The Morning After: How to Making Training Stick After the Event | 3
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When planning and designing, it's important to
identify the potential enhancers, influencers, and
inhibitors so that you can build on the positive
forces and minimize or, if possible, eliminate the
effect of the negatives.
3Ms – Monitor, Measure, and Motivate
Taking time at the beginning of the design
and development stage to identify the major
performance and behavioral improvements, i.e.,
outcomes, is a key activity in knowing what and
how to measure the success of a training initiative.
Course evaluations have their place, but they are
no measure of future performance improvement.
They do not tell you whether or not the training
will stick.
Instead, we need to incorporate post-training
reinforcement activities during the design phase
to monitor key performance improvements;
measure the extent and impact; and recognize
and reward excellence. Monitoring and measuring
performance in relation to quality – quantity – time
– cost will cover most areas of activity within an
organization, which is a good starting point when
identifying key performance indicators. Setting up
a series of post-training coaching activities is an
effective training reinforcement tool and can help
to gauge how learners are feeling and responding
back on the job.
The trick is, "Don't try to boil the ocean." Instead,
focus on three or four significant areas of
improvement at any given time.
Using follow-up surveys, focus groups, pre- and
post-assessments, changes in performance
review criteria, team leader involvement,
peer reviews, check-ins with SMEs, centers of
excellence, and employee rewards programs are
all ways you can monitor, measure, and motivate
to ensure training stickiness and that outcomes
will be realized.
My grandmother always maintained that "the
proof of the pudding is in the eating," meaning
you could tell how good a pudding was when you
tasted it. She made great Christmas puddings,
but when I think back to watching her bake
at the kitchen table, it was the care, time, and
ingredients that she put into the preparation and
mixing of her puddings that always guaranteed
they would taste great – she left nothing to
chance. Maybe there is a lesson for all of us when
we want to make sure our training sticks.
About the Author:
John Winter is vice president of learning solutions for CEG.
He oversees the design, development, and maintenance
of CEG's courseware inventory and collaborates with client
organizations to design tailored professional development
solutions. He has more than 30 years of experience in the field
of learning and talent development, having started his career
teaching in the UK school system. Now, when helping organi-
zations and individuals learn and transform, he always looks to
fully understand the specific, measurable outcomes that will
serve as a foundation for designing and developing learning
events that help individual and organizational performance
flourish and grow in a sustainable way. His credo is, "You have
to bake it in at the beginning."
