In this next section, we're going to have a look at how to choose training. So we've talked about how training should be strategic, we should be clear that training is part of how you deliver to your clients is part how you deliver your business objectives. We've also looked at how to identify training requirements. We've looked at how people learn, and both in terms of their knowledge, their skills, and indeed, their attitudes. And we want to think now about how to fill those gaps, how to fill those skills gaps, how to fill those knowledge gaps, and even how to try to influence people's behavior and attitudes. So how do we actually go about choosing training interventions?

Well, first thing, obviously, is we look at the gaps and we look at training that's going to fill those gaps. So rather than just thinking that all training is the same, we want to look at the training specifically And decide what training is going to fill the gaps that we particularly need for this individual. Because to do that, we need to look at the learning objectives. What is the course saying that it will deliver for the individual or as as a business, we might also want to look at alternatives to training. So it could be the actually sending somebody on a training course, isn't the best option. There are other things we could do.

And of course, choose good training. So the training itself needs to be of high quality in order to deliver the changes that we're looking for. So first question, then how to choose training through learning objectives. You may be familiar with the idea that on a training course, if you often have this on completion of the course, the attendee will be able to, or will and so then comes a set of learning objects. So, on completion of the course, the attendee will be able to, will understand, will demonstrate they can, will show a knowledge of. So these are all claims essentially about the training course.

So Will they be able to do that and really understand this, when they demonstrate they can do something or show knowledge all we think about Bloom's Taxonomy from the earlier module related to how people learn and training needs analysis. The first one there is all about skills. So, when somebody says on completion of this course, you will be able to, they're talking psychomotor, they're talking skills. If you say on training, learning objectives, on completion of this course, you will understand, they're talking knowledge, I should mention, that, on completion of this course, you will understand this considered to be a poor learning objective. But you still see it out there. On completion of this course, the attendee will demonstrate that they can.

So that would be skills again, or if it's they will show a knowledge of, or demonstrate that they have a knowledge of, again, that would be a knowledge element. So those are the most common types of learning objectives, and they relate to skills and knowledge. So you might be asking yourself, Well, what about attitudes, because that's the third part of Bloom's taxonomy. But actually, very rarely do you see learning objectives with that attitude domain in there. So you very rarely say on completion of this course, people will enjoy working with Excel, or they'll value lifting properly. So maybe we should see those things but we very rarely see those things.

So generally speaking, training is targeting skills and knowledge. We'll talk a little bit more about attitudes later. At this point, I think it's important just to make the point, we've kind of referred to it earlier. But there's no such thing as free training. So when we're sourcing training, it's sometimes very tempting to look around, or is there any funding? Is there any training that I can get for free.

And sometimes, of course, that can deliver points. I'm not saying never do it. It's great if you get something for free. The danger is, though, is that we fail to identify the actually even training that we're not paying directly for still comes at a cost. Because training costs, time and efforts, the time it's taking for somebody to go off site or do some training and learning within the factory or within the workplace. That in itself is a big investment.

It should be seen as such, it should be an investment, and it needs to have a business return. You need to be able to measure the result. So even if the training is free, you still need to make sure that it's actually delivering what you want and that you're actually Seeing the return on investment. So for me, if you've identified the training needs analysis, you've done that you know exactly what the learning objectives are, you know, what skills and knowledge changes are that you need, and even the attitude changes you need, and you're able to find some training that delivers all of that for you, and it's funded or it's free, fantastic. Go for it. But if you find yourself just doing some training, because it's seen as free, but it isn't really delivering on those requirements in your TNA, your training these analysis, then I'd say, do something else.

Another question about training is shooting go for sheep dip or targeted training. So what's that? Well, sheep dip is really when everyone does the same course. So sheep did trading is when everyone does the same course everybody has to go through this course this training, bit like induction, or some sorts of management trading history tip. Target to trading is obviously where You specifically identify training needs for an individual, and the training program itself is tailored to them. Now, looking at those two, it will seem pretty obvious which one you'd say we should go for.

So best practice is generally seen as more targeted training cheaped it can have its time, you know, there are times when you might say, Well, you know what, I want to make sure everybody has the same thing. So the idea of a sheep that is that in farms, you might literally get sheep to run through a piece of water where there's a pesticide on it to make sure that none of them have any books. Well, that seems perfectly sensible. So there could be times when we do need to put everybody through some sort of training. But obviously, we'd look more closely at trying to find training that is specifically delivering a very clear business requirement, and then that person, we've identified that there's a gap in their skills, knowledge or attitudes. That we can help fail through that training.

So that's the idea is that targeted is best. There might be times though, when you take a sheep dip approach because everybody needs the same thing. So when we looked at the question of how you go about choosing training, one of the points we said is choose good training. So what we need to ask is, what is good training? What do we mean by good training? So there's a lot of factors to what determines whether training is good or not.

Firstly, doesn't have clear learning outcomes. How can we send people on training? If we don't know what the learning outcomes are? How can we align that training to business goals, business objectives, if we don't even know what the advertised learning objectives are for that training. So make sure the outcomes are clear. We know what they are and they match.

The delivery needs to be clear, so not everyone can deliver effective training. We need to make sure that training is delivered by competent trainers. So often training can be delivered very effectively in house. But I would suggest that the people who are delivering it in house have some training in how to deliver that course. And not just the material. So sometimes I see train the trainer courses, which is just a dry run through of the slides or the material training needs to be better than that.

It needs to be delivered in an interesting and engaging way. So high levels of engagement, not just lots of listening, lots of doing as well. It needs to be focused on practical use to how are those people going to use it afterwards. So where possible the training should be delivered by somebody who understands a little bit about that sector or about that area, or at least can apply their experience to relevant facets of the jobs that people have in the trade. root. Cause at the end of the day, whether that training is considered to be good training or not, will be partly determined on whether they now can do that thing you've just trained them to do.

Do they now know what you need them to know? And do they want to do it that way? So if you send somebody on a training course, and it's about taking that machine apart, cleaning it and putting it back together again, can they now do that? If they need to understand all the health and safety implications, and the names of all the parts, can they name them? And when they come back, do they come back saying, Yeah, I now want to do it the right way. I'm glad that I went on that course.

Because now I can do it properly, or do they just come back saying, Well, I'm going to completely ignore everything other than the training, I'm going to carry on doing it my way. So I feel you'd want to say a result from skills, knowledge and Attitude related to the training itself. So choose training on the basis, firstly on the learning objectives. So are they clear? And do they match your requirements and also on the quality of the delivery, making sure that people are actually learning new skills, developing new knowledge and have an attitude towards the learning, which increases the likelihood that they'll follow it through afterwards. Is it cheap?

Is it free? I would say those things are a bonus if you can get them, but the most important things are, is it clear what you're delivering? And how well was it delivered?