Financial Training Ideas and News| Your Training Edge ®

Training materials can make a big impact on participant engagement, whether they are being used in the classroom or outside of it. Within the classroom, materials should leave a “mental mark” on the participant, that is, he or she should be able to recall important information the next time the materials are open. Outside of the classroom, training materials must serve as a real-time reference that may help participants on the job.

One of the most obvious types of training materials are user and classroom manuals. For a long time, we felt like classroom participants had to have something to hang on to while they were in class. But if your classroom training has evolved into a series of job experiences, you may not need manuals or user guides. On the other hand, if you are providing education on technical or operational processes, you may want participants to follow along in a manual – and take the manual with them when they leave. If this is the case, manuals should be self-explanatory and at least contain an index where participants can quickly reference material. (more…)

The most common definition of engagement refers to the classroom, whether it’s the live classroom, the virtual live classroom, or the virtual classroom. Plus, engagement also typically refers to our materials, our quick reference guides, and our just-in-time learning interventions. But what happens before the participant starts a learning experience? Does he or she go to training simply because the boss said it’s required, or does the participant know what he or she stands to gain? As we discuss engagement, it’s necessary to start outside of the classroom.

One of the first places to engage learners is at the recruiting table or the job interview. Believe it or not, a potential job candidate can become much more engaged in training if he or she knows about it before the first day. To ensure that this happens, make sure that HR knows what programs will be offered to which employee groups. Consider creating a quick flyer or description of training to use as collateral when recruiting is in full swing. When the new hire gets to training, he or she will be ready – and excited – about the knowledge that’s coming. (more…)

To begin our examination of engaging training participants, it’s necessary to look at the overall keys to engaging the adult learner. Regardless of where your training takes you or your participants, it’s a good idea to keep your eyes on these keys at all times. In addition, if you can use the keys to engagement as a litmus test on training, materials, and training marketing, you will find that it’s easier to keep them in mind.

The first key to engaging participants is relevance. Adults tend to learn when they have an experience to “pair” with the knowledge. Although it’s difficult to do this with abstract topics or for subjects with which the participants have little experience, it’s still possible to make learning relevant. For example, if customer service training dives into a technical or “behind the scenes” explanation of a product or service, it’s easier for them to tune out the knowledge. But if you link the learning to their jobs, (more…)