7
Making Hands-On Traning Work

It is one matter to start using Hands-On Training in place of traditional on-the-job training and another to keep it going. Unfortunate though it may be, the U.S. business community has a long history of embracing and quickly discarding new programs. A “been there, done that” mentality is firmly implanted in the minds of both managers and workers. This being the case, it is no wonder that many, perhaps even most, new programs are greeted with passive resistance from those who remain convinced that if they can just wait it out, “This, too, shall pass!” Hands-On Training is no exception.

To help you overcome this resistance, we looked at organizations that are committed to making Hands-On Training work to find out what characteristics they share. Most of these fall into the “lessons learned” category. As with just about everything having to do with HOT, the following suggestions, derived from these lessons, are simple and straightforward.90

Let the Workers Make It Work

This is probably the single most important piece of advice we can offer about using Hands-On Training on a long-term basis. Most of the other suggestions are intended to support the notion that HOT should belong to the workers themselves. It should not be regarded as a “management program.” In fact, HOT shouldn’t be regarded as a program at all. Rather, HOT should become an integral part of “the way we do things here.”

Hands-On Training works best when it is virtually invisible. For example, new employees are assigned to an instructor as a matter of course. There is no question about it. When a worker needs to learn a new skill, he or she connects with an instructor and together they set up the required training. There is no need for complex administrative procedures because the people sustain their own training efforts. If records of training are required, the workers should maintain them. It sounds so simple to make training a normal part of work, but there are a couple of factors that can make or break the effort. These include management support, accessibility of the training, and the way the training system is structured.

Get Management Support

In this case, we have two very specific suggestions about how management can support Hands-On Training. First, if HOT is the workers’ system, managers need to let them use it. The most commonly expressed fear of managers is that “people will turn this workplace into a training center.” Not so. Today’s workers are almost painfully aware of the need to remain competitive. They are not about to waste time doing unnecessary training. On the other hand, HOT instructors tend to take their responsibilities very seriously. They usually insist on spending enough time to do the training correctly. They become concerned when managers demand unrealistic shortcuts.

No matter how badly managers need instantaneous job performance, they must accept the facts: Training isn’t particularly efficient and job performance doesn’t occur by magic. It takes time to conduct effective training. The most commonly heard complaint of HOT instructors is that managers demand the impossible.91

Hands-On Training is definitely a “pay me now or pay me later” situation. The cost of doing it properly in the first place may be obvious, but this is far outweighed by the even higher (but hidden) cost of workers who are poorly trained due to unrealistic time limits.

The second element of management support is the clarification of responsibilities for training throughout the organization—not just for instructors. Most organizations have a chain of leadership. Each level may include different responsibilities for training. We suggest that these be defined as part of the organization’s effort to establish accountability. For example, a top level executive may be responsible for establishing philosophy and policy. A local manager may be responsible for defining how the policy will be implemented in his or her business unit. A supervisor or team leader may be responsible to provide support (time, equipment, assistance, etc.) for the training effort. The instructor is responsible for delivering the training as planned, and the trainee is responsible for receiving the training. All of these responsibilities are related, yet each reflects an individual’s unique role in the process. In this way, the people who carry out the effort will be more likely to make the training work as planned.

Make Training Accessible

One of the most common of all problems associated with job training in the United States is that the training is difficult to get. Workers who need to learn new skills are forced to wait for a class to begin or for the only instructor to become available. Time is wasted, and frustration with the whole process tends to grow.

Hands-On Training should be readily accessible when it is needed. Again, this statement has a couple of major implications. First, an organization must have an adequate number of trained instructors to satisfy the demand for training. It is usually a mistake to make only one or two people responsible for all instruction. When this is done, the rationale is usually that “these instructors are the best qualified people we have.” What difference does that make when the trainees can’t get the training they need? We would suggest that it is better to have more instructors, even if you must accept a degree of trade-off between availability and skill.92

To maintain a cadre of instructors, the organization needs to provide instructor training on a regular basis due to turnover. Job changes, transfers, and changes in one’s personal situation may all cause instructor turnover, and to keep the training effort going, those who leave the job must be replaced. We are not suggesting that being an instructor is a full-time job. Rather, in most organizations it is a part-time responsibility that is easily overlooked when thinking about staffing. But the more the cadre of instructors shrinks due to turnover, the more difficult it will be for people to get Hands-On Training. This, in turn, will reduce the effectiveness of the training effort. Periodic instructor training will automatically replenish the pool of HOT instructors and maintain the availability of training.

Maintain Job Documentation

Job documentation ranges all the way from simple outlines made by instructors to elaborate systems that are developed by professionals. It doesn’t matter. The documentation, whatever it is, must be maintained or Hands-On Training can grind to a halt. To maintain training documentation, the organization must find ways to gather the information for required updates. Then it must provide periodic maintenance that includes an approval process and a means to build changes into the documentation.

Some companies are tempted to keep no training documentation at all. That way there is no need for maintenance. The problem with this approach is that training without documentation may lead to a return to traditional unstructured on-the-job training, where serious problems with consistency occur. Documentation merely provides one more degree of assurance that the training is repeatable, an essential ingredient in HOT. While the HOT POPPER method can work without documentation, it is more effective and certainly more consistent when standard job procedures are defined.93

Keep It Simple

Training has a way of becoming complicated. Sometimes it is complicated by its own delivery system. Sometimes training is complicated by bureaucracy and sometimes by micromanagement. These are all problems to avoid when using Hands-On Training.

When training professionals manage programs, a degree of complexity is acceptable because these people are educated to deal with elaborate training systems. However, this is definitely not the case with most HOT instructors. Usually instructors are experts in doing their jobs and trained to use the techniques of Hands-On Training as an adjunct to their regular work. They are not comfortable dealing with complicated training, documentation, and administrative systems. In fact, it is probably safe to say that the more complex the training system, the less likely HOT instructors are to use it.

If we are truly interested in integrating training as a normal part of work, we must take care to avoid making the system look like a program. In fact, job training is not a program. Properly applied, it is an ongoing support system more akin to equipment maintenance or quality assurance than any passing fad. Hands-On Training just happens to be a very effective method for accomplishing a function that must be accomplished anyway. A simple job training system, supported by a simple method and simple rules, stands a far better chance of success in the workplace than a complex training system that requires heavy maintenance and administration.

The Training Professional’s Role in Hands-On Training

Hands-On Training differs from other types of training in some important ways, which have been described in this book. However, HOT also shares the key ingredients that make any kind of training effective: it is targeted and it is systematic. Professional trainers can add an important dimension to the HOT effort, especially by providing support for the instructors who are charged with delivering the training to those who need it. Here are a few suggestions as to how training professionals can augment an organization’s efforts:94

• Establish the system.
• Help define responsibilities and accountability.
• Train and coach HOT instructors.
• Assist with training documentation.
• Develop simple administrative procedures.
• Act as custodian for materials.
• Hold periodic instructor meetings.
• Represent HOT instructors to management.
• Evaluate the training effort and recommend improvements.

Many organizations apply Hands-On Training without a training professional. But in organizations that have a professional trainer on staff, two different approaches seem to be used. One is that the training professional controls the training. The other is that he or she stays in the background and supports the training effort. Of these, the second approach is more successful because it keeps the responsibility for job training where it belongs: with those who do the work.

Chapter Summary

Hands-On Training works best when it is integrated as a part of everyday work. It is better if the workers manage their own system than if HOT is a “management program.” The training must be accessible, documentation must be maintained, and the system must be simple. Training professionals can add an important dimension by providing support systems for the HOT effort.