Developing an Effective Training Methodology for a Multi-Industry Client Base

Idea Integration is a firm of highly skilled and experienced professionals who provide quality, cost-effective solutions for client information management needs in the areas of GIS and e-business technology integration. With rapidly changing technology, effective, up-to-date training methods must be in place for staff as well as clients. However, the development of relevant course materials and exercises can be a very time consuming, expensive proposition. This paper will address some of the elements to be considered when developing a training curriculum for industry specific clients.

Training. It's a powerful word that, when proposed at the appropriate time and in the right way, can encourage employees to have higher expectations of themselves and, perhaps, make them feel as though they are being rewarded for a job well done. The other side of the coin, however, is the dread that some employees feel when they hear they've been registered for some type of training. Employees commonly lament, "Oh great. I get pulled away from my job for five days to sit and listen to some boring teacher talk about something I'm not even interested in."

As a GIS trainer I see all types of people, from all industries, and with an array of different perceptions of training. Some students are excited and ready to learn. Some students show resentment toward the subject, and the instructor, from the time they take their seats until the conclusion of the class. "I'm here because my boss made me come" often appears on the class evaluation sheet. The student returns to their job resentful and, perhaps, even more confused than before they took the training. From the standpoint of a trainer, I have to ask myself, what I can do to make the learning experience more positive for my students? How can I design a training curriculum that gives everyone "the most bang for their buck"?

As GIS professionals, we often experience a persistent, overwhelming sense of urgency to re-tool and re-train in order to perform quality work competitively in the matrix of technological, methodological, and organizational changes. It seems as though every time we pick up a publication, such as Esri's ArcUser magazine, there are articles telling us about the latest and greatest hardware and software soon to hit the market. I hear many consultants, and clients, asking the same question, "When am I supposed to have the time to learn this new technology?" Is it important that we stay on top of all the changes going on in the GIS industry or should we just focus on one particular area? How do you know if investing in a training class will pay off in the long run for you and/or your employer?

Employees can no longer afford to rest on their laurels and be content with their current skill set. The short life cycle of GIS technology, compounded by increasingly complex job related duties, demands that workers remain in the active learning mode while continuing to perform the tasks related to their current position. This dual role adds pressure to what can already be described as an overwhelming workload. Something has to give and, unfortunately, it's usually the amount of time an employee devotes to upgrading his or her knowledge base. Therefore, it is imperative that, when students do have the time and resources to attend training classes, they get as much out of it as possible. The demand for training is extensive. If you were to ask companies and individuals whether or not they'd like to have the time to improve their skills, the answer would be a resounding "yes".

One of the first things an organization needs to do before it decides to make a huge investment in education for their staff is to find training that will reduce the gaps between desired and actual skill competencies. It is imperative that managers know what skills their employees currently have, their level of skill in those areas, and what skills might be useful in the future. Organizations should have a good idea about what training development and delivery methods are most effective, both in terms of cost and outcome. There is a widespread disparity in methods used to determine staff training needs, with most people indicating that no formal process is regularly used. When asked, respondents report that the most common methods for determining training needs are employee suggestions and the performance evaluation process. Most staff do not believe that program managers/directors understand their training needs.

In the learning age we currently live in, equipping people with the right knowledge and skills is crucial to maintaining high and sustainable levels of employment and price stability. It will also improve productivity. No organization expecting to make it into the next decade can continue to operate in a reaction management mode; it must learn to operate in a "ready for change" mode. Services and staff must be flexible, thus becoming a learning organization that simultaneously flows with change.

Training is generally thought of by management as a way to fix problems within an organization. However, in order for businesses to succeed there must be a radical change in the overall perception of what training is and who needs it. Management needs to realize that staff is the product and the unique component that provides a competitive edge in the marketplace. Their skills are critical to an organization's success. Instead of looking at training as a way to put out brush fires or as a problem-solving tool that should only be used on an ad-hoc basis, it should be strategically planned and developed. Without staffs who are appropriately trained to deliver valuable services wanted by customers, your business cannot succeed.

One portion of training that is usually overlooked by those in management positions is the return on the investment they get by sending employees to classes. Is it really worth it to take someone out of production for three to five days, or is it more cost effective to give him or her on-the-job-training with other staff members? How do you determine whether or not the training was worth the cost?

When employees are well-trained companies benefit in a number of ways. Labor savings are usually at the top of the list. Updated skill sets and effective cross training allow businesses to expand their services without having to increase staff. One employee can help out another without a loss in production due to training time. "Pigeon-holing" an employee in one position can cause boredom and dissatisfaction within the workplace. Cross training gives staff a chance to vary their day to day routines and keeps things interesting.

