Don't Leave On-the-Job Training to Chance
People become experts at their job by learning while doing. But when
your employees need to develop a new skill, how do you ensure they all
receive the same experience if a trainer isn't leading and guiding them?
Most on-the-job training programs leave learners to sink or swim with
whomever is overseeing their work. One worker may excel with a mentor
who allows her to take charge of what she learns--while a second may get
someone who uses the opportunity to offload paperwork and other
administrative tasks.
Learning While Working: Structuring Your On-the-Job Training shows you
how to provide the focus and direction needed to track on-the-job
progress and build a pipeline of better-skilled workers. Author Paul
Smith combines real insight into building a structured program for
project managers at the Waldinger Corporation with in-depth interviews
of experienced learning and development professionals. Discover how a
well-designed structured on-the-job training program can be your
company's talent development answer to a Swiss Army knife.
This book doesn't prescribe a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it
will help you prepare a tailored, sustainable structured on-the-job
training program for your organization. Included are practical tips to
set defined roles for the learner, mentor, and trainer; create a
tracking tool to clearly document skill growth; and ensure
organizational learning gets put to use.
On-the-job training won't replace all employee development happening in
the classroom, online, or through peer sharing of best practices. But by
bringing order to these often disconnected and siloed efforts, you can
fortify the learning structure that your organization needs to succeed.
