6 Most Important Things You Can Dofiles.astd.org/ChapterServices/Regional Conferences...The Six Most Important Things You Can Do to Make Learning More Valuable Dr. Roy Pollock Chief

© 2016 The 6Ds Company P a g e | 1

TheSixMostImportantThingsYouCanDotoMakeLearningMoreValuable

Dr. Roy Pollock Chief Learning Officer

The 6Ds Company

Objective

The objective of this session is to help you create even greater value from learning and development initiatives.

• The more value you create, the more valuable you are.

The Business We Are In

How does a business leader define value from training?

Our product is: ________________________. Our value is the extent to which we help _________________________and meet business objectives. It is not how much employees enjoyed the training, or even how much they learned.

Training’s Effectiveness Today

After a typical training program, what percent of participants use what they have learned well enough and long enough that they improve their performance? _________%

Notes:

WhatDoYouThink?

The Six Disciplines for Business Impact


How Training Creates Value

Training creates value by equipping employees with new skills and knowledge which, when applied to their work, makes them more efficient or productive.

As the illustration above shows, transfer is essential to improve performance and produce business impact. If employees learn new knowledge and skills, but do not use them, then no value is created.

The formula for getting results from training is:

Learning X Transfer = Results

That means that even when the learning is a “10,” if transfer is a zero, then the results will be ______.

Learning Scrap

Training that employees attend, but never use, is learning scrap. It is a waste of time, resources, and opportunity.

TheSixDisciplinesofHigh‐ImpactLearning

When we compared training that created value (improved performance) to training that did not improve performance, we found that the most effective learning organizations practiced six disciplines:

These six disciplines build on foundational instructional design competencies to ensure not only great training, but also great training transfer. They describe the six most important things you can do to make training and development more valuable.

Notes:



AnIntroductiontothe6Ds® The key concepts of each of the 6Ds are introduced below, together with actions you can take to further enhance the business impact of training and development in your organization.

D1:DefineBusinessOutcomes

The most effective learning organizations start by defining the business outcomes for the program, not just the learning objectives.

Traditional Learning Objectives Business Outcome Objectives

Time Frame

Focus

Features versus Benefits

Features tell; Benefits sell. Learning objectives are ______________. Business objectives are _________________. You need both. But use business objectives when talking to the business; confine the use of learning objectives to L&D.

Planning Wheel

Be sure you have answers to the following questions BEFORE you start designing a program:

1. __________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________

3. __________________________________________________

4. __________________________________________________

Key Concepts

Successful training (training that creates business value) starts with a clear understanding of the business needs and objectives (why).

High‐quality learning objectives are essential for designing effective instruction; however, they do not adequately communicate the business benefits.

Discuss how the training will be evaluated and the criteria for success with the business managers before the training is designed.



Actions I can take to strengthen D1 include:

Reviewing course descriptions to be sure they explain the benefits, not just the features.

Interviewing a business sponsor to be sure I understand their business goals and criteria for success of the training.

D2:DesigntheCompleteExperience

Priming Effect

The learner’s experience starts before class. What they expect becomes, to a large extent, a self‐fulfilling prophesy.

The New Finish Line for Learning

When we give certificates or credit at the end of class, we send the wrong message. We imply that “___________ ____________.”

Notes:



Importance of Achievement

The four phases of learning are:

The final phase—providing a sense of achievement—is important because: _____________________. Key Concepts

Learning is a process, not an event

The Learner’s Complete Experience starts even before the prework and continues long after the instruction, back on the job.

To maximize impact, learning organizations must plan for and positively influence the total experience, not just what happens in the class.

What happens before and after training is as important as the training itself. Actions I can take to strengthen D2 include:

Complete the Application Scorecard in the Appendix to identify the greatest opportunities for improvement.

D3:DeliverforApplication

“A great learning experience is not about the content, but about the way the content is taught.”

—Julie Dirksen, Design for How People Learn Active vs Passive Learning

To maximize the applicability of learning to work, class time should be about ____% content and ____% practice with feedback.

Right now, the ratio in most of our courses is ____% content and ____% practice with feedback. Value Chain for Training

To ensure linkage between the training and the business needs, construct a value chain.



Use the hierarchy tool in your word processor of slide program to show how the learning experiences support the behaviors required to achieve the business goals.

Eliminate learning activities that don’t connect and monitor the perceived relevance and utility of each program to be sure that the “message gets through.” Key Concepts

Training adds value only when it is applied to the work of the individual and firm.