Productivity can also improve with the proper training. When an employee is picked to attend a training class they feel as though they are being rewarded for their hard work. This in turn motivates them to take their new skills and put them to work, proving that it was a good decision to send them to class. Highly trained employees are also more likely to share their knowledge with the people around them and thereby increase the productivity of the entire department.

Increased income generation can also be a product of training. When your employees have a variety of skills to offer your clients, it makes selling services much easier. For example, suppose that a proposal is on the table at a client site. Your company offers to do the job with three people because each one is cross-trained in a number of areas. The other company that is being evaluated has put a proposal out that requires six people to do the job in the same amount of time. Which one will the client choose?

It is the capacity and quality of the staff, as individuals and as a whole, that will determine the future of a company. It is possible to have the right financial resources, ample tools, modernized and automated offices, adequate staff levels, and valuable services and programs, but without staff who is appropriately trained to deliver valuable services wanted by customers, a business cannot succeed.

How do you determine what staff members need training and what type of training they should have? The first step is to assess the strengths and weaknesses in staff skills. It is also necessary to look at the career path this employee is working toward within the company. Ask the employee why they want to take the class and what they think they will get out of it. Make sure the training session they have chosen will directly impact their current job skills and isn't something the employee wants to take "because it looks interesting".

Those making the decisions concerning who goes to training need to realize that people learn for a variety of reasons; it could be to change careers, to increase earning power, to update skills, or simply for the joy of learning itself. If an employee's motivation for learning can be tapped into, the experience will be much more rewarding for everyone involved.

So, how much training is enough? Many leading employers educate and train their workforce to the standards of their best competitors. Others, especially smaller firms, carry out little training. The vast majority of employers provide some training to their workforce, but this investment is unevenly spread and variable in quality. Younger employees and those who already have good educational qualifications receive more training. People with degrees are over six times more likely to be trained than people with no qualifications. For people working in very small firms, the prospect of their receiving training is substantially less.

Based on the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Technical Assistance survey, 46% of staff interviewed are not satisfied with the amount of training they received. And the amount of training varies greatly:

1/3 received less than 2 days per year

1/3 received between 2 - 5 days per year

1/3 received more than 5 days per year

40% also indicated that they were dissatisfied with the quality of training due to the following reasons:

• The training was not tailored to the company or situation.
• The training was not applicable to the current job.
• Too much material was presented in too short of time.

How can we change the current trends in training to make it both cost effective and valuable to the students? What can be done to help the student learn more quickly with better retention? What type of training keeps people motivated to learn and want to increase their skill sets? How do you design an effective training methodology?

When dealing with a classroom full of students from a variety of industries (e.g., petroleum, municipalities, or the pipeline industry) how do you find the common ground that enables them all to grasp the concepts and return to their jobs with the confidence they need to use the new technology? How, as a trainer, do I keep up the all of the changes taking place on a daily basis and pass the information on to my students without having to re-develop the courseware constantly?

When the time comes to make a decision concerning what type of training course is developed and by whom, there are a number of elements that need to be taken into account. Some of them are rather basic, such as design and development costs, while others, like a familiarity with the adult learning methodology, take a little more in depth understanding and consideration.

It's not enough to just send people to training. Research needs to be done into the background of the trainer, the type of materials he or she uses, and the facilities in which the class will be taught. People shouldn't get into the habit of choosing their training by the price. Quality doesn't necessarily cost more.

The adult learning methodology involves understanding how adults learn best. Part of being an effective instructor and curriculum developer means understanding the differences between adults and other types of students. Compared to children and teens, adults have special needs and requirements as learners.

Stephen Lieb, a senior technical writer and planner with the Arizona Department of Health Services, identified the following characteristics of adult learners:

1. Adults are autonomous and self-directed. They need to be free to direct themselves. Their teachers must actively involve adult participants in the learning process and serve as facilitators for them. Specifically, they must get participants perspectives about what topics to cover and let them work on projects that reflect their interests.
2. Adults have accumulated a foundation of life experiences and knowledge that may include work-related activities, family responsibilities, and previous education. They need to connect learning to this knowledge/experience base.
3. Adults are goal-oriented. They appreciate an educational program that is organized and has clearly defined elements. Instructors must show participants how this class will help them attain their goals.
4. Adults are relevancy-oriented. They must see a reason for learning something. Learning has to be applicable to their work or other responsibilities to be of value to them.
5. Adults are practical, focusing on the aspects of a lesson most useful to them in their work. Instructors must tell participants explicitly how the lesson will be useful to them on the job.
6. As do all learners, adults need to be shown respect. Instructors must acknowledge the wealth of experiences that adult participants bring to the classroom. These adults should be treated as equals in experience and knowledge and allowed to voice their opinions freely in class.

