Category: Business Resources

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Role of Management in Learning and Development

Role of Management in Learning and Development

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Sections of this Topic Include

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Management and Learning and Development

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Management and Learning and Development. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Start With Effective Employee Orientation

The new employee orientation is the first time that employees get an impression of the quality of the organization and the nature of the relationship that he or she will have with his or her supervisor. (Research has shown the one of the biggest reasons that employees quick their jobs is because of poor relationships with their supervisors.) As a supervisor, you can make a very positive impression during the orientation, including about how you value the employee’s training and development. An orientation session is, after all, a training and development session. See Orienting New Employees.

Understand Common Myths About Employee Training and Development

The following are rather common myths, or misunderstandings, among new supervisors, particularly if they don’t understand the basics of good training and development.

Myth: Employees already have the knowledge and skills to do their jobs – that’s why they were hired.

Unless employee’s jobs involve their doing the same things all the time, employees will need to be trained to learn new knowledge and skills. It’s hard to accept that any job will stay the same all the time with today’s increasing competition and the increasing demands of their customers. Besides, because someone was hired doesn’t mean they have the best knowledge and skills to do the best job for the company.

Myth: Our employee’s jobs are so specialized that no one else knows them better
than us, so no one else can teach them to us.

Every job is unique. The job is being carried out in one company in one location at one time with unique people. Because a job is unique does not mean that the company should never seek help elsewhere. Unless an employee is performing a highly routine task on a highly customized machine, the trainer or consultant doesn’t have to know exactly what a job entails and all about who is carrying out the job. The point of training and development is to work with learners to develop new knowledge and skills. Highly  effective training includes teaching the learner how to learn, including how to come up with new ideas and approaches. Besides, organizations usually have a lot more in common with other organizations then employees realize.

Myth: If employees need new knowledge or skills, they’ll know about it faster than anyone else. They’ll know better than anyone else where to get the learning they need.

Busy employees are usually the last people to know what they don’t know — what they need to learn. Few organizations afford employees the time and guidance to reflect on what they’re doing, to learn new ideas and establish new approaches. Employees are experts at doing their jobs the way that they do their jobs. If they’re doing their jobs inefficiently, they’re experts at doing their jobs inefficiently.

Myth: If employees attended a course, then they learned what the organization needed.

Courses are not quick fixes. After years of classroom education, most of us automatically think of learning as going to a course. We go down the list of courses in the training catalog, pick the title that seems closest to what we’re doing and we sign up for the course. Many supervisors work the same way. If their employees are struggling (often for numerous reasons), they’ll pick what sounds like the best course from the list and off the employees go to that course. Many times, supervisors leave it up to the employees to get the most out of the course and then to come back “fixed” — after all, “they’re professionals.”

After an employee comes back from a course, all one can really say for sure is that they came back from a course. However, there are several basic things a supervisor and employee can do to ensure the right form of training is selected and that the training provides results in the workplace. (These suggestions are included throughout this topic in the library.) Besides, taking a course is only one of the many ways in which employees can learn.

Myth: (The following myth seems to be on the rise) There’s no use sending employees to a course. They’ll just come back with a book to store on their shelf.

The perception that training is a waste of time is tragic. The reasons for this myth are many. Some employees don’t make the effort to learn, to actually apply new materials and information in order to learn. Many people don’t have the ability or desire to reference materials from course materials long after a course is over. Some trainers oversell their courses, promising huge outcomes but not delivering on their promises. After many years, sitting in classrooms, listening to experts and taking notes, many of us think that merely going in and out of a classroom means learning. Many of us are not conditioned to really think about what we need to learn, how will we learn it and how will we know that we’ve learned it.

What Supervisors Can Do to Support Their Employees in Training and Development

Include Learners in Training and Development Planning

The learner will get the most out of the plan is he or she feels strong ownership in the plan. Ownership comes from taking part in developing the plan. Also, professional development rarely includes only gaining knowledge and skills about a job role. Professional development often includes self-development, as well, e.g., admitting one’s limits and capabilities. Learners are often the best experts at realizing their own needs for self-development. Therefore, learners should be involved in as much as possible in developing the plan.

If Available, Have Human Resources Representative Play Major Role

A trained human resources professional can be a major benefit in employee development. The representative usually has a good understanding of the dynamics of training and development. The representative often has strong working knowledge of the relevant policies and procedures related to training and development. In addition, the representative can an be an impartial confidant for the learner.

