Our second course speaker was Dr. Mohan Yang. Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. from Purdue University. He is currently an assistant professor and teaches in a Training Specialist Program at Old Dominion University. His area of research interests includes the transfer of training and authentic learning. Dr. Yang also presides as the president of the AECT Organizational Training & Performance Division.
Presentation Takeaways
The presenter discussed research that shows that organizations spent 92.3 billion dollars on training in 2021(Yang, 2022). Training is currently a widely used and costly intervention. Dr. Yang distinguished that training was often not an appropriate response to a performance problem, which was a helpful point. The majority of the presentation was focused on how to make training transfer more effective if training was an appropriate performance intervention. A couple of key thoughts stood out to me that I will be taking forward with me.
First, Dr. Yang pointed out the difference between near transfer and far transfer (Yang, 2022). With a near transfer, the training context is similar to the performance context, so the transfer of knowledge and skills is closer. Conversely, when the training context and the performance context are dissimilar, the transfer of knowledge is considered far. A takeaway for me is how to keep the training context similar to the performance context. Since training transfer is already so low, doing everything that I can to design a training for optimal transfer is a practical thing I can do with my training interventions. This highlighted to me the importance of learning interventions we have been discussing in class such as on-the-job training, job shadowing, and simulations as these types of training better mirror a workplace context (Stolovitch and Keeps, 2004).
Second, Dr. Yang presented the major players involved in training as the trainees, the trainer, and the managers who provide trainees support. Each of these players and their role before, during, and after training need to be considered when planning an effective training intervention. A large takeaway from this part of the presentation was that managers have a huge influence before and after training, but are largely not used in the training planning or processes. Essentially managers are powerful, but underused resources. This helps me to consider how to bring managers into the training process both before and after the training. Without their buy-in and support, the transfer of training becomes significantly lower.
Personal Reflections
This presentation gave me several ideas to consider when it comes to effective training solutions. However, a large point is that training is only one type of performance intervention. It is an intervention that is expensive and often overused. While the presentation helped me to better understand one HPT solution, I do feel that I have a pretty good grasp of training strategies at this point in the LDT program. I would have loved to hear more about other HPT interventions that we have not had as much exposure to. That being said, I think any learning and design job will require that I design quality training programs. Focusing on the transfer of training is a key to making quality training programs. Understanding key players involved in training and how to utilize performance contexts within a training are key ways that I can make training more transferable. However, there are still many areas from HPT that I would like more information about. I want to develop more understanding of how to use non-learning interventions from Stolovitch and Keeps (2004) such as environmental interventions and performance aid interventions. I would also like more knowledge on how to pitch non-learning interventions in industry. In the long run, I want to be an ID practitioner who considers interventions that align with performance needs. Knowing when to use training and when to recommend other types of interventions is key to helping my ID work have a performance focus rather than a training focus.
Reference
Stolovitch, H. & Keeps, E. (2004). Training ain't performance. ATD Press.
Yang, M. (2022, July 29). Transfer of training in HRD. [PowerPoint slides].
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