The choice of instructional method affects how easy or hard it is to apply.

Learning requires active engagement and encoding.

Practice with feedback is essential; most corporate training programs have too much content and too little practice.

Actions I can take to strengthen D3 include:

Try to draw the links in the value chain for my program to ensure that they are strong and logical.

Review the ratio of active to passive learning; make sure I do not overload participants with content.

D4:DriveLearningTransfer

The fourth discipline is to drive learning transfer because if the learning is not put to work, then the training will be considered a failure no matter how much they liked it or how much they learned. Improving learning transfer involves treating training as a process and applying the principles of process improvement. Hope is not a strategy!

Notes:

Content covered is not content learned. - Ruth Clark, Evidence Based Training Methods



KeyElementsofTransferSupport

Key Concepts

If transfer fails, then to a business manager, the training failed.

Do not leave transfer to chance. It must be part of the instructional design.

Managers can make or break the success of any program.

At a minimum, remind participants periodically that they need to apply their new learning. Actions I can take to strengthen D4 include:

Evaluating the transfer support for a current program to make sure there is adequate structure, support, and accountability.

D5:DeployPerformanceSupport

Performance support helps learners answer the “Can I?” question. It encourages continues effort by facilitating early wins. Support is most valuable when:

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

Even highly‐trained and ‐experienced professionals can benefit from job aids. Don’t forget that managers also can benefit from job aids that help them fulfill their roles as coaches and amplifiers of learning.

Notes:



Key Concepts

Performance support helps trainees answer the “Can I?” question by giving people confidence that they will be able to perform in the way they were taught and that they will be able to get help if they need it.

Training is most effective when you provide both post‐course accountability and support.

Support should be an integral part of the program design. Actions I can take to strengthen D5 include:

Reviewing the support provided in a critical program

Providing managers with short, practical guides to ensuring learning transfer

D6:DocumentResults

Training competes for time and money. Management wants to see results that show that the training is worth the investment.

The second main reason to evaluate is to support continuous improvement. To improve performance, you have to know whether or not you hit the target. Behavior has to change first.

Guidelines for Effective Evaluation

An effective evaluation has the following characteristics:

Criterion Notes

Relevant

Credible

Compelling

Efficient



Key Concepts

Learning and development organization must document results of training in order to prove its value and improve future offerings.

Effective measures are relevant, credible, and compelling. Actions I can take to strengthen D6 include:

Discussing a critical program with the business sponsor to make sure he/she feels we are providing relevant, credible, and compelling evidence of success.

Making evaluation a required part of every program design

SummingUp

• Learning and development are essential for a company

and its employees to stay competitive.

• Training delivers great value, but it can and should add

even higher value than it does today.

• Management expects training to improve on‐the‐job

performance; that requires both great learning and great

learning transfer.

• If transfer fails, managers conclude “the training failed,” even if it achieved its learning objectives.

• Everything about the program design, delivery, support and evaluation affects the answers to

those two questions.

• The 6Ds® are the six disciplines required to ensure that training delivers value to the business.

• Organizations that practice the 6Ds® achieve higher levels of learning transfer, greater business

impact, and a higher return on their investment in learning.

LearnMore

1. Read The Six Disciplines or The Field Guide to the 6Ds. 2. Attend an ATD Learning Transfer Certificate Program. 3. Write [email protected] for more information.

ReferencesandRecommendedReading

Clark, R. (2010). Evidence‐Based Training Methods. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press. Dirksen, J. (2012). Design for How People Learn. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. Jefferson, A., Pollock, R., and Wick, C. (2009). Getting Your Money’s Worth From Training and

Development. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. Salas, E., Tannenbaum, S., Kraiger, K., & Smith‐Jentsch, K. (2012). The science of training and

development in organizations: What matters in practice. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 13(2), 74–101.

Smith, R. (2011). Strategic Learning Alignment. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press. Wick, C., Pollock, R., & Jefferson, A. (2010). The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning: How to Turn

Training and Development into Business Results. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.



APPENDIX:6DsApplicationScorecardUse this tool to evaluate the readiness of a program to deliver results and identify strengths on which to build as well as opportunities for improvement. For each item, check the box that best describes the program using the following key: 0 = Not at all 1 = To a small extent 2 = Somewhat 3 = To a large extent 4 = To a very great extent

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6 Most Important Things You Can Dofiles.astd.org/ChapterServices/Regional Conferences...The Six Most Important Things You Can Do to Make Learning More Valuable Dr. Roy Pollock Chief