Keeping a Staff Motivated Through Training and Development
By Jeffrey L. Bodimer

When you think about training, you think about the reasons why you train someone. Those reasons can range from a new-hire needing training on how the department and/or company operates, to introducing a new concept to a workgroup or a new computer system. Whatever the reason for conducting a training session, it is important for a company to develop a comprehensive, ongoing and consistent training program. This training program will be essential in keeping your staff motivated about learning new concepts and keeping your department profitable.

A complete training program should always include a formal new- hire training program, including an overview of the job expectations and performance skills needed to perform the job functions. Also, a new-hire training program should include a fundamental understanding of the position and how the position fits within the organizational structure. The more background knowledge of how one work group interrelates with ancillary departments, the more the new associate will understand their impact on the organization.

Another aspect of a comprehensive training program is continuing education. It should be an ongoing responsibility of one person in a department. It is an important function to keep all staff members current on policies, procedures and the technology used in the department.

New-Hire Training

A solid new-hire training program begins with the creation of a training manual. This manual acts as a building block of practical and technical skills needed to prepare the new individual for their position. In order for the department to understand current policies and procedures, it should be a manager's or supervisor's duty to ensure the department manuals are kept current. This includes any system enhancements and/or change in policy or procedure. In addition, it is important to remember to keep the manual interesting for the reader. In other words, keep the reader/associate in mind when designing the training manual. Do not be afraid to use language that is not "corporate" or to include graphics. Also, when possible, incorporate a visual image of a computer screen to illustrate a function.

Another form of new-hire training could include having the new associate train directly next to an existing associate. Some call this concept "OJT" (On the Job Training) or side-by-side training.This type of training allows the new associate to see firsthand the different facets of the position. Also, this allows the new-hire the opportunity to develop a working relationship with an existing associate. However, it should be noted, this type of training enforces learned concepts in the initial training and should be used as a form of reinforcement and application of those same learned concepts.

Continuing Education

A continuing education program for a department is just as important as the new-- hire training. Keep in mind, when you train a new associate, they will only retain approximately 40 percent of the information learned in the initial training session. Therefore, a continuous effort must be placed on reminding the staff about various procedures and concepts. This continuing education can be formal or informal. (It should be noted the author's preference would always be with more of an informal approach. However, the manager should decide what works for their department.) The formal, or traditional, approach would include a member of the management sending a memo to each associate.The informal, and often more appealing approach to a visual learner, would be to send a one-page information sheet to their staff. This information sheet, or "training alert," should be informative and presented in a non- threatening manner.Therefore, if the policy or procedure changes, the informal approach would better prepare the department to receive this presentation.

Designing a Continuing Education Program

Prior to putting together a continuing education program, the management team must decide what the desired outcome should be. One question that is important to answer is: "Do we want the program to enhance the skills of the associate, or do we want to help the associate with personal development?" While there is some commonality between both answers, the main difference is the opportunity for the management team to mold future management team members. If the desired outcome is simply to enhance skills, with no personal development, the department will have a staff that simply knows how to do their job a little better. While that is a positive one, most companies should think "outside the box," and design a program that allows, and even encourages, critical thinking and problem solving.

Therefore, when designing a continuing education program, the desired outcome should be a blending of both technical and personal enhancement. This type of program will allow the staff the opportunity to develop solid management skills, coupled with a better understanding of their position and function, and how that fits into the relationship of the organization.

For example, if you discover during the assessment process that writing skills in the department are low, you would need to enhance those skills by developing a corresponding workshop. This workshop could include topics on the basics of writing; such as spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and correct word use. Building on those basics, you could give your participants a topic, such as writing a letter to a customer apologizing for a late shipment. Provide the participants with background information about the customer, such as "they have been a customer for ten years and always have prompt payments." Give them ten or fifteen minutes to compose a rough draft, and have them present their letter to the group. Once someone has read a letter, ask the other participants to offer feedback for improvements, andas the trainer-point out the positive aspects of the letter.