Provide Ongoing Feedback and Support

Even if things seem to be going fine, be sure to stop in and visit the learner on a regular basis. Some learners may not feel comfortable asking for help. Supervisors should provide any feedback, that is, timely and useful information for the learner. Provide ongoing affirmation and support.

When Assessing Results of Employee’s Learning, Maximize Feedback About Performance

Consider getting feedback from the learner’s peers and subordinates about the learner’s needs and progress to meet those needs. A 360-degree performance review is a powerful practice when carried out with clarity and discretion. When first carried out, it may be wise to get the help of an outside professional.

Budget Necessary Funds for Resources Learner Will Need

Funds may be required, e.g., for course tuition and materials, self-study materials, videos, training fees, labor to attend courses, etc.

Supervisor and Learner Should Set Aside Regular Times for Meetings

Scheduling meetings beforehand makes it much more likely that regular, ongoing feedback will occur between the supervisor and learner.

How Supervisors Can Help Employees Learn in the Workplace

The supervisor’s attitude and knowledge about learning has a tremendous impact on the development of employees (thus, the major reason the Free Management Library was developed). Thomas D. Fisher, in Self-Directedness in the Workplace: A Re-Examination, cites numerous suggestions (from Lowry) in order to better enable self-directed learning in the workplace. Some of those suggestions are listed below, and are wonderful ways for supervisors and learners to turn the workplace into a classroom (pp. 4-5):

  1. Help the learner identify the starting point for a learning project and discern relevant [ways!] of examination and reporting.
  2. Encourage adult learners to view knowledge and truth as contextual … and that they can act on their world individually or collectively to transform it
  3. Create a partnership with the learner by negotiating a learning contract for goals, strategies and evaluation criteria
  4. Be a manager of the learning experience rather than an information provider
  5. Teach inquiry skills, decision making, personal development, and self-evaluation of work
  6. Help learners develop positive attitudes and feelings of independence relative to learning
  7. Recognize learners’ personality types and learning styles
  8. Use techniques such as field experience and problem solving that take advantage of adults’ rich experience base
  9. Encourage critical thinking skills by incorporating … such activities as seminars
  10. Create an atmosphere of openness and trust to promote better performance
  11. Behave ethically, which includes not recommending a self-directed learning approach if it is not congruent with the learner’s needs
  12. Obtain the necessary tools to assess learner’s current performance and to evaluate their expected performance
  13. Provide opportunities for self-directed learners to reflect on what they’re learning
  14. Promote learning networks, study circles, and learning exchanges, self-managed teams of self-directed learners)
  15. Provide staff training on self-directed learning and broaden the opportunities for its implementation

Fisher adds that “Self-directed learning is more than a form of education. It is a component in human development” (p. 7).

How Leaders and Managers Can Help Train Other Leaders and Managers

State-of-the-art training and development programs often includes roles for leaders and managers to train other leaders and managers. After all, all of them ultimately are responsible for implementing that new learning. No matter how skilled a trainer is, he or she can never know the culture and needs of an organization as much as its leaders and managers.

Go to main Training and Development page.

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to This Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

For the Category of Training and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Role of Learners in Training and Development

Focus learners at a training

Role of Learners in Training and Development

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Learning is Ultimately the Learner’s Responsibility

Regardless of the situation, learning is ultimately the individual’s responsibility. Learning will not succeed unless the individual feels a strong sense of ownership and responsibility in the process itself. The best forms of learning involve the complete individual, including his or her approach to personal organization and wellness.

To Learn, You Must Be Willing to Grow, to Experience

Learning often involves new skills, developing new behaviors. After many years of classroom education, it’s easy for us to take a course where all we must do is attend each meeting, take notes and pass tests — and call this learning. One can complete a Masters in Business Administration (MBA), but unless they’re willing to actually apply new information, they’ll most likely end up with an office full of unreferenced textbooks and a head full of data, but little knowledge and wisdom. For the learning process to succeed, the individual must be willing to take risks. Stick you neck out, including by telling the instructor when you’re confused or disappointed in the course. Don’t wait until the course is over when nothing can be done about it.

Growth Involves the Entire Learner

If learning is to be more than collecting new information, then we must involve ourselves completely in our learning experiences. Unfortunately, too many development programs still operate from the assumption that the learner can somehow separate personal development from professional development. So we end up getting a great deal of information about finance and sales, but little help with stress and time management. Then, after schooling, when we enter the hectic world of management, we struggle to keep perspective and we’re plagued with self doubts. True learning involves looking at every aspect of our lives, not just what’s in our heads. So include courses, e.g., in Stress Management and Emotional Intelligence, in your training and development plans.

