I found it challenging...

I found it challenging when reading about the backlash towards training in organizations due to lack of results. It is never good to hear about cuts in funding for positions you may eventually be hoping to land. Luckily, that was a small portion. After reading the chapter, I feel that it is important for trainers to think of performance. Knowledge transfer has been difficult to measure, and students are apt to perform as directed when tested, but revert to prior actions. When designing training, I am often thinking about what I want the learner to know; in the future I think it will be important to think about what I want them to do with it.

At my current position, I train employees on safety items such as safe lifting, fire safety, and PPE use. I will need to think of ways to ensure not just the transfer of knowledge, but to reinforce practice. One idea I had is to spend a day in shipping/receiving to reinforce safe lifting. While the employees are likely to perform correctly while I am there, they are just as likely to revert back when I am not. Maybe periodic observations will keep them using proper technique because they won’t know when a visit is happening. I feel like this is a bit more authoritarian than I like to be, but I don’t have another good idea on how to keep them working at it right now. If I can come up with a rewards system, that would be better.

All of this has me thinking about e-learning now. How can you measure performance on the job in e-learning environments? You can’t see what they are doing, you can measure it with tests, but tests are not the best indicators of everyday performance. It is different for educational vs. professional settings, I think education would be easier to measure as you can tell if a student is processing the knowledge by how well they are able to complete their assignments. Interesting topic, perhaps for another day?