ELEVEN KEYS FOR GUARANTEEING YOUR TRAINING RESULTS
By Seth N. Leibler, President & CEO, and Ann W. Parkman, Executive Vice President

In today's training industry, valuable and measurable training results are a rare commodity. Indeed, the vast majority of training "results" people are used to hearing about include how well participants "liked" their training, if they thought it was a "good experience," and other attributes that are positive to have but, when standing alone, have little or no actual value.

Up until recently, training has not been expected to deliver more meaningful results, largely because of the way that most of us have learned all of our lives. Training has most often been based on the same academic model we learned as both kids and adults. Teachers provide learners with information, examples, demonstrations, etc. Responsibility, however, lies solely with the learner to take in information, process what is needed, and use it if he or she can. Any evaluation beyond student reaction tends to focus on what learners know about the subject matter, rather than what they can do with that knowledge on the job. This model does not get the kinds of results needed in today's competitive workplace -- a workplace where organizational success is dependent on a highly skilled workforce.

Yet training professionals do have the power to provide their workforces with the skills necessary to perform their jobs according to their organizations' expectations -- and to guarantee that the training they develop does so. Guaranteeing training results means gauranteeing that participants will leave training with the skills to perform their jobs at the level of proficiency required by their organizations. There are 11 keys to guaranteeing such training results.

Key 1: Define desired job performance
When managers request training, something is telling them that desired performance, as they view it, is not being achieved. Thus, the first step is to clarify what desired performance should be: What is the employee expected to do, underwhat conditions, and at what level of proficiency? Although job performance expectations are not always immediately explicit, most managers have an implicit picture of what desired performance should be.

Key 2: Identify performance gaps
Once an accurate definition of desired performance has been created, the performance actually occurring should be compared with desired performance to identify gaps. This can be accomplished by interviewing performers and managers, observing performers in their work environment, and looking at any available documentation of performance. Interviews, combined with observation, allow for verification of information gathered.

Key 3: Determine causes
Decide whether performance gaps are caused by a lack of skill or knowledge, a lack of motivation, or an environmental obstacle. Skill or knowledge deficiencies are the only performance gaps that can be solved through training.

Key 4: Identify tasks and skills
This is a three-part process. First, break down each job into its major tasks. Next, break the major tasks into their constituent steps and decisions. Third, identify the skills necessary to perform each step and decision.

Key 5: Write instructional objectives
Instructional objectives tell the learner what he or she will be expected to do upon completion of training, under what conditions, and the criteria of proficiency expected (for example, how well, how quickly, and to what level of accuracy). Instructional objectives derived from desired job performance (the steps and decisions identified in Key 4) are an important aspect of guaranteed training because they ensure that the skills taught match those required to perform proficiently on the job.

Key 6: Develop evaluation methods
Guaranteeing the results of training requires evaluating whether learner performance in training meets the criteria and standards established in the instructional objectives. This assessment has to be made before training ends so that additional instruction and practice can be provided if employees have not yet acquired the skills they need.

The evaluation method(s) chosen should require each learner to demonstrate the performance called for in the objective (unless desired job performance involves writing facts on a piece of paper, a written test of someone's knowledge isn't the best way to evaluate proficiency in the skills learned).

Key 7: Provide explanations
When people are asked to acquire a new skill, they're being asked to modify their behavior. Generally, however, people do not modify their behavior readily. Therefore, it's important for them to know that there are sound reasons for being asked to acquire each new skill and what positive effects it will have for them. Explanations should be placed early in the instructional materials so that learners can see how they will be expected to demonstrate achievement of objectives and what's in it for them to acquire the skills that each unit or module of instruction is designed to teach.

Key 8: Plan practice opportunities and learner feedback
To achieve proficiency in the skills being taught, learners must have ample opportunity to practice and be provided with immediate feedback on how they are progressing. Immediate feedback will increase proficiency by preventing learners from practicing the wrong thing, while ample practice opportunities will ensure that learners become not only competent in the skills they are being taught, but confident in their ability to perform them after the training has been completed.

Key 9: Identify instructional content required for practice
To determine instructional content, the information required for learners to successfully complete all practice opportunities should be identified. Only relevant content -- that is, content required for practice -- should be included. When identifying the instructional content for your training, ask yourself the following: "Why couldn't trainees be able to practice now? What information might they be lacking? what might they not know how to do, and what common errors might they make?"

Key 10: Conduct tryouts
To ensure that training is effective -- that is, that the materials are effective in giving trainees the skills they need to perform to management's expectations -- you should conduct a tryout with representative learners prior to implementing the training. After tryout, revise the training as necessary.

Key 11: Document learner performance
To demonstrate the results of your training, it is important to document that each learner has achieved proficiency in each skill the course is designed to teach. You can do this by having learners demonstrate the correct application of each skill in the presence of an instructor or fellow course participant who can then "sign off" that the skill has been successfully mastered.

Once these keys for guaranteeing training results have been completed and the training has been implemented, it is important to follow up and assess whether desired performance is now being met. If not, look for causes in the work environment that are preventing desired performance. Because learners will have demonstrated that they have the skills to perform at the level of proficiency required, you'll know that lack of skill is not the cause of the performance problem. Identify any motivational or environmental barriers you discover and address these barriers through non-training interventions -- for example, reinforcements, feedback, etc.

Guaranteed training results are not a wave of the future or a fad that will come and go. As the marketplace becomes increasingly competitive and global, a skilled workforce is fast becoming the only sustainable advantage organizations can maintain and leverage. And we as training and performance improvement professionals are sitting in the driver's seat.

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