Growth Requires Seeking Ongoing Feedback

Many of us don’t know what we need to learn — we don’t know what we don’t know. Therefore, feedback from others is critical to understanding ourselves and our jobs. Feedback is useful in more ways than telling us what we don’t know. Feedback also deepens and enriches what we do know. Research indicates that adults learn new information and methods best when they:

  • a) actually apply the information and methods, and
  • b) exchange feedback around those experiences.

However, we’re often reluctant to seek advice and impressions from others, particularly fellow workers. We’re sometimes reluctant to share feedback with others, as well. The Giving and Receiving Feedback might be useful to you.

The courage to overcome our reluctance and fears is often the first step toward achieving true meaning in our lives and our jobs.

Growth Involves Realistic Expectations

There is a vast amount of management literature today, much of it asserting the need for substantial and continued change. We’re expected to achieve total quality and total integrity. We’re encouraged to transform ourselves and our organizations. Courses and workshops promise a wide range of outcomes and useful skills. It’s easy in today’s hectic and frustrating world to want a course or workshop to take care of all of our problems. True development is a process, more than an outcome. Many of us want to measure our growth along the way by setting objectives to accomplish. We must ensure these objectives are realistic — or we’re faced with despair and cynicism about our work and learning.

Trust Your Instincts to Learn

Learning doesn’t come only from other people telling you what you need to know and how you need to learn it! The highly motivated, self-directed learner can make a “classroom of life”. Everything becomes an experience from which to learn. You can design your own learning experiences! Think about what you want to learn, how you might learn it and how you’ll know if you’ve learned it. You can get a great deal from this Free Management Library. For example, take a half hour a week to review materials in the library. You’ll get a strong (free) sense about management. Glance at topics in the Personal Development topic, including, for example:

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Learner’s Role in Training and Development

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Go to main Training and Development page.

For the Category of Training and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Learning Management Systems

Young man learning through a video call

Learning Management Systems (LMS)

A learning management system (LMS) is a software or web-based application for online training and e-learning programs. Typically, the systems cover administration, implementation, and assessment of student learning and program effectiveness.

Various Perspectives on Learning Management Systems

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Learning Management Systems

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Learning Management Systems. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Go to main Training and Development page.

For the Category of Training and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Corporate Universities

Lady reading in a library

Corporate Universities

Sections of This Topic Include

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Corporate Universities

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Corporate Universities. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Are Corporate Universities the Answer?

© Copyright Jack Shaw

In any discussion of educating or training our young, we must talk about both education and training. We want our managers, and certainly our CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CTOs, and quite a few others to have impressive degrees and from impressive institutions of higher learning. The levels have changed over the years. A long time ago, a college-educated man was rare, and he could rise to the top of the corporate ladder. It mattered what school. Then it was ratcheted up a notch so the higher-ups had masters degrees, then MBAs, and then later they had to be from the prestigious business colleges a well–with the MBA.

The chief complaint: our institutions of higher learning were simply not putting out the graduates capable of going into a company and being ready to go to work. Hence, the development of the means of which to take those new employees and train them in the company or industry-specific areas.

That’s not to say those requirements weren’t needed as the world became a more complicated place. As business became more worldly, it took a sophistication requiring well-educated individuals who could operate in the broader context; however, business is still “nuts and bolt”s so it had to develop requirements separate from those at other levels where education wasn’t enough to get you in the door; you needed special skills besides–and experience. As everyone focused on getting the education to get the degrees that opened doors, someone had to say, “who’s going to do the work.” Who is going to be the backbone of the company.” Mr. Ivy League School? Mr. Premiere Business Institution? Mr. Prestigious Law School? And, to attack that glass ceiling, the ladies had to do the same and more.

Still, discussions in the community are centered around how to attract qualified workers to do the work-work. Can’t find them here, some companies go overseas, where workers are cheaper and are willing to learn your business and will pay for the opportunity. Oops! You go where you can find qualified workers or you don’t grow or succeed. Workers overseas don’t often have the options of the right schools to get them in the door. Next best thing: corporate universities. Can we develop our home-grown workers? We’d like to. For the right price.

