Teach employees to fish... for training

You know how it goes, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.”

Well, the same holds true when it comes to employee training. When you teach employees how to fish, or find training on their own, they’ll continue on the same path for a lifetime, or at least for the time they spend at your company.

Teaching employees to fish for training begins with a course in company culture. Only by fostering a culture that promotes education and skills training will employees feel that learning is not only encouraged, but a necessary part of their career.

Getting started doesn’t have to use up a ton of resources either. Encourage employees to fish, for training, that is, by implementing a few of these ideas:

• Improve education from the inside out. Instead of having employees look outside to seminars and courses, give them opportunities to learn within the walls of your workplace. Something as simple as an in-house learning library can give employees the tools they need to make a difference.


• Create your own trainers. Some of the best training resources are right there under your nose – you hired them. Create a peer-to-peer training program where employees share their expertise with others. Without ever stepping foot outside, you’ll be fostering teamwork, improving engagement and encouraging employees to seek out training on their own.


• Embrace technology. These days, finding new learning outlets can be as simple as turning on your computer. From Twitter to online learning courses, technology has made learning more accessible, and affordable, than ever before.


• Try something new. Start a new in-house learning program, like “lunch-and-learn” training sessions. Typically more relaxed and less structured than traditional training courses, lunch-and-learns are a great way to fit training into everyone’s busy day.

Sign up an employee for a training course, he’ll have training for today. Encourage an employee to seek out training on their own, and he’ll have training for a lifetime.

Any more ideas on encouraging employees to discover training on their own? Please leave a comment and let us know.

Free e-book: E-Learning Survival Guide

Whether you’re currently enrolled in an online course, or have employees signed up for e-learning opportunities, there’s a new free guide available online to check out.

Susan Smith Nash (aka. the E-Learning Queen) is offering a free pdf download of her E-Learner Survival Guide, “everything you need to know to succeed in the wild and wooly world of mobile learning, elearning, and hybrid college, K-12, and career courses.” (Thanks to those at Workplace Learning Today for sharing the good news.)

The book contains hundreds of essays on a broad list of topics from student engagement and institutional leadership, to mobile learning and corporate training.

Nash writes that the book is especially focused on creating successful outcomes for students and educational programs. Her essays also explain how to handle “often-overlooked” niches of learners, including generational differences and training.

Take a quick trip over to the E-Learning Queen to download your free copy of the E-Learner Survival Guide.

Take a peek at Ivy League learning for free

Developing an in-house learning library is one of the most cost-effective and easiest ways to promote ongoing employee education. If you don’t have the room or resources for a physical library, there are countless resources on the Web that promote learning and usually for free.

“Whether you'd like to learn algebra from a mathematician at MIT, watch how to make crawfish étouffée from an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America or study blues guitar with a professor at Berklee College of Music, you can do it all in front of your computer, courtesy of other people's money.” (TIME)

Making these lectures available to the public is part of a widespread movement among universities and learning institutions to open their once exclusive classrooms to the general public. New sites have been cropping up all across the web to deliver world-class learning to anyone who want’s a peek inside.

Take a look at these free online learning sources with information from some of the top colleges in the world:

YouTube Edu - YouTube’s central education hub dedicated to videos from more than 100 schools that have official channels on the site. Viewers can find videos from schools like the Grand Rapids Community College to Harvard.

Apple’s iTunes U - In a win-win situation for educators and Apple, users can find more than 170 schools offering free content through iTunes U.

Academic Earth - Smaller and more edited than YouTube’s videos, Academic Earth assembles playlists of related lectures on topics ranging from “Wars Throughout History” to algebra.

TED.com - A central broadcasting site for online lectures from some of the top innovators in the fields of technology, entertainment and design.


Whether you’re wanting to learn more about ancient Egypt, or looking to develop your own presentation skills by watching some of the best in the business, there’s a world of free online tools just waiting for you to get started.

Top 8 ways trainers can use Twitter

Social media and networking sites expand daily, connecting users of every age group from across the globe and in every professional industry. Corporate trainers are also harnessing the power of social media to connect with those they instruct, and aid in their own personal learning and development.

Twitter is one social network connecting millions of people by asking one simple question: “What are you doing?”

In 2008, Twitter recorded over two million unique visitors, marking a 422% increase from the year before. There are Twitter users from every age group, nationality and profession using the tool to answer one simple question: “What are you doing?”

