect is a web-based portal that provides learning resources, and LQ Video Portal provides training videos that employees can access at any time. The videos cover La Quinta’s service philosophy, values, and housekeeping and maintenance topics.