10 Ways to Improve Employee-Training Programs

You can lead adults to training, but you can’t make them think.

Every day hundreds of training facilitators enter employee classrooms to deliver their most current training offerings. Employees greet these training efforts with a wide range of emotions. 

Trainers often notice expressions of boredom or frustration on the faces of training participants, including managers and supervisors. These reactions are caused by a variety of reasons:

Does it have to be this way?

The most important question of all is: Will the participants be able to apply what they learn in class to new workplace practices, requirements or demands?

Let’s look at 10 ways to improve your training programs.

1. You could have asked me!

Survey your target audience. Ask class participants to identify job-performance improvement areas. A well-constructed assessment can include surveys, observations from management and employees as well as any available data (turnover reports, sales reports, customer comments, etc.).  This process helps define what subject matter interests your target audience.

2. Be prepared.

As pre-work, give participants exposure to information that prepares them for classroom discussion. This knowledge-based pre-work can include definitions, concepts and skills, which helps set the stage for a more successful training experience. 

3. Know the territory.

Successful speakers and trainers know their audience.  They tailor their language and presentation styles to that specific audience. For example, when speaking with new hires, be careful to avoid acronyms or other “shorthand” terms that veterans inside the company use. Most new employees haven’t been around long enough to relate to the jargon of the company. Likewise, presenting a detailed history of the company to long-term employees will not bring them to their feet. 

4. Ask the expert!

You need to master the material and become the expert on the information that you are presenting.  Keep the pace of the class moving and anticipate the questions the participants will ask. If you don’t know the answer to a question, make sure you find an answer and communicate it to the group at the earliest possible time. 

5. It slices, it dices, and it has 121 uses!

Sell the training-program benefits. You need to demonstrate in concrete terms how the information that you are sharing will help the participant in tangible ways. Use real-life examples of how the information was useful to a previous participant or in some other relevant setting.

6. This is not Shakespeare---no monologues please!

If you hear only the sound of your own voice throughout the presentation, chances are the audience will not be engaged in the training. Be sure to include relevant interactive segments in your presentation.  Invite participation with interesting questions, storytelling, scenarios and role playing.  Let the participants do the work and their engagement will increase their learning and the likelihood that they will retain the information.

7. Can we talk?

Use a conversational tone and engage participants in conversation by making eye contact; use body language that reinforces participation; and share personal experiences that are relevant and appropriate for the presentation. For example, when discussing drug-abuse prevention, instead of reciting a list of drug-abuse statistics make it personal, “My son shared a statistic with me that 25 percent of all high-school students have tried an illegal substance.  Does that seem as surprising to you as it does to me?”

8. The entire world is a stage…

Enjoy your presentation and the audience will enjoy it too.  If you act relaxed and engaged, the audience will respond.

9. The first one was too hot, the next one was too cold and the last one was just right.

As much as possible, make the training environment pleasant. Set the stage for a successful-training experience by accommodating preferences for room temperature, lighting, seating and work-space areas. It also helps to give participants a say in scheduling lunch and class breaks.

10. How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

The old line is still true: practice, practice, practice.   As mentioned earlier, skill practices, role playing and other interactive training tools not only enhance classroom learning, they improve the likelihood that those ideas will be retained after training is over. 

Follow-Up Activities Reinforce the Training Experience

Additionally, ask participants to (1) journal their attempts to put their new skills to work and (2) schedule regular meetings with their supervisor for tracking post-training progress. Follow-up activities help reinforce the classroom-training experience. 

Research shows that if a person practices a new skill for 30 days, it becomes a habit. For better results, develop post-training practice programs. For example, recommend reading selections that are related to the training session topic(s) and hold interactive online discussions with the class participants.

Constant Change Requires Constantly Successful Training

These suggestions will not guarantee the success of every training class, but they will improve the likelihood that the training will address the needs of the participants and will be delivered in an effective manner.  In an age of constant change and expanding knowledge, effective training programs are fundamental to individual and business successes.

Trainers often notice expressions of boredom or frustration on the faces of class participants. These reactions are caused by a variety of reasons.