If you’re still unfamiliar - Twitter is the free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users’ updates (or tweets), which are text messages of a maximum of 140 characters.

When you first sign up for a Twitter account, you may be asking yourself some questions - Why did I sign up for this? What am I doing here? How is this thing supposed to be useful?

Before you get frustrated and quit, just stop and take a deep breath. Not everyone uses Twitter for the same purpose and it may take some experimenting to find what works for you. Try it out for about a month and then ask yourself again if you still think it is useful.

If you’re still struggling to find meaning in the social networking site, read over these 8 ways trainers can use Twitter:

1. Connect with experts. Twitter gives you the ability to connect in a conversational way with top experts in your industry from around the world. Through those conversations you can learn new processes, training tips and advice on how to improve your courses and seminars.


2. Discover new information. As you start following more people on Twitter, you’ll find that it’s a great place to find new studies, data and interesting articles to expand your knowledge.


3. Research new ideas. Having trouble finding information on a certain topic? Ask your Twitter followers to help. Whatever your question may be, Twitter users are generally happy to help. It’s a great platform for brainstorming that leaves a trail of every shared idea.


4. Connect with trainees. In the past, trainers would finish their course and send trainees on their way, rarely hearing from them again. Today, trainers can give trainees their Twitter username to follow to stay in contact after the course is complete. Trainers can share extra information, upcoming events and helpful tips on how to utilize information from the course.


5. Keep the discussion going. After you have connected with attendees, you can keep the conversations from the classroom going on Twitter. Attendees who may have felt uncomfortable speaking up in the classroom can get their point across online.


6. Get feedback. Students from your training course or seminar can give you helpful and almost immediate feedback on what they thought of the course. You can use their comments and critiques to improve your next course.


7. Facilitate collaborative learning. By connecting with you, trainees will also be able to connect with each other on Twitter and learn together. Attendees can send direct messages to find out if other classmates are experiencing the same hardships and share advice with one another on how to work through it.


8. Monitor the learning process. As trainees put what they learned in the classroom into action, they’ll probably have some questions for you along the way. Students can tweet and retweet about new things they learned, difficulties implementing new techniques, personal tips and new resources they found that help facilitation.

How do you use Twitter to add value to your training? Have any more ideas to add to our list on how trainers can use Twitter? Please leave a comment and let us know.

Improve elearning retention, keep it short

The next time you're thinking about adding more text to your learning materials, you may want to stop and think again.

While you think you may be adding pages and pages full of valuable learning materials, adding more information can actually hurt learning retention, according to a study on Efficiency in Learning in the Journal of Educational Psychology.

The study compared three lessons on the same weather process. Each lesson used the same illustrations, but varied in the number of words - 50, 100 and 600.

Students scored higher on the lesson with the fewest words.

Though the study may have not been conducted last week (it's actually more than a decade old), its findings are still relevant today, especially when it comes to elearning.

When you're writing for the web or creating new elearning materials, remember that people want clear, concise, simple instruction.

Web readers have a short attention span who like text to be short, scannable and broken up into small bites they can digest quickly. Eye-tracking studies show that online readers skip over large blocks of text and shorter paragraphs perform better.

On the Internet, readers hunt for facts, asses online material quickly and move on if there is nothing worth sticking around for.

Keep your online training programs short and to the point. This may mean having to break a long lesson into a few shorter sessions, but you’ll keep your trainees’ attention and they’ll retain more information.

Take the advice from a recent Copyblogger post: "Nobody wants to speculate how to start a lawnmower. All they want to do is cut the grass."

How to use Twitter for training

Earlier this month, Jeanne Meister at the New Learning Playbook brought up some questions about the popular social networking tool Twitter asking: what is Twitter, who uses it, and can it be harnessed as a learning tool?

If you're unfamiliar, Twitter is a free social networking tool used to make connections and share small bits of information. It is entirely based on the question: What are you doing? Twitter users send "tweets" of 140 characters or less to share with their followers what they're up to.

Meister suggested using Twitter for learning and development in the following ways:

• Deliver learning to employees. Most Twitter users are young, usually between the ages of 18 and 34. Young employees will be more likely to use and enjoy using social networking tools like Twitter to learn new information.
• Webcast follow-up. You can use Twitter for asking questions on conference calls and webcasts. Using Twitter creates a record of questions and comments that you can refer to later and share with attendees.
• Learning reinforcement. Twitter gives you the opportunity to share quick bites of information, quickly. With all of your learners on Twitter, it is easy to reinforce learning content with links to follow-up information.