Another mechanism regarding continuing education could include an affiliation with an association or industry group. This type of education is tangible, and has been proven as having a positive track record with the local offices and their industry trade groups. Staff members are given the opportunity to come together periodically, and discuss the issues they are experiencing in their business. This is a positive experience for everyone involved because the information gained in this type of setting can prove useful to others who may have the potential to partake in a similar situation. Also, others who have experienced a similar situation have the opportunity to state their resolutions) and how effectively they worked.

However an organization chooses to educate their staff, it is important to remember to attempt to keep the information consistent, concise, accurate, and most importantly, presented in a non- threatening manner. Management may have the tendency to dictate, whereas education is informing. When an associate is "informed" of a new policy/procedure, the change is typically received better than if the information is "dictated."

A few final thoughts on the design of the program:

1. According to the Wall Street, journal, most adults write at an eigth-grade level.Therefore, always follow the acronym of KISS (Keep It Simple, Sweetie).

2. When scheduling the training session, attempt to keep your groups diverse.This promotes healthy discussion, and is a five example of how concepts can relate throughout the organization and/ or workgroups.

3. Attempt to have a point-person or a trainer in each work area.This concept can serve two purposes:

a. If a new system or procedure will be introduced, have this point-- person learn the system or procedure, and have them train the staff. One always learns something better when they are required to teach the concept.

b. It helps having a local resource within the workgroup.This would allow for more questions when the level of understanding is low.The associate would not feel threatened by someone they sit next to everyday, versus a trainer from the human resources or organizational development area.

So, What is the Best Type of Continuous Training Program or Training Method?

The best type of training program for a work group and/or existing staff would be one tailored to their needs. This concept brings about a whole other issue. How do you know what their needs are? One way is to work with the staff members who are responsible for the area. If it is possible, do a random sampling of the performance reviews and look for consistencies in any "areas of development."

Another approach could be to conduct a training-needs-assessment and ask the staff members themselves what skill sets they would like to develop. This approach should always be done in an anonymous format, to ensure the best possible results. People tend to be more open and honest when they know they will not be reprimanded for identifying their weaknesses.

No matter how you determine what types of courses are needed, it is important to remember: when developing the course, stick to the original concept. If more than one concept is considered during the planning process, break the concepts out into two workshops. Keep in mind that a productive workshop can and should be accomplished in less than two hours. Anything more than two hours, and you will lose your audience. Finally, during the actual training session, attempt to have at least one or two activi\ties to keep the participants minds active and to prevent sleeping or daydreaming.

While a training session and/or workshop may be effective, it may not always be the best approach. If the concept being introduced could be defined as elementary or common knowledge, create a "training alert." This form of communication is an excellent method to communicate and/or reiterate concepts that would be considered common knowledge or new job information. These training alerts should always be done in a bulleted format-and remember to add some flare and/or graphics to the piece of paper. Also, do not be afraid to use that flare in your color choice of paper. I have found through my work experience, that when staff members receive a piece of florescent green paper in their in-box, they are more likely to pick it up and read it, versus the white color paper memo that just went out from the boss!

Keeping the Learning Going!

Just a few ideas on this concept and I'll step down from the training soapbox!

1. if the capabilities are present and the department wants to have some fun while learning, develop a game! This game can be based on anything from Family Feud or Jeopardy! In either format, have the staff answer questions created by the department management, relating to work situations and/or people. It is amazing what people will remember from a fun situation versus a forced learning experience.

2. When conducting the training classes, attempt to keep them informative and light. While communicating the ideas is important, the number one goal should be to keep the staff entertained during the workshop. This can be difficult if you do not employ an animated trainer; however, most individuals that are in the training field are pretty animated!

3. Introduce the concept of blended learning to the department.Allow the staff to achieve their learning levels from different resources.While the training alerts and workshops are directly from management, challenge the staff to look on the Internet and/or library for other ideas to work in their department.Also, the associations that I discussed earlier could be a good resource.

Through all of this, what I would like the reader to remember is:

a. Learning can and should be fun.

b. Your staff members are sponges wanting to absorb knowledge; however, they want to learn concepts in a fresh and new manner.

c. Putting a twist to your current educational methods can help people become excited about learning.

Article courtesy of YellowBrix, Inc. Reprinted from Smart Biz

About the author: Jeffrey L. Bodimer is the training & development coordinator for UniGroup, Inc., in Saint Louis, MO.