Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2017 - 34

Plus, cross-trained employees are more
productive. Employees who feel they
have good work-life balance work 21
percent harder than those who don't,
according to a survey of 50,000 privateand public-sector employees worldwide
by the Corporate Executive Board.

applied learning component. Applied
learning projects give employees the
opportunity to put the skills they're
learning into use by solving practice
problems relevant to their industry and
work. Examples of applied learning
projects include:

PREVENT SKILLS DECAY
WITH APPLIED LEARNING

* Case studies

Compounding the problem of fastchanging skills requirements, existing
skills fade from lack of use. Newlylearned skills can also fail to take hold,
especially if they aren't practiced or
applied in real-world exercises while
being learned.
As quoted in the Wall Street
Journal, Eduardo Salas, professor of
organizational psychology at the
University of Central Florida, says skills
decay is a big problem. "The American
Society for Training and Development
says that by the time you go back to
your job, you've lost 90 percent of what
you've learned in training," says Salas.
"That's why you need to reinforce. If you
learn something and you don't have the
opportunity to practice, eventually you
are going to lose it."
One of the most important elements that
talent development and other training
designers can add to their courses is an

* App development
* Simulations
* Debugging
* Peer reviews
* Market analyses
* Solution scenarios
Authentic tasks like applied learning
activities not only provide motivation
for trainees to use what they've learned;
it can equip them with skills in social
interaction and collaboration. In many
cases, the materials that employees
create in their applied learning projects
may be immediately useful in the
performance of their actual jobs.

ESTABLISH A LEARNING CULTURE
When done right, training can promote
a culture of continuous and progressive
learning that motivates the employee
to strive for additional courses, higher
training levels, and even certifications.
It's critical to have a training program

FIVE KEYS TO SUCCESS AT FILLING SKILLS GAPS
A strategic talent development program can overcome the costs, onboarding challenges
and culture shift that comes with talent acquisition. However, in order to be most effective,
employee training should go beyond classes and include:
1| Analysis of the most
appropriate employees
to groom with training
for advanced skills or
higher roles.
2| Pre-testing to help
stage employees at the
proper course level (or
provide the option to
opt-out of remedial or
irrelevant courses.

| 34

3| Measurement of ongoing
training progress, including
surveys, quizzes, and
completed work, ideally
monitored using a learning
management system
or other management
dashboard.
4 | Applied learning projects
that let employees practice
new skills to solve realistic

problems they can
relate to in their actual
work environment.
5| Social interaction,
inspiring positive
competition, motivation
and collaboration
through group projects,
leaderboards, and
even social sharing of
progress and projects.

that provides opportunities for growth
beyond the learning of basic skills.
Providing a clear learning path-from
foundation courses to more advanced
and specialized levels-offers many
advantages, including:
* Inspiring trainees to see what
is possible within the training
program as well as their career
path and aspirations,
* Establishing a quantitative
measurement of success
through a structure of
prerequisites for advancement
to a higher-level course, and
* Reinforcing retention of
previously-learned skills.

TRAINING HELPS RETENTION,
NOT JUST DEVELOPMENT
Some employers express reticence about
investing in employee training for fear
that they will take these new skills and
use them at another company. On the
contrary, statistics show that providing
new skills through talent development
actually increases employee retention.
A study by the Hospitality Industry
Education Advisory Committee (HIEAC)
in British Columbia reported that "40
percent of employees who receive
poor job training leave their positions
within the first year, [citing] the lack of
skills training and development as the
principal reason for moving on."
As Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor
Company, professed, "The only thing
worse than training your employees and
having them leave is not training them
and having them stay."
Dan Biewener is the director of training
research at Simplilearn. He has 15 years
of experience teaching and developing
instructor-led training and video-based
e-learning curricula. Email Dan.


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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - May/June 2017

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_winter2024
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_fall2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_summer2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_spring2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_winter2023
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_fall2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_summer2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_spring2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_winter2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20210102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20200102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20191112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20170708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20170506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20170304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20171112_se
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_20161112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2016sales
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015outsourcing
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015leadership
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2015winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2014summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2014spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2014winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2013fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2013summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2013spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2013winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2012fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2012summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2012spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2012winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2011fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2011summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2011spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2011winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2010fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2010summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2010spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2010winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2009fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2009summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2009spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2009winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2008fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2008summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/trainingindustry/tiq_2008spring
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