From first hand experience, I would like to add keeping trainees connected after a training session to the list of Twitter for learning. After a training seminar or class, have students and the instructor exchange Twitter user names to stay connected. The group can continue to stay connected through Twitter and share new information as time goes on.

We would like to know - Do you see a future for Twitter as a valuable learning tool? How are you currently using Twitter as it relates to training and learning?

Hilton customer service training: All fun and games

Studies have shown that playing video games at work benefits the workplace by decreasing employee stress and increasing productivity. While companies that embrace gaming for fun have seen positive results, what happens when video games are designed specifically to deliver employee training?

Last month, Hilton Garden Inn announced that it would be the first hotel chain to offer employee customer service training designed and created for use on Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP).

"Now when the Hilton Garden Inn team members are caught playing with a PSP system on the job, they are met with smiles and words of encouragement," according to a company press release.

With the use of this interactive, game-based employee training software Hilton Garden Inn is hoping to establish itself as the "hospitality leader in employee training." The software, called Ultimate Team Play trains employees to understand the special needs of hotel guests in a game setting.

“We’re thrilled to take our game-based employee training program to a whole new level, or, in this case, a whole new gaming platform that is also portable, to create some of the most advanced, realistic and interactive training anywhere,” said Adrian Kurre, senior vice president – brand management for Hilton Garden Inn.

“Ultimate Team Play is part of our ongoing commitment to making employee training compelling and relevant, which are our two most important criteria for ensuring long-term customer service success.”

The goal of Hilton's new employee training program is to show hotel employees how their actions have a direct impact on the hotel and on each guest's mood. The training game puts employees in a 3-D, virtual hotel where they must respond to a number of guest-related requests by a specific deadline. As employees respond to guests correctly, the simulated guest's satisfaction increases.

The power tool giant Black & Decker has been using technology in a similar way to deliver employee training materials to workers on the go. Through mobile learning (or m-learning) the company delivers training content to PDAs and cell phones, providing flexibility for workers who may not sit behind a computer everyday.

Companies like Black & Decker and Hilton are breaking new ground by using video games and cell phones to deliver employee training. As technology improves and opens up to a more mainstream market, we may one day see it become the standard in employee training across the country.

Does your company currently use mobile learning or online resources to deliver employee training? Have you seen any clear benefits from using technology over traditional methods?

Employee training ideas for Generation Y

Generation Y, Millenials, or however you like to refer to the latest generation to move into the workforce ... they’re here, and now we must train them.

More than past generations, today’s college grads rely heavily on technology and social interaction. They can send instant messages while reading an article online and text a friend on their phone, all at the same time. Training Gen Y employees requires a mix of technology, social networking and entertainment in order to drive the message home.

Gen Y at work

If they can’t read the employee handbook in 140 characters or less, they’re not even going to turn the first page. Long-term employment translates to anything over two years and the thought of working 30 years for one company is absurd. They want to learn everything possible from their current employer to help them advance in their job.

They feel entitled to work when and where they want. They want to telecommute and play video games at work. They want to be measured on the quality of their work, not just because they sit in a chair looking busy from nine to five. They want freedom, creativity and a pair of jeans. Don’t forget Facebook, MySpace and Twitter at work.

So, how to we train this group of casual social butterflies now that they’re part of our workforce?

Training Gen Y

Here are some tips and employee training ideas for Generation Y to get you started:

Implement ongoing training. When Millennials start a job, they expect ongoing education and challenges. They’re eager to learn anything new and expect to use what they learn at this job to help them later in their career. If you don’t have the time or resources to offer ongoing training, supplement a static training program with simulations or online training courses to keep employees engaged.

Keep it short. Gen Y learns best from information delivered in short bites, rather than one giant, lengthy chunk of information. Break up long training courses into multiple, shorter sessions to help employees better consume the information. If it’s impossible to break up a large training session, create documents reviewing sections of information and make them available on the company network or online.

Make training entertaining. Gen Y grew up on computers and video games, with constant audio-visual stimulation. Explore training options that incorporate computer simulation, online courses and social media applications. Entertaining audio and video will hold their attention, ensuring Gen Y employees retain the message.

