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A fast food approach to employee training may save time, but without proper planning it won’t satisfy your team’s appetite for learning.

In the midst of near constant change, budgets may be tight and resources stretched thin, but the most precious commodity is time. There just isn’t enough of it to do all that needs to be done day-to-day and still plan for tomorrow.

To make ends meet, companies are being tempted to take a fast food approach to employee training and learning programs. More and more often, Edizen is being asked, “Can you shorten up that training program to a half-day? We’re understaffed and can’t pull our managers away. Also, we don’t want to spend a lot of time on program design. We trust you to just do something off the shelf.”

Achieve your organizational objectives from the start.

While there may be times when you can shorten the delivery of training and still achieve your objective, you should never shorten or eliminate the time required for program design.

A fast food approach to employee training may save time, but without proper planning it won’t satisfy your team’s appetite for learning - or your organization’s need for results.

This situation presents a dilemma for both the internal training specialist and the outside consultant. At Edizen, we have developed a process for program design that can be applied quickly and ensure the best outcome. If you are a buyer for employee training, the following guidelines can be applied to either off-the-shelf or customized programs.

First and foremost, be clear about what needs to be learned. Is it a skill, such as using a new software system, or a knowledge, such as understanding changes to a product update? Does it require an underlying talent, which is something that cannot be trained? According to experts in adult learning, 90% of what adults learn is acquired outside of formal training. Consider then, if the desired skill would be best taught individually, through mentoring, or on-the-job training. Would a class or formal program be the right solution? Can self-study, one-on-one instruction, facilitated meetings or training aides be applied?

Once you have determined what needs to be learned and the best approach, you then need to design a program to work effectively within the unique setting of your organization. This will require interaction and involvement from everyone who is to take part in or support the training effort.

	1.	Meet with the individual manager to discuss the objective of the program, his/her expectations, the relationship of the proposed program to the job function, and what support will be required during and after the training.
	2.	Discuss how the new training will be reinforced. Determine training “hints” that can be incorporated to help participants know how and when to use the new skills or knowledge.
	3.	Meet with all those involved to validate the proposed program content. This could include key managers, participants, and previous trainees. Gather relevant information about the backgrounds of participants. Connect the content to the strategic vision of the company and to employees' everyday jobs. Identify the critical “people issues” such as HR systems, change programs, and employee communications. Determine the major competencies necessary for the future of the organization.
	4.	Identify potential barriers to the success of the training program. These could include such things as new policies, technology, or corporate culture issues.
	5.	Review the proposed content first with the individual managers and, if possible, senior managers. Gain consensus on both the curriculum and value of the course, as well as their support and buy-in.
	6.	Ensure that the program incorporates adult learning principals to accommodate varied learning styles. Provide a framework for choosing the best delivery methods including coaching and facilitation to enable learning. Develop self-assessments to be used in pre-training to prepare participants for learning.
	7.	Determine what form of measurement will be used such as testing, demonstration, or observation. At the conclusion of the course, we are always concerned whether participants “liked” the training program. While this is nice to know, it is more important to ask if the training made a difference, and then to follow up with measurements to make sure that it did.
	8.	Pilot the course and revise content as well as any supplemental aides.

If you take the time required to properly design your training program, you will save far more in the end by being able to achieve your organizational objectives from the start.

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