No one was saying forget higher education and concentrate on the practical, but it would have made the job of finding workers easier if someone could walk in off the street and immediately go to work. Granted there are some sharp individuals who can do that, but only in very remote instances.

Of course, if they could all walk off the campus and go to work, where would we trainers be?

Make it specific to the company’s needs and ta-da!–a corporate university. Apparently they work. Look around any industrial area and you’ll find institutions of higher training, better known as Corporate Universities.

So, now that we have education and are willing to take only a certain level of a job because we have that education, what now?

David Baucus and Melissa Baucus authored a piece, titled The Changing Shape of Corporate Universities. The gist of the article is how the e-learning and corporate universities we know today grew out of the technological innovation that came several years back. They say that there is no doubt that the e-learning industry–a part of that technological innovation–contributed to the growth of corporate universities. Both authors have the education to tell us this authoritatively. Check their website and bios to be sure.

“Early in the evolution of the industry, corporate universities represented a reasonable deployment of learning technologies. They enabled companies to deliver the right content to target markets (e.g., employees, partners, and customers) and to reduce training costs by substituting technology for labor.”

Many years ago before the article above was written and when I was teaching at a small proprietary college in Virginia, I remember sitting on a committee looking at the direct education and placement of students in the workplace. The committee was made up of educators, trainers, business, corporate and community leaders all looking at what education could do in the world of work. The little guys can’t afford to create a corporate university. No longer were we talking about the value of general education, but how we could mold future workers, managers, and leaders of the business and corporate world. Education alone wasn’t the answer.

No longer were we talking about the value of general education, but how we could mold future workers, managers, and leaders of the business and corporate world. Education alone wasn’t the answer.

The chief complaint: our institutions of higher learning were simply not putting out the graduates capable of going into a company and being ready to go to work. Hence, the development of the means of which to take those new employees and train them in the company or industry-specific areas.

Bring in the trainers and the technology. Make it specific to the company’s needs and ta-da!–a corporate university. Of course, it’s not that simple, but apparently they work. Look around any industrial area and you’ll find institutions of higher training, better known as Corporate Universities. McDonald’s Hamburger
University, Motorola University, Boeing University, TD Bank University, Pfizer University, Trump Institute–to name a few. Some are well-established, and some are new to the scene. Look around your own neighborhood. Pretty much any large corporation will have one. In 1997, there were around 400 in existence in the U.S.; today that number in the thousands changes daily, and they are also worldwide. Like it or not, they will soon eclipse regular institutions of higher learning in number.

Technological innovation wasn’t responsible for it alone. We grew up and we grew wide. We became international. We can communicate and operate around the world without leaving out desks. It’s a good thing we can concentrate what we know about the company in one place; however, we should probably do it with an eye toward broadening our awareness of other companies and what they do and how they differ. Mergers are commonplace. Companies don’t just change names; they change focus; they expand.

Training programs should expand or at least be expandable. (Trainers everywhere are rejoicing, and not just those who work for a corporate university.) There are joint university and corporate university projects in all areas of the business and corporate world. There are corporate universities within traditional universities. There are universities that exist only online. Not the correspondence schools or diploma mills of the past, but the basic idea of long distance learning–only bigger, and hopefully improved. As the educators mulled over the problems of putting graduates directly in the workplace, I suspect they weren’t sitting on their hands either; this is bigger than business alone. It’s our economy, our very lives at stake. Our GNP and the stability of our currency in the world economy. We are dominoes in this affecting economies internationally. If those dots are eyes, they need to be wide open.

Just my thoughts on corporate universities and the world. Broad topic. What are your thoughts? For more of my hopefully not-so-crazy thoughts, check out my website. I have more to say on training, on communication, on performance, and even on theatre arts, but I can only be in one place at one time.

Various Perspectives on Corporate Universities

It seems an increasing number of companies are forming their own “corporate training universities”, often in collaboration with nearby traditional academic universities. The following links will get you to the largest collections of online information.

For the Category of Training and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Role of Chief Learning Officers (CLOs)

Woman working on a tab smiling

Chief Learning Officers (CLOs)

Various Perspectives on Chief Learning Officers

Sample Job Descriptions for Chief Learning Officer

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to the Role of Chief Learning Officers

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Chief Learning Officers. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Go to main Training and Development page.

For the Category of Training and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Online Resources for Learning and Development

A lady learning through a video call

Online Resources for Learning and Development

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Online Resources (each having lists of resources) About Training
and Development

Online Educational Directories, Learning Portals, etc. About T&D

There are an increasing number of online directories, learning portals, etc., about training and development. The following list is by no means complete. However, it’s enough to get you started.