Unlike children and teenagers, adults have many responsibilities that they must balance against the demands of learning. Because of these responsibilities, adults have barriers against participating in learning. Some of these barriers include lack of time, money, confidence, or interest, lack of information about opportunities to learn, scheduling problems, and "red tape". By keeping these barriers and differences in learning strategies in mind while developing curriculum, many problems can be avoided.

Curriculum development for adults should be approached with several key concepts in mind. First, adult learners prefer single concept, single-theory courses that focus heavily on the application of the concept to relevant problems. For example, Idea Integration has written a set of petroleum exercises to supplement Esri's Introduction to ArcView class. Most of our clients are from the petroleum industry and have an easier time understanding the concepts if they can use data that is familiar to them. They learn to query a Leases theme based on Lessee name, create a summary table based on well types, and update the attribute table for a Concessions theme. Sometimes, with permission, a student will bring a small dataset to class and ask specific questions about it.

Adults also need to be able to integrate new ideas with what they already know if they are going to keep - and use - the new information. By showing them how to perform a task on a computer, that normally was done by hand, and paralleling each step with the manual method, students will grasp the concept more quickly. Information that conflicts sharply with what is already held to be true, forces a re-evaluation of the old material, and slows down the integration of the newly acquired knowledge.

Fast-paced, complex, or unusual learning tasks interfere with the learning of the concepts or data they are intended to teach. One complaint that appears on the class evaluation more consistently than others is that I am trying to teach them too much information in a short period of time. One student compared it to "trying to drink out of a fire hose". I would tend to agree with this statement but, there's a fine line between having too much material to cover and not enough. Invariably, I will have one or two students in each class who are much faster than the other students. I've found that the best way to keep them happy and occupied is to create a special set of exercises that can be distributed as needed. These exercises contain some advanced concepts that may not be covered in class and usually involve a higher level of logical thinking.

Adults have something real to lose in a classroom situation. Self-esteem and ego are on the line when they are asked to risk trying a new behavior in front of peers and cohorts. Bad experiences in traditional education, feelings about authority and the preoccupation with events outside the classroom affect in-class experience. Therefore, it is critical that the learning environment be physically and psychologically comfortable. I try to put the students at ease as much as possible within the first 30 minutes of the class. Having the class introduce itself one-by-one and then maybe playing some type of silly game generally loosens students up enough so they feel less self-conscious. I also make an effort to let the class know that I want them to ask me questions. My business card is distributed with the understanding that once they leave the class they can call, or email, me at anytime for assistance.

One concept that took awhile for me to master is that the key to the instructor role is control. It doesn't matter how good your training materials are, if the instructor cannot take charge of the class, it will ultimately fail. For example, some students will bring specific job related questions, or even data, to class and want to spend time discussing it during the lecture. Unless the discussion is relevant to the rest of the class, I will usually explain to the student that I am available before and after class and during my lunch hour to answer his or her questions. This approach serves two purposes; it keeps the class schedule intact and also retains the focus of the class on the topic at hand. The instructor must balance the presentation of new material, debate and discussion, sharing of relevant student experiences, and the clock. Ironically, it seems that instructors are best able to establish control when they risk giving it up. When they shelve the egos and stifle the tendency to be threatened by challenge to plans and methods, they gain the kind of facilitative control needed to effect adult learning.

Although many view employee training as a necessary evil and an expense that must be tolerated, a well designed training program pays for itself and increases the bottom line. Such a program teaches new employees to "do it right the first time," thus minimizing down time while maximizing productivity and profits. A well-designed training program ensures consistency and provides a means to objectively measure employee performance as training progresses.

Two of my biggest challenges, as an educator, are to make sure that my students learn as much as possible during the short time that I'm with them and that I teach in a way that makes the subject easier for them to learn. I can accomplished this by:

• Encouraging people to have higher expectations of themselves and others
• Providing learning at a time and a place that suits the individual or firm
• Ensuring that all learning has high teaching and training standards
• Providing information and advice that clears a way through the jungle of jargon and initials
• Make learning interesting
• And recognizing that, over time, the ways of doing things will need to change in response to the needs of the students.

Training a technical subject, such as GIS, is not easy. The audience consists of professionals who have very special requirements such as high-quality course content, time constraints, and access to recognized experts in the area. Many institutions are developing information systems that are centered around GIS concepts. Their technicians are the working on a daily basis with those tools. A boost in productivity is expected. However, practice shows that, without proper training, these tools end up decreasing the efficiency of the institution.

Demchenko, Yu. (1998). Paradigm Change in Education in Conditions of Emerging New Information Technologies and Global Information Infrastructure Building.

Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies (1998). The Workforce Development Staff Skills and Training Challenge. Submitted to the Workforce Development Leadership.

Julie A. Rediker

GIS Technical Trainer

Idea Integration

5 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1700

Houston, TX 77046

Phone: (713) 627-7878

Fax: (713) 627-7888