Traditional Instruction Misses the Mark in Business
The Value of Moving from an Academic to a Performance-Based Approach
Training organizations who continue to follow a traditional, academic-style approach to learning typically struggle with how to deliver training that the business values. That approach concentrates on offering subject matter content, rather than on providing job-relevant skills. As a result, participants leave training with information and knowledge, but without being able to immediately meet the performance expectations the business needs in order to execute critical strategies. Those organizations that transition to a true performance-based approach are able to both deliver quantifiable improvement and increase the value of the training organization to the business.
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The Role of the Instructor in Performance-Based Training
Turning Subject Matter Experts into Coaches
One of the often-forgotten implications of moving to a performance-based environment is the changed role of the instructor. In traditional, academic-style instruction, the instructor is positioned as the subject matter expert who controls what is taught. In fact, learning is sometimes more about the instructor than it is about the learners. People are selected to become instructors based on their knowledge, rather than on their ability to guide and support the learners’ acquisition of new skills. In a performance-based environment, however, the instructor’s role is equally important, but different. The instructor must serve as a model and coach who ensures that learners leave training with the ability to do what the instruction is designed to teach.
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Making Goals and Performance Expectations Precise
How to Make the Unobservable Observable
For many organizations, the new calendar year also means a new fiscal year. It’s a time for goal-setting and developing action plans to make those goals achievable. Too often, though, the goals that managers set for employees are what we call “fuzzy”. Typically, goals can include improvements that are not behaviors—being more professional, having a better attitude, or being more conscientious. While on the surface, these are all worthy, it’s difficult to know when the goal is achieved, because the behavior is not observable. By applying a procedure known as goal analysis, it is possible to turn these unobservable “fuzzies” into observable behaviors.
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