Trainers often worry about how to create engaging company training for staff.
Many companies often get frustrated about how their workplace training is inconsistent from site to site, despite trainers using the same training materials.
Regardless of all good intentions, company trainers tend to deliver the content differently resulting in staff being taught variations in how to do something. This can be extremely frustrating for managers who end up with confused staff and an unproductive workplace.
But even more importantly, keeping strict version control on your PowerPoint training presentations and ensuring that your trainers are all teaching the same thing is a legislative requirement. If a death were to occur at your company site, the coronial inquest would request that the training materials used on the day the person was inducted and trained be submitted for review. If there is evidence that the PowerPoint version was open and anyone could change it or that the trainer did their own version of training, then that company would be found to be non-compliant training wise.
With the new OHS harmonisation laws arriving, it's important that companies begin to have strict version control over their training materials.
The good news is that there is a way to reduce inconsistent training practices in your company that also ensure the best training outcomes.
It involves centring the workplace training around an engaging training video and producing a complementary trainer's manual and employee handbook.
Research has found that the most engaging methods of safety training are, on average, approximately three times more effective than the least engaging methods in promoting knowledge and skill acquisition, as well as reducing accidents,illnesses, and injuries.
One of the main benefits with this type of workplace training is that it incorporates highly active training in its design, which can then be rolled out to other company trainers across your company.
Here's how it works.
1. An engaging training video is created that is broken down into different chapters or learning menus. This enables the trainer to play a segment and then discuss afterwards and undertake further activities. See the menu sample below.
2. A trainer's manual is produced that contains relevant content from the training video and has learning activities for the trainer to use. This is where you can includes lots of active training activities that include demonstrations, multisensory training (activities that use as many senses as possible), coaching activities and questions to ask. It also includes a session plan, so that trainer knows how to plan the entire training lesson. Ideally, it also includes assessment questions and answers.
3. Employees are also given an handbook, which contains information about each procedure, as well as similar photos and diagrams that they would have seen in the training video. A quiz can be contained in the booklet with a tear off page for them to hand to the trainer. Trainees go through their handbook during training and get to keep it. In our experience, they like to keep their booklet in their locker or drawer to refer to when there is any confusion when doing a task.
These training materials make it very difficult for a trainer to give information that is different to the course material. This means that staff get consistent training, but also highly visual and active training. It also means that the company has strict version control with its training materials that meet legislative requirements.
Trainers love the package because because all the hard work has been done for them. All they have to do is to convincingly teach the information and help trainees with their questions and coach them on ways to improve.
