“I don’t think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday”.
– Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln’s words suggest a high value on life-long learning. It would be hard to find someone who disagrees with the benefit of continuous learning. It is easier to find advocates for workforce development. Companies regularly contemplate how learning can be the catalyst to help the workforce learn a new software program, improve their ability to answer customers’ questions, fulfill orders in record time, build distinctive and productive client relationships, improve implementation of logistical requirements, run a better meeting, speak to move their audience to action and blow the doors off of last year’s sales numbers?! Learning is definitely a key catalyst to these tangible results and more. The qualifier is – it must be learning done right.

The way learning is rolled out varies greatly. Some companies do classroom training only. Others have put the majority of the learning into online webinars. And some do a blended approach. So what works best? That depends on many aspects such as location of the training participants, financial and technical resources. The bottom line to learning done right is that no matter how the learning initiative is rolled out, there are methods and learning principles that must be woven into the design of the training and should not be compromised. Learning and utilization of the new knowledge is the quest for all workforce development initiatives.

Successful adult learning uses the key training design elements below. Adults typically walk into a training environment with resistance and reluctance. Translating the principles into the design will increase the opportunity to break down resistance and move participants to action and improved results!

Flexibility can be defined as providing a learning environment where the participants can have the best opportunity to relate and pensively determine how to use the learning. Find out what will work best for your participants. Flexibility can look like many things such as:

· Shorter training workshops delivered in multiple sessions. Try providing three 60 to 90 minute sessions delivered over a three week period rather than having the participants feel they are being “pulled away from their jobs” for an entire half-day.

· If half-day or full-day sessions work best for your participants, combine small training segments to produce a longer session. For example, if the North American sales force are the training participants and you, the Learning and Workforce Development Director, have been given one full day during the next week-long national meeting to spend training the group – seize it! Deliver a full day training workshop!

· Flexibility can also look non-traditional. A workforce development opportunity can be something delivered “in the moment” when the learner needs the new perspective and knowledge. It can take the form of a manager or peer’s coaching, or self-directed learning content accessible via a company intranet.

“WIIFM” is the next principle that cannot be compromised in order to move participants to action. “WIIFM” stands for “what’s in it for me?” Participants must know why they are attending the training. Addressing this is critical to their attention, comprehension, retention and utilization of the development opportunity. WIIFM can be looked at in two ways:

1. What personal benefits are gained?

2. What company benefits are realized with the new behaviors?

Here are ways to reveal WIIFM:

· Start sharing WIIFM in your pre-session communication to the participants. Let them know why the training is happening.

· Early in the workshop, set up discussions, worksheets or an activity to help participants define what the training will do for them. There is a definite advantage to structure this so the participants discover their own WIIFM. People believe in the data they create. Not to say, people don’t believe in data from other sources but their own data is the best. Make a point to keep these benefits top-of-mind for the participants throughout the workshop and afterward through follow-up communications.

Relevant is related to WIIFM. Training design starts with the discovery of the participants’ needs. Getting different perspectives on participants’ needs is advantageous. Here are ideas on discovering needs:

· Do interviews and/or focus groups with the participants themselves. Ask them what will actual make a difference to their performance? Ask them what they feel they do well and why. Ask them where they feel they need help and why.

· Conduct interviews with the participants’ managers and/or direct reports. Ask them similar questions to what was asked of the participants. Identify gaps in the different perspectives then look for concrete reasons for the gaps.

· Design training to close the gaps. For example, if the gap is around the participants needing help to build solid business relationships, what aspect of business relationships “feeds” the gap and should be the focus of the training?
- Will training on the different generations in the workforce help?
- What about how to improve interpersonal skills with behavior styles training?
- Are the participants actually relying on their functional/technical skills and lack talent management abilities?

“Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.”
- Abigail Adams

The quote by Abigail Adams speaks to the work the participants have to do to learn. When participants can see, hear, speak and do things throughout the training, the likelihood of actual learning and transfer of the learning advances significantly.

Active training means to design tasks, activities, assignments, and practices for the participants to complete AND process. Tasks can take the form of role plays, small group brainstorming, peer coaching, worksheets and presentation assignments. These are only a few examples. It is critically important to have participants DO something during the session with the training content.

It is equally important to debrief the participants’ experience with the task. Ask the participants:

- How did it go?

- What went well?

- Where were challenges?

- How did you tailor the process for your use?

“Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous.”
Confucius

The quote from Confucius makes the point that time for thought and reflection need to happen for learning. This is the exact role of the debriefing.

Accountability is vital to the behavior change begun during the training workshop. Participants need a post-training session assignment to hold them accountable. That might sound absurd for adult training but after the session participants’ old habits will try to creep back into their behaviors. It can take up to 90 days of daily repetition to break old habits. When participants know there is someone who will discuss their progress with them afterward or know they have to report on what they have accomplished by a certain date, their new behaviors will be more top-of-mind and have the best chance of being utilized.
According to Training Magazine’s 2007 Annual Report, “44% of organizations cite increasing the effectiveness of their programs as a No. 1 or 2 priority.” Without a doubt, when the training principles and techniques described here are applied, the effectiveness of the training will increase for each workforce development initiative.