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Staff Training Techniques and Tools
by Linda
S. Eck Mills, MBA, RD, FADA, LDN Lifelong learning is essential in this ever-changing world, but that doesn't necessarily mean taking college courses with homework and exams. Training employees on the job is a form of lifelong learning. It's an ongoing process. I have a Post-it TM note pad which says, "You don't have to be crazy to work here... we can train you!" Are you prepared for training the adults in your department? Most managers lack a background in education and/or training and struggle with this responsibility. Sometimes training seems like a never-ending process because employees don't learn what we expect them to learn. However, if employees are not learning or grasping new concepts it may be the trainer's fault. But where do you start? We'll look at the qualities of a successful trainer, types of training and topics, and the process to gain a better understanding of how to train employees.
The Trainer Adequate time for training is essential. This may be tough, but break the training into small "bite size" pieces if needed instead of rushing through it. Use the KISS principle keep it short and sweet. Fifteen minute activities or segments is a recommended length that many trainers have found successful. Trainees must be respected adults have a lot of "life experience" and may have constructive comments to add. Finally, you need an enthusiasm for the training assignment. Not every dietary manager has all these qualities, but evaluating your strengths and weaknesses will help you to improve your abilities as a trainer.
Types of Training and Topics Inservice training is conducted in the facility on a monthly basis and covers topics which are either required by regulatory agencies or needed by employees. Examples of required topics are: therapeutic diets, fire safety, infection control, MSDS, resident rights, and sanitation. Topics which may need inservice training can include: portion control, food preparation methods, task analysis, use and cleaning of equipment, interpersonal relations, policy and procedures. Continuing education is usually conducted outside the facility. It is used by the professional staff to learn about new trends and to share ideas. Continuing education programs can range from a half day program to a three credit course. Frequently, continuing education is required by professional organizations to insure against "managerial obsolescence."
The Training Process Define the goals of training. Unless you know what your goals are, how can you plan an appropriate training program? What do you want or need to happen? The goal of this article is to provide continuing education for dietary managers in an area which may be lacking in their background. Goals need to have a way to be evaluated. You may have a goal for getting employees to correctly operate a new piece of equipment. This goal can be evaluated by having the employee demonstrate what they learned. Determine the audience. By writing for this magazine, the audience is defined for me mostly dietary managers, with some foodservice supervisors, diet technicians, and dietitians. In your facility the audience could be a specific segment of employees or the entire department. Learning how to operate a new piece of equipment is a good example of a topic for a segment of employees and not the entire department. The majority of your employees are probably adults, and they learn differently than children. Adult learning theory is important to understand if you want employees to learn and be committed to your goals. Adults decide what is important to learn and like to share in planning what they learn. They validate information based on beliefs, draw on experience, and may have fixed viewpoints. Adults expect immediate usefulness of the information presented and are problem centered. They like to actively participate in what they are learning, and function best in a collaborative environment. By linking new information to their experience or work setting, they will remember the new information. Attendees at your training session can be classified as vacationer, prisoner, graduate, or student. A vacationer says, "You can't teach me anything I'm taking the day off." The prisoner says "You can't teach me anything I was told to be here." The graduate feels, "You can't teach me anything I already know this stuff." The student is the person you want to attend the training. Students are anxious to learn and willing to look at anything that will help them be a better person. Establish training objectives. Objectives must be measurable and attainable. This article has several objectives. The questions at the end of the article will be used to determine if the objectives have been met. Going back to the example of the proper operation of a new piece of equipment, your objective could be that employees would be able to demonstrate proper use. This could be measured by demonstration of the appliance by the employee during the training, and again in a month. You may also want to quantify the objective with a time frame, quantity, or degree of accuracy. Develop the training program. What will you teach? Don't reinvent the wheel. It takes a lot of time which you don't have. Start building a list of training resources (people, books, games, videos). A good start is found at the end of this article. Collect ideas for inservice program themes from peers. Are you familiar with copyright laws? Are you aware, for example, that use of a cartoon without permission from the syndicate is a copyright infringement? Facts may be used freely under the principle of "Fair Use;" however, expression belongs to the author. Copyright laws do not define exact limits for fair use. The rule of thumb from a book-length publication is 300 words can be copied. That really isn't very much when you consider this article has about 2,000 words and covers only a couple of pages. Don't cut disabled employees out of training. Disability awareness is essential. Do you have employees who can't read and/or write English, have hearing or visual problems? Will training take place in a classroom or in the kitchen? What points need to be covered and in what order? The development of an outline is essential for covering all the points in a logical sequence. Keep in mind that you must go through the entire learning cycle if you expect people to learn. The learning cycle includes participating in a learning activity, participants responding, and applying and evaluating what was learned. This cycle is not difficult to work through. The learning activity could involve participants by using one of many audience participation methods (see Figure 1). Participants can respond in a number of ways, some of which are listed in Figure 2. When you answer the question, "what's in this for me?" you show the participant how the information is applied to their position and help them evaluate its usefulness. When designing the inservice, you need to ask these questions to check your progress. Do activities lead to achieving the objectives? Does the material relate to experiences of the participants? Does it focus on "real world" problems? Does it include activities where participants can apply what they learn? Does it allow for debate and challenge of ideas? Are there opportunities for students to give feedback to the trainer? Select training methods. Keep in mind that we learn 1 percent through taste, 1.5 percent through touch, 3.5 percent through smell, 11 percent through hearing, and 83 percent through sight. How complex is the information or skill? How resistant are the participants to the information or this method? How important is active participation? How much time is available? Do methods utilize a variety of senses? How confident are you in using the method? How much work or preparation is involved? Is any special equipment or room set-up required? Are methods varied which will keep the students involved? What visuals will you use? Examples of visuals are shown in Figure 3. Proper use is important for visuals to be effective. We have all sat through a presentation where the speaker has taken a form, made it into a transparency, and then expected us to see each and every line as they showed it on a screen which is too small for the audience size. The speaker missed the basic principle of visual design keep it simple with lots of white space. A rule of thumb is a maximum of 36 words per visual, excluding the title. A maximum of six lines with six words per line is recommended. Presentation software programs can keep you on track if you use their templates. Visuals can help to facilitate learning, help organize your presentation, and help you to be concise. They are used to make you more persuasive and to add variety and emphasis to your presentation. Visuals help participants grasp more information and reinforce your verbal message. Implement the training. The training needs to be practiced before you present it. This is essential if you don't have a lot of experience training others, if you are trying a new training method, or if you just are not sure how to do what you will be training. Keep in mind adult learning theory as you present your training program. Evaluate the training. After the training is over you can breathe a big sigh of relief, but you are not finished with your job as trainer. The last step in the process is to evaluate the training. How did the training go? How did students evaluate the training? Were your objectives met? If not, why not? What could you do differently to improve this training the next time? The forgetting curve reminds us that training needs to be ongoing and repeated. Participants will forget 55 percent within one hour, 65 percent after a day, and 75 percent after a week. Jim Ryan is quoted as saying, "Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." Hopefully this article will provide the motivation to get you started on the road to successful employee training. Figure 1: Audience Participation Methods
Figure 2: Response Methods
Figure 3: Visual Training Tools
Figure 4: What We Remember
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