Allow freedom. If possible, give employees the option to attend training at a time that is suitable with their schedule. Online courses and podcasts may provide the most flexibility, allowing students to participate in courses at their leisure. Digital options also give Gen Y the freedom to review materials that were taught in a previous training session on their own time.

Explore mobile learning (m-learning). If you have the resources available, provide on-demand training experiences using mobile devices. Facilitate m-learning by offering e-learning courses, chapter reviews from training courses and share expert videos on the training topic.

Encourage teamwork. Millennial employees generally flourish and enjoy working in team environments. Develop team activities led by senior employees or managers during and after training courses to foster teamwork and reinforce training points.


When training any generational group, your goal is to provide valuable learning experiences that give employees the tools to develop in their careers. Training is a gift employers give to their workforce that keeps employees engaged, happy and productive. Knowing how younger generations learn best will help you develop the next great leaders in our organizations.

Incorporate learning at work with five questions

After graduation we continue to naturally learn from the world around us, but we still picture the act of ‘learning’ as something only done in a classroom full of books and tests. Once we enter the workforce, learning usually takes a backseat to the ‘to-do’ list on our desks.

Learning is “the foundation upon which all improvement, development and growth is built,” according to Kevin Eikenberry at Remarkable Learning.

As we develop in our careers, less and less is done to learn “intentionally and consciously.” Eikenberry challenges us to ask ourselves five questions to make the idea of learning more concrete in our personal lives and at work.

• What worked?
• What could be improved?
• What was my role in the result?
• What can I do now?
• How can I use this lesson later?
  

After determining what you do well, take a look at the places where you could make improvements and the personal actions you can take to create better results. Decide what you will keep doing along with what you will change, and use what you learned in future situations.

“Hopefully you see how these questions can apply to you. You can ask them at any time after any event or on the way home looking back on your entire day. You also can use them as a team or group to think about how things are going and how you can continually improve your work.”

You create a learning opportunity every time you ask yourself the five questions. Jump on over to Remarkable Learning for a more detailed rundown of the five questions and more opportunity to learn.

Mobile learning: Fast and thrifty employee training

Employee training is taking more steps outside the office, even out from behind computer screens, and is making its way into your pocket.

Mobile learning, commonly used in Europe and Asia, is a tool that is just beginning to gain ground in the United States. Large companies across the country have adopted the method as a way to deliver employee training materials to employees on the go.

Mobile learning, sometimes called m-learning, delivers content to PDAs and cell phones, providing flexibility for workers who may not be behind a computer everyday.

Black & Decker has been using mobile learning content as a way to cut down on waste, speed up delivery time and gain better quality control over the training for its 300 field reps, according to a recent article in Workforce Management.

Before mobile learning, Black & Decker was sending each field rep manuals, photographs and other paper materials to guide them in a list of activities including setting up retail displays, educating store staff on new products, shelf placement and inventory control.

“But there was no way to track whether they were reading or following the guidelines, or whether they’d even received them,” said Cesar Saavedra, field sales analyst for Black & Decker. “You get bombarded with so many communications when you work in the field, there is so much waste and no accountability. A lot of it never even gets looked at.”

The company now uses a mobile learning system that delivers quick two- to three-minute information segments directly to reps’ PDAs. The short clips deliver the same information they would have received in paper, but enhanced with product videos, task lists and quizzes.

Mobile learning has helped Black & Decker save money and creates more accountability, because they are able to track who opens and reads files.

“While the idea of replacing paper-based training with multimedia content may sound expensive, it actually costs less and takes less time.”

Cost savings come from the elimination of printing and mailing learning materials, which take time and money to produce and deliver.

Merrill Lynch was recently recognized for its innovation in mobile learning at the 2008 Wireless Enterprise Symposium for its GoLearn project. The project enables employees to access learning materials during down time, including daily commutes and business travel.

Mobile learning using BlackBerry smartphones has produced measurable results for Merrill Lynch in gained time and productivity.

“Using BlackBerry smartphones to deliver learning has been so effective that participants now take their courses in about 45% less time, saving about four to six hours in lost productivity per annum. These employees have also scored hire on competency exams than their colleagues studying in a traditional online format,” said Kristofor Swanson, global HR mobile strategy lead at Merrill Lynch.

As mobile device technology improves and connections gain speed, mobile learning may start to gain more ground as and effective employee training method.