Peer to Peer Magazine

32 PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | SUMMER 2018 The biggest challenge to effective training, though, as we began, is oen identifying the right approach to training. A training program, no maer if it's based on the best resources, adequate time, and high-quality instructors, will still fail if based on the wrong approach. The "right" approach is not just something that looks the best on paper but is real and applicable. Most importantly, it should be collaborative and engaging. Most courses continue to use the traditional instructor-led training model and avoid the challenge of engaging employees. Instructor-led classrooms can be efficient when presenting large amounts of material to a large group of people, but they most oen fail to be interactive, and the effectiveness of the training depends heavily on the skills of the lecturer. Instead, trainers should engage employees using interactive methods such as small group discussions, case studies, role-playing, and/or demonstrations. Employees that help each other and learn together are forced to think about what they are learning in a way that's simply not possible in an instructor-led course. How Do We Find the Right Trainer? Finding the right trainer is an essential component of effective training. Although trainings are most successful when they are performed by professionals with knowledge and expertise in the target subject maer, the right trainer is not necessarily an experienced professional. Look for a person with aptitude and the right aitude. A candidate who is experienced in, say, Microso Office, might make a great trainer for Word, but a potential trainer with the right mindset towards people and processes can be easily trained or coached to teach any number of new tools or skills. The person should be able to guide employees throughout their orientation and learning to keep things running smoothly. Other characteristics of good trainers or mentors include traits such as patience, open-mindedness, creativity, flexibility, and organization. The right trainer also makes training more enjoyable and helps trainees retain more information through the use of humor, encouraged participation, and tailoring the learning experience to make it more enjoyable and fun. How Do We Determine if Training is Effective? To determine if training is successful, there's no beer way than using an accountability system. A good system will measure the effectiveness of whether trainers successfully communicated information and whether trainees successfully applied what they learned to their job performance. To create your system and test a training's effectiveness, look at the following four factors: (1) The employees' reaction to the training; (2) The employees' actual learning; (3) The employees' post-training job behavior; and (4) The quantifiable business results. Find out if employees feel like they have learned and use detailed assessments to confirm. Observe employees post-training behavior to see if they are taking the new knowledge, skills, or aitudes from training and applying them in the workplace. Then, scrutinize business goals to see if there have been How to Accomplish Effective Workplace Training FEATURES BRITTANY IVY Brittany Ivy is the Business Process Supervisor in the Business Information Development department which provides application support and process management services to the firm. She joined the Wilson team in 2011, beginning her career in the Foreclosure department and working in various process areas throughout her career at the firm. She is a member of the firm's Professional Advancement, Compliance, and Ethics and Leadership Committees. She graduated from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock with a BBA in Management in 2014. NICOLE MURRAY Nicole Murray is an attorney in the Foreclosure Department of Wilson & Associates, PLLC. She earned her B.A. in Educational Studies at Warner University (2010, Magna Cum Laude), and earned her J.D. from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law (2017, Suma Cum Laude). She was admitted to the Arkansas Bar in 2017, and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Arkansas Bar Association

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