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to This Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Go to main Training and Development page.

For the Category of Training and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Free Management Library (SM)

Young adult organizing documents

Free Management Library

Below, are the most popular categories of topics. There are about 650 topics.
See the Index or use the Search box to the right.

Action Learning
Advertising & Promotions
Benefits & Compensation
Boards of Directors
Business Data Analysis
Business Development
Business Ethics
Business Law
Business Planning
Capacity Bldg (Nonprofit)
Career Development
Chief Executive Role
Coaching
Communications (Intrprsnl)
Communications (Writing)
Computers, Internet, Web
Consulting
Coordinating
Cost Cutting (Sustainability)
Crisis Management
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Service
Decision Making
Delegation
Design Thinking
Diversity and Inclusion
E-Commerce
Employee Engagement
Employee Performance
Employee Wellness
Entrepreneurship
Ethics/Social Respons.
Evaluations (all kinds)
Facilitation
Facilities Management
Finances (For-Profit)

Finances (Nonprofit)
Fundraising (For-Profit)
Fundraising (Nonprofit)
Group Performance
Group/Team Skills
Growing Organizations
Guiding Skills
Hiring Employees
Human Resources
Innovation
Insurance (Business)
Interpersonal Skills
Interviewing (all kinds)
Jobs
Leadership (Overview)
Leadership Development
Learning and Development
Legal Information
Management (Overview)
Management Development
Marketing
Meeting Management
Mentoring
Motivating Self & Others
Operations Management
Organization Dev.(Field)
Organizational Alliances
Organizational Change
Organizational Communications
Organizational Performance
Organizational Sustainability
Organizational Structures and Design
Organizing
Pay and Benefits
Performance Management

Personal Development
Personal Productivity
Personal Wellness
Planning (many kinds)
Policies (Personnel)
Problem Solving/Decisions
Product Development
Project Management
Program Management
Public/Media Relations
Quality Management
Research Methods
Risk Management
Salaries
Sales
Small Business
Social Enterprise
Social Networking/Media
Spirituality in Work
Staffing
Start a Business
Start a Nonprofit
Strategic Planning
Stress Management
Supervision (Overview)
Supervisoral Development
Sustainable Development
Systems Thinking
Talent Management
Taxation
Team Building
Time Management
Training/Learning & Development
Volunteers
Work-Life Balance
Writing (Business)

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Online Discussion Groups, Newsletters, etc. (about training and development)

Business woman having a business meeting online

Online Discussion Groups, Newsletters, etc. (about training and development)

(This page is referenced from Training Basics.)

Lists of Groups, Newsletters, etc.

Comprehensive list of discussion groups from Learnactivity

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to this Topic

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Also consider

For the Category of Training and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


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Online Educational Directories (or portals about training, education and development)

Young focused woman writing while using laptop

Online Educational Directories (or portals about training, education and development)

Also consider
Related Library Topics

What’s an Online Directory?

Online directories are usually very large repositories of information in regard to one overall topic. Readers can search the directories for specific subtopics or various ways to get the subtopic (for example, via online newsletter, Website, etc.). Online directories are sometimes referred to as learning or knowledge portals (although these terms are still being defined somewhat.)

The following directories were generously suggested by John Simkin of Spartacus Educational on January 20, 2000. Comments from John:

I have had a large number of requests concerning Google and good directory websites for education. I would suggest that you all [people providing online educational resources!] register your website with Google (at http://www.google.com).

I have found the following website directories very good. Most require you to fill out a form. When they are maintained by one individual I have also enclosed their email address. The BBC website is the most visited website in Britain (160 million page impressions a month). It is not easy to get on there but it is well worth the effort.

British Directories

USA & Canada Directories

Scout – email: (scout@CS.WISC.EDU)
Teaching and Learning at Indiana University – email: aitlc-l@ai.org

– or email: Mark Whitman (ITL) whitman@laf.cioe.com

Learning Websites

You may wish to look at John Simkin’s two internet encyclopedias:

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Training and Development

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to this topic. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Go to main Training and Development page.

For the Category of Training and Development:

To round out your knowledge of this Library topic, you may want to review some related topics, available from the link below. Each of the related topics includes free, online resources.

Also, scan the Recommended Books listed below. They have been selected for their relevance and highly practical nature.


