How to Define and Achieve Training Goals
Training goals are defined as the objectives that an organization or trainer sets out to achieve in a training program. These goals can range from improving technical skills, to ensuring employees are handling confidential information correctly, and even to promoting better work and classroom habits. Regardless of the specific goals, it’s important that they align with overall business performance in order to ensure maximum benefit from the training investment.
In addition to making sure training goals are aligned with business performance, it’s also critical that they be realistic and attainable. If the objectives set for training are too lofty or unattainable, it can be discouraging for employees and ultimately undermine the impact of the program. This is why it’s important to carefully assess the current abilities of employees, as well as the scope of the training program, before creating a set of objectives.
SMART training objectives are one way to help develop realistic, measurable training goals. The acronym “SMART” stands for: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based. To be successful, training objectives should be specific, meaning they have a quantifiable metric associated with them, such as an increase in quarterly sales. They should be measurable, meaning they can be measured against a target — for example, a certain percentage of sales conversions. Finally, they should be attainable, meaning that the training goals are achievable given the resources and current starting point of the employee.
Another way to formulate training goals is to use the Bloom’s Taxonomy model, which identifies six types of learning objectives based on action verbs. This model is a great resource for teachers and employers when identifying training objectives. For example, the lowest level of learning objectives is remembering, while higher levels include being able to critique and argue, and apply knowledge to new situations.
It’s important to communicate training and development goals clearly to employees so that they understand the expectations of the program. This can be done by providing the expected learning outcomes on course outlines, or by having instructors or trainers discuss them at the beginning of a training session. Clearly communicating the learning goals to employees can help them feel more confident about the benefits of participation in the program and can also reduce labor turnover, absenteeism and operational errors, which can impact company productivity.
In addition, it’s helpful to segment training programs so that employees are only trained on the things they need. It’s also important to provide a variety of learning methods, including online courses, instructor-led classes, and collaborative, interactive activities such as role-playing scenarios or peer-to-peer learning. This allows employees to find the learning method that works best for them and can improve their ability to retain information. Lastly, it’s crucial to make sure that the training is relevant to the employee’s job and their future career path. Doing so can also improve retention and minimize the amount of time needed for retraining. Träningsmål