Careful planning and follow-up are essential to effective training and neither has to break your budget, according to Sharon Birkman Fink, president and CEO of Birkman International, Inc. “It’s more about creativity than a big budget.”
When preparing for a training session, she recommends that trainers find appropriate jokes or funny cartoons to include in their presentations. “Humor takes some effort, but it doesn’t really cost anything,” she says. “It’s inexpensive, but fun, and it makes training more memorable.”
Adding a relevant song, movie clip, or quote from a famous novel can help “break up the monotony” of a presentation, as can having learners participate in activities that require them to move around the room, Fink says. “All of those things help reinforce the message.”
She also suggests that trainers use “trinkets,” such as balls, Lego® building blocks, or Slinky® toys, to help engage learners. For example, during a teambuilding exercise, learners can be given Legos (e.g., a different color for each personality type) and be asked to build a project together, she says.
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After training, it is important to follow up with learners to reinforce the training message, Fink says. Again, this doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor.
She recommends conducting a brief electronic survey—no more than 10 questions—and scheduling lunch-and-learn programs to remind learners of key training points, to find out whether and how they have used their new skills or knowledge back on the job, and to ask for other feedback. She emphasizes that surveys should be brief—“something they are able to do in 5 or 10 minutes”—to increase the response rate.
For more tips from Fink, visit Birkman International’s website (www.birkman.com), where you’ll also find The Birkman Method® personality assessment.
To effectively engage learners, you need a program that’s easy for trainers to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules. Also, if you’re like most companies in these tight budget days, you need a program that’s reasonable in cost.
We asked our editors what they recommend for training supervisors in a minimum amount of time with maximum effect. They came back with BLR’s unique 10-Minute HR Trainer.
With this training resource, we’ve provided an easy-to-manage program that lets you train in discrete, 10-minute chunks. It’s a program that’s easy for you to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules. And it’s remarkably affordable.
Train your line managers with BLR‘s 10-Minute HR Trainer. There won’t be time for classroom boredom. Try it for free.
As its name implies, this product trains managers and supervisors in critical HR skills in as little as 10 minutes for each topic. 10-Minute HR Trainer offers these features:
Trains in 50 key HR topics under all major employment laws, including manager and supervisor responsibilities and how to legally carry out managerial actions from hiring to termination. (See a complete list of topics below.)
Uses the same teaching sequence master teachers use. Every training unit includes an overview, bullet points on key lessons, a quiz, and a handout to reinforce the lesson later.
Completely prewritten and self-contained. Each unit comes as a set of reproducible documents. Just make copies or turn them into overheads and you’re done. (Take a look at a sample lesson below.)
Updated continually. As laws change, your training needs do as well. 10-Minute HR Trainer provides new lessons and updated information every 90 days, along with a monthly Training Forum newsletter, for as long as you are in the program.
Works fast. Each session is so focused that there’s not a second’s waste of time. Your managers are in and out almost before they can look at the clock, yet they remember small details even months later.
Evaluate It at No Cost for 30 Days
We’ve arranged to make 10-Minute HR Trainer available to our readers for a 30-day, in-office, no-cost trial. Review it at your own pace and try some lessons with your colleagues. If it’s not for you, return it at our expense. Click here and we’ll set you up with our 10-Minute HR Trainer.