Posted on

Tying Training to Performance (Performance Consulting and HPT)

Man and Woman Discussing And Sharing Ideas

Tying Training to Performance (Performance Consulting and HPT)

© Copyright Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, Authenticity Consulting, LLC.

Sections of This Topic Include

Also consider
Related Library Topics

Learn More in the Library’s Blogs Related to Aligning Training and Performance
(Performance Consulting and HPT)

In addition to the articles on this current page, also see the following blogs that have posts related to Tying Performance to Training. Scan down the blog’s page to see various posts. Also see the section “Recent Blog Posts” in the sidebar of the blog or click on “next” near the bottom of a post in the blog. The blog also links to numerous free related resources.

Close Relationship Between Systematic Approaches to Training and Performance Management

Readers who have read Performance Management for any Application in this library will note the similarity between the processes of systematic training and performance management. The results from implementing the two processes are highly integrated as well. That’s why if a supervisor uses good principles of performance management then training and development can be a straightforward activity which almost always contribute to the organization’s bottom line.

The performance management process is repeated below from the library section, Performance Management. When reviewing the steps below, think of the word “domain” as applying to the employee being trained. Comments are added in italics. The words “employee” and “learner” are used interchangeably.

  1. Review organizational goals to associate preferred organizational results in terms of units of performance, that is, quantity, quality, cost or timeliness (note that the result itself is therefore a measure) – Reviewing these goals will prepare the supervisor and employee for soon ensuring that training produces useful results for the organization. Implementing a good training plan will produce results for the organization.
  2. Specify desired results for the domain — as guidance, focus on results needed by other domains (e.g., products or services need by internal or external customers) – The training process should have specific learning goals to accomplish which, in turn, help the learner accomplish specific results.
  3. Ensure the domain’s desired results directly contribute to the organization’s result — A good training plan must be geared to help the employee produce specific results, which in turn, directly contribute to results needed by the organization
  4. Weight, or prioritize, the domain’s desired results – Knowing what range of results are needed from the employee and which are the most important, helps the supervisor and employee to pick what training is needed and when.
  5. Identify first-level measures to evaluate if and how well the domain’s desired results were achieved – This refinement of expected results from the employee helps the supervisor and employee to ensure that training is highly focused on results for the employee — and organization. this step is similar to setting standards against which the training will be evaluated
  6. Identify more specific measures for each first-level measure if necessary – This step is similar to setting up-front training goals in the training plan, and associating measures from which the effectiveness of training can later be evaluated.
  7. Identify standards for evaluating how well the desired results were achieved (e.g., “below expectations”, “meets expectations” and “exceeds expectations”)
  8. Document a performance plan — including desired results, measures and standards – This is similar to developing the training plan, with preferred training goals and measures.
  9. Conduct ongoing observations and measurements to track performance – The training plan is implemented and includes ongoing evaluation before, during and after carrying out training methods.
  10. Exchange ongoing feedback about performance – Effective training requires ongoing feedback between learners and trainer.
  11. Conduct a performance appraisal (sometimes called performance review) – Effective training includes evaluation to judge the quality of the training itself and identify what results were achieved by learners.
  12. If performance meets the desired performance standard, then reward for performance (the nature of the reward depends on the domain) – Hopefully, the learning experience includes time to acknowledge successes and the trainers’ and learners’ roles in those successes.
  13. If performance does not meet performance standards, develop or update a performance development plan – A good training plan will include measures for noting changes in the employee’s performance. If improvement is needed, a performance plan should be updated or started, and may include cause for more training. Likewise, the trainer should review results of learners’ evaluations to improve the quality of his or her training design.

Performance Consulting

Performance consulting is relatively recent field and refers to the (ideally) systematic activities to enhance the performance on individuals (and some would say teams), especially to enhance the performance of the overall organization. The activities often include systematic approaches to the design and implementation of training programs. Thus, performance consulting and training often are closely related and referred together in literature.

Human Performance Technology

Many people believe that traditional views of training, for example, to enhance learning (knowledge, skills and abilities of individuals) is not enough — that training and learning must be more closely aligned to achieving the goals of the organization. Simply put, Human Performance Technology (HPT) uses instructional technologies to improve the performance of individuals, especially regarding organizational performance (effective and efficient achievement of organizational goals). HPT has developed numerous, often highly technical, theories, models and tools to enhance performance. Thus, the “technology” in HPT.

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