Definition of training objectives
Why do we train our employees?
In the corporate world, training is considered good practice, which means that no one questions its application. However, in order to design and implement truly effective training, we must go back to basics and reassess these issues:
Why do we train our personnel?
Or rather, why do we consider it necessary to train our personnel?
And in answering this question, we should not settle for the logical answer that trained people work better. Not because it is wrong in itself, but because it is too broad to guide us in designing effective training.
Many companies, in order to comply with the “good practice” of training, send their employees at different levels to take courses on different topics. Without judging this practice in an exhaustive way, we could ask ourselves: is there a specific reason we made this decision? What do we expect from this training? What mechanism will we use to know if this training has been effective?
Anchoring the decision to train on a more scientific basis could help us to better answer these questions, or rather, to make such decisions more in accordance with the needs of the business, and not so much following generic market practices.
For this we could ask ourselves the following question: why do people not perform their work as expected?
A first basic theoretical model would answer us that:
- Because they do not know or do not remember to do it that way.
- Because they cannot do it that way.
- Because they do not want to.
The first two points in particular are in the area of people training. On several occasions we see that some leaders confuse the first two points with the third, leading to blunt diagnoses related to lack of motivation, lack of commitment, and many other similar issues.
This procedure is also driven by the fact that all people in general sometimes find it difficult to identify the reasons why we cannot do something, or in other cases we find it difficult to say it or to recognize it.
To address the first two points, we must understand that there are different types of learning that a person can undergo, and their knowledge is the basis for the design of training that generates effective and useful learning for the business.
Types of Learning
For people who start in the training world, the definition of training objectives is a given, since it could always be defined that the objective of all training is to teach or transmit some kind of knowledge.
Although we could not say that this is incorrect, we would say that it is very generalist, and that the objectives of a training are aimed at defining what type of learning is expected from the trainee. Therefore, before approaching any technique for defining objectives, we should focus on knowing the types of learning.
We will detail below various types of learning that an organization may require from its employees:
- Information: the need for people to know and understand certain information. They are not expected to be experts in the subject, they are not expected to solve something related to the subject, but they are expected to know it, to understand its complexity and the way in which other areas of the company solve it.
- Raising Awareness: this is related to making the people to be trained to become aware of certain business situations. In general, it is usually focused on making them familiar with certain business or operational decisions made by the company’s management, or on making them aware of the impact of their own decisions on other areas and the importance of committing their time to these decisions. In this type of learning, people are not expected to master the techniques to contain the impact of their decisions, but they are expected to understand that such impact exists, and in any case to moderate and/or communicate it before acting.
- Technical or scientific: refers to the learning of the general and particular knowledge required for a job. This type of training includes job induction training when the task to be performed is taught, as well as the technical knowledge required.
- Methodological or tooling: it is the transmission of a method or a tool to be applied in one’s own work. It is a purely practical type of learning, with some basic theoretical transmission, but in which practice predominates and, specifically, its application. It may be related to the job task or to management systems used or promoted by the company.
- Competency development: this is a medium-term learning process that is generally supported by a sequentially structured training program. It refers to the development of those skills considered necessary for the position. Although it may include some type of methodological model, in general this is not the basis for learning. It is one of the most challenging types of learning from a training design point of view.
Definition of training objectives, since in general the transmission of knowledge is not directly related to the skill in question, but rather works with indirect conceptual tools.
Based on this model, before designing any type of training, we should ask ourselves what type of learning we want to develop in the people that are going to be trained. This idea is what in the training world we call the “definition of the objectives” of a training.
- Techniques for defining training objectives
In order to define training objectives, we could do a step-by-step review of the different types of learning. But how would we know which is the right answer on an objective basis?
This leads us to consider that in order to carry out training based on technical and objective foundations, the jobs must contain all these definitions in advance, regardless of who occupies them.
We are referring to having a set of preliminary definitions, which should complement the traditional and necessary description of responsibilities and functions:
- What is the technical knowledge required for the position.
- What methodologies and tools should be used to perform the task effectively and with quality.
- What competencies are required to carry out this task.
- What aspects do people in this position need to be aware of?
- What information is necessary for the people in this position to perform their job better. With these points resolved, we could then evaluate the performance of people in the job with an objective baseline, and we could move towards the definition of training based on the definition of its objectives.
Consequently, the definition of training objectives must clearly and comprehensively state what it is expected that people will learn from the training.
Based on the questions outlined above, the objectives could be any of the following, or a combination of these:
- To know and learn the subject XX… (this subject would be a partial or total of the technical knowledge required by the position).
- Learn how to apply the methodology and/or tool YY in order to achieve better results in…
Definition of Training Objectives
- Develop the ZZ competence/skill to achieve…
- Develop awareness of the following aspects: impact of A on B, importance of C, the relationship between D and E, etc.
- Be informed about X and Y in order to consider that information in activities M and N. Note that each of these definitions of learning objectives will (or should) lead us to design different trainings. Let us look at it this way: we could not teach someone how to play soccer just by showing them videos of the best team in the world. In addition to showing them these videos, it could be part of learning a vision of the field or the different game strategies. With this simple example we want to show that a didactic tool (such as a video) can be useful for a certain objective and absolutely sterile to achieve another.
Therefore, we could claim that the successful design of a training program (its contents, the didactic tools applied, its dynamics, etc.) will not depend on its design in absolute terms, but on the consistency and alignment of these aspects with the defined learning objectives. And this is precisely where the importance of a rigorous, exhaustive and correct definition of these objectives lies.
To summarize:
- We accept training as a necessary good market practice, but we must continually force ourselves to rethink what it is we are looking for with each training we provide to our personnel.
- We must be aware of the distinct types of learning in order to be able to identify training needs that are effective for the business.
- In order to define the objectives of a training program, we must evaluate the performance of the personnel with effective tools, and for this we must know all the definitions and requirements that the functions of the position demand.
- The design of a course does not depend in itself on the contents and methodologies selected, but on their consistency and alignment with the learning objectives sought.