Employee Training and Adult Learners

The Chief Learning Officer Business Intelligence Board (BIB) analyzed survey findings last year and found that "65 percent of learning executives indicated they continue to use classroom training as the primary learning method for developing soft skills."   Based on those surveys, classroom-based ILT (instructor lead training) remains the primary delivery method used overall, regardless of the type of skill being developed.

For a moment let's discuss in-house training and it's advantages.  There are cost savings, you can adjust the training around your schedule, and you can address employee specific needs.  However, there are also some disadvantages.  Employees may be more prone to accept training ideas from someone other than a co-worker.  Is there a potential to pass on existing inefficiencies or perpetuating poor business practices?  Will employees take the training seriously? 

With all of the above being said, one real question remains.  Do you know your audience?  Adult learners can't be threatened, coerced or tricked into learning something new. They can be ordered into a classroom and asked to take a seat, but they can not be forced to learn. 

Have you ever noticed that adults do not group by age or sex, but by experience in a learning environment?  Adults bring prior experience and knowledge with them to a training environment, as well as attitude and behavior.

Studies show that adults who are motivated to seek out a learning experience do so primarily because they have a use for the knowledge or skill being sought.  The adult learner is most interested in information and ideas that solves problems that they are presently faced with, information that can be applied immediately.  

As an adult, we all come from different educational and experiential backgrounds.  We learn at different speeds and through different methods.    Some of us learn through sight (visual learner), some of us through touch (kinesthetic) and some us us through hearing (auditory).  Then, there are those adults that learn from a combination of styles.  No matter what the style, there is usually  a clear preference for one.

• If you are a visual learner, you learn best through graphics, or reading.  You may have difficulty in focusing while listening to the explanation.
• If you are a kinesthetic learner, you learn best through hands-on experience. By being a "doer."
• As an auditory learner, you learn best when things are explained. 

When preparing a training program for adults, you need to be flexible.   Adults often decide for themselves what is important to be learned and they expect what they are learning to be immediately useful. 

The six most frequently mentioned attributes adult learners expected of effective instructors were as follows (Donaldson, Flannery, and Ross-Gordon 1993, P. 150):

• to be knowledgeable.
• to show concern for student learning.
• to present material clearly.  Is the message scrambled?  Are facts provided in logical order?  Do they appear unrelated?
• to motivate.
• to emphasize relevance of class material.
• to be enthusiastic.  Are you speaking too softly?  In a flat voice (monotone)?

How many of you have sat through a seminar and just had the instructor drone on and on?    Was the program truly effective?  Was there any value to the employee?

A truly effective training program will:

• use a variety in training methods and media (role play, case study, training games, group exercise). 
• use repetition.
• allow for feedback, allowing the student to recall the information and ask questions.
• provide small doses of information (don't overwhelm them).
• present the student with the ability to use the information immediately.

In closing, always take the time to audit your training program, the "subject matter expert" providing your training, and the effectiveness of the training material.