March 2008

Culture
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Transference of learning from the classroom to the workplace is a major concern for learning and development professionals. According to the Research Institute of America, learners remember 58% of what was taught 33 minutes after the completion of a course, 33% on the second day, 15% three weeks after training and 13% a month after training without coaching or intervention. However, a key finding of the research is that learners remember more than four times as much from training that is perceived as highly relevant to their jobs.

"Learners remember more than four times as much from training that is perceived as highly relevant to their jobs."

The question is why don’t more learning and development professionals make training more relevant? More importantly, what defines relevance to the learning audience? Quite often the easier it is for learners to understand what is taught in regard to their job, the more relevance it will have for them.

Companies often purchase courseware or outsource the delivery of training programs from a variety of external vendors. This results in terminology and principles that must be internally translated to the language used within the company. Unfortunately, if the learner is incapable of making that translation, they will fail to see the relevance of the training or experience its benefits.

With this in mind, the following elements must be incorporated in the instructional design of a training initiative to increase relevance and effectiveness:

Culture
Training must reflect the organizational culture and the realities of the workplace. It needs to recognize the available pathways, opportunities, barriers and constraints that learners will encounter once they return to the workplace. If concepts and principles that are incongruent with an organization’s culture are taught, then motivation and progress will be stifled.

Competencies
If learners are given the skills and proficiency to improve their performance, you have made training highly relevant. As such, the instructional design must train learners to reach a mastery and proficiency of the subject matter that is transferable to the workplace. This should produce positive behavioral changes that generate both results and value for the company.

Consistency of Terminology and Concepts
All terminology and concepts should mirror what is being used in the workplace. By doing this, you make the critical translation required to demonstrate the obvious and easily applicable relevance of the subject matter. As the training is not left open to an employee’s interpretation, future problems are greatly reduced.

Quite often many large organizations use multiple vendors to train employees in a subject. An unfortunate side effect of this is the introduction of several different philosophies that use a variety of concepts and languages to get their message across. Consequently, communication breaks down when employees use the terms they learned, which conflicts with what was taught to a different set of employees. There is substantial confusion as no common language exists and there are a variety of interpretations being applied in the workplace.

Expectations and Outcomes
There is often varying levels of employee acceptance to a training effort. Some will diligently apply it, while others will ignore it. For this reason, it is wise to establish a clear set of expectations and outcomes for the training. There needs to be distinct linkages between training and performance and why it is important for learners to apply it to generate a desired result.

There are obviously other elements to consider when designing an effective training program that delivers results. However, if you pay attention to these critical issues you will see both increased relevance and transference of the training to the workplace as well as more efficient and motivated employees.

Timothy F. Bednarz, Ph.D.