Overview

In the previous unit, we discussed the differences between training, development and education, and how to recognize the need for each one in your business. This unit will focus on training. Training has one important function - to provide people with the necessary skills and knowledge required to perform their jobs. Without the appropriate skills and knowledge, tasks cannot be performed safely, nor effectively.

At the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• Explain how to assess the learning requirements of a job
• Decide when to train, when to job aid
• Determine how to select the proper method of training
• Explain the various sources of training, advantages and disadvantages of each source

Author Overview

Sandy Douglas has been working in the training and development field since 1968. From 1972 to 1977 he was President of Informatics Education Ltd., a firm specializing in the development of computer based training software for clients, which included a major Canadian bank, the Iranian Government, and the Canadian Armed Forces.

From 1977 to 1986 Sandy was Manager of Training and Development at Canada Permanent Trust, Director of Training at Gulf Oil and Manager of Operations and Management training at the Bank of Montreal. In 1986 he founded Benchmark Performance Inc. a human performance consulting and design company with offices in Toronto, Ottawa and Calgary and Vancouver.

Sandy’s areas of expertise include corporate training strategy, instructional design, front end analysis and facilitation.

His major accomplishments include:

• design and implementation of a corporate training strategy for a Canadian brewer
• design of a six million dollar training centre for a natural gas distribution company
• analysis and recommendations for the improvement of training for staff of Canada’s air navigation system
• design of an overall training strategy and the development of supervisory and management courses for a class one railroad
• creation of a strategy for web and conventional training delivery in a provincial telephone company
• design of computer-based training programs to help branch staff implement relationship banking in a major international bank

Sandy is a member of HRPAO and the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). He is the author of two books and numerous technical papers in the field of human performance technology.