5 Non-Negotiable Steps To Transfer Learning Successfully

As L&D consultants, our role is broad. It is not just about training delivery, or designing fancy courses. It is much more. An ultimate service-mindset is the key. L&D is not about us. It is about our audience. We succeed when our audience has been able to consistently apply the skills learnt; we succeed when we have been able to solve a performance-related issue; we succeed when we have changed behaviour!

The pointers below can help you remain objective towards learning transfers in the classroom.

1: ANALYSE A PROBLEM INSIDE-OUT

You are expected to provide solutions to problems that can be solved by training. To be able to do that, one needs to understand the problem in entirety in the first place.

Few years ago, I was working for a training organisation, that was into providing learning solutions to various organisations across sectors. One such mandate came from a well-known CDIT retailer, requesting us to design a sales training program for the ground level staff, because they were “not motivated” to sell. The crux of the mail is as below:

Hi Pallabi

We request a 2-day Sales training program for our floor-level staff, as our sales have been at a consistent low. We have tried everything, however staff motivation seems to be the problem.

Please send us a suitable training plan that includes selling, product knowledge, and most importantly a session with respect to our sales data of the previous 2 quarters. We need to translate the same to staff performance and communicate to them the outcome, that they should possibly expect if this continues. 

Many of us would probably take the mail as is, create an impressive sales training program and run it; only to receive a similar mail back from the organisation within 2-3 months, with an addition: Hey, the last training was not effective!

As an L&D consultant your job is to delve into the root-cause of the problem. While you must keep the suggestions from your client in mind, it is not a good idea to deliver projects basis what you have not researched for or analysed yourself. You can read more pre-engagement here.

Sometimes, you may realise that training is not the solution to the problem in the first place! In such a case, you will be wasting your client’s money, time and energy, not to mention yours too, on a futile activity. By analysing the problem yourself and nipping it in the bud, you have actually done the job expected from an L&D consultant. Your client will thank you for your inputs!

2: SET MEASURABLE GOALS PRIOR TO ANY KIND OF INTERVENTION

Once you have analysed the needs, and determined that training is the solution to the problem at hand, the next step is to set measurable goals. Without goals, a training program is bound to be ineffective. Many organisations in an effort to meet pressing deadlines are almost mechanical when getting L&D interventions in place. 

As an L&D consultant, you must be in the know of the goal to any project that you undertake; be it facilitation, material designing, audit and so on. Remember goals must be measurable and built with relevant stakeholders.

Goals give an L&D expert a framework of how the learning is to be structured, delivered and transferred successfully.

Goals give the organisation a clarity on how the training will help the organisation achieve its business goals, and what is to be measured once the participants are back on the floor.

Goals give the participants an idea of what to expect in a program, what is expected out of them, and how it will help them apply the learning at the workplace.

3: FRAME REALISTIC TIMELINES

In the month of May last year, I was travelling to Jammu for a 2-day customer service assignment, when I got a frantic call from the HR Head of a premium restaurant-chain company. It went like this: “Pallabi hi! Could you help us devise an English Language training program for a bunch of newly-hired servers? The challenge is that they need to be ready before the rains set in- we are launching a special menu for the monsoons. Please device an appropriate strategy as quickly as possible” 

I returned from Jammu 2 days later, exhausted, post a 5-hour hopping flight, that was delayed. Same evening a friend called wanting to catch up, and I was happy to go out dining with my girl pals. I suggested this restaurant (knowing that my meeting was scheduled the next day) and my friends willingly agreed.

I followed my usual audit drill customised for restaurants that has about 165 parameters, before settling down for the apparent problem that was shared with me. We interacted with a couple of servers; new (they wore trainee badges) and old. The servers conversed with us in English. Their English wasn’t impeccable, they made sentence construction errors, however they managed. What I observed was that their pronunciation of items from the menu was a concern. For example, one of the servers kept referring to Hoisin sauce as Hygiene sauce, Shitake mushroom dumplings as Shee-take (as in give and ‘take’), Ginger Ale at the bar was pronounced as Ginger Aa-leh and so on. There were 27 words that were pronounced incorrectly. What was striking though, was that not only the new servers, but also the existing ones had concerns with pronunciation.

I shared my observation with the client the next day, along with two plans. Since monsoons was barely a month away, I proposed an immediate compact session- around menu and process-specific pronunciations.- with a schedule that would flow well within their working hours, without disturbing operations. I had requested for staff numbers while in Jammu itself, hence I was prepared with a flowchart of batch-wise training logistics

The second plan was long-term that would rest on several pre-assessment tools; the result of which would determine the course of action- towards improving language. We also discussed goals extensively for both the programs and 10 days later I was on the floor with the employees!

You need to keep in mind 2 things:

A. Timelines need to be worked out mutually with stakeholders.

A buy-in of everyone involved is important, so that you have a smooth intervention. For example, the HR head may agree with your timelines and logistics, but the GM of the restaurant may not. He / she is better able to gauge operational challenges, and hence you need to work out a plan keeping everyone’s convenience in mind.

B. The goals that you set must realise.

The outcome must be there for all to see. When you are designing a program, you must know the outcome that you foresee. This is possible when your first 2 steps have been executed thoroughly.

4: CUSTOMISE & INVOLVE LEARNERS! 

Customisation is matching your delivery, content, case studies, exercises etc to the level of your audience.

Customisation is hard work; you invest time and energy in understanding your audience, learning more about their work and industry, anticipating questions etc. I typically spend 80% of my time over this in the designing phase, and I think you should too. Making a power point presentation (and I see this often) is not designing content. Give the least time to a ppt! Utilise that time to learn about your audience and prepare yourself accordingly

The result of customisation is vivid post a program; either the learning sticks or it doesn’t. Simple.

5: AVOID INFORMATION DOWNLOAD LIKE PLAGUE!  

As L&D consultants, we have an insatiable urge to download knowledge, theories, data and so on to our audience. Presumably, we want to off-load the burden that we have been carrying around over the years (possibly for the lack of an appropriate outlet!) on our participants, who instead of having a delightful learning experience, go back utterly miserable hating everything related to ‘training’ for the rest of their lives! Information or theory heavy training is a waste of time, energy, and resources. It is a failed technique, and it never works.

Information is important contextually of course, and it depends on the goals of the program. For example, new employee orientation on company policies is largely informational. In a skill-based training, where the focus is on acquiring a particular skill to be able to do a job more efficiently, information can be limited to strictly as much as required.

Learning programs can be made interesting and relevant by carefully crafted activities that simulate the learners’ environment, along with relevant real-life examples from the same or similar sector, or something that our audience can easily relate to.

Wrap-up

To transfer learning successfully, your approach must be audience-specific and outcome-focussed. The analysis and goals will lead you to an appropriate path.

Your Thoughts!

What works for you in learning transfers? Leave a comment below!