PUBLISHED ARTICLES
Learning Power
- Published in China Daily 20 July, 2008
In 2007 about 4.95 million Chinese university graduates entered the job market, according to Xinhua News Agency. New graduates in all countries have a time where they get adjusted to their new work environment which is different from the academic world they are used to. From an individual’s point of view, from a business point of view or even from society’s point of view, it’s the ability to do the right things that matter – not the ability to memorize things. If I can memorize five important aspects of marketing, that doesn’t tell you anything about my ability to apply them in the real world. Usually it is not enough to have the knowledge; we need to have the practice – the ability to act within a context.
A company usually have many options available on how to approach giving training to its employees. Everything from traditional lecturing to high technology Internet based solutions is used. There are some methods that continuously outperforms other methods and these are specific on-the-job training and training models based on active learning and simulations. These training methods let the participants practice new skills and set the learning content into their work context. One very successful way to achieve realistic trainings is to use board games and business simulations. These business simulations allow employees to actively participate in the learning process and follow the consequences of their decisions and actions.
When it comes to training people, companies often pack employees in a classroom and enlist a specialist with PowerPoint slides. Although time efficient this gives very little room for the participants to relate the information to their own previous experiences and to explore it from different angles. Only the lecturers view is usually being communicated.
Simulations and active training lets the participants take an active role, learning by doing, learning by doing mistakes and learning by having fun. The responsibility of learning is handed over to who are learning. Usually if people are given the opportunity to discover something related to their own work, they will be engaged. No matter which form of learning method we choose, most companies agree that it do make a big difference on how we deliver trainings to our employees.
How to get the most out of your training budget in terms of delivered value? There are usually a big demand for training and developing staff, especially since markets and products changes rapidly. Saving cost and time is of essence and makes it crucial to find the most efficient ways to deliver trainings that work for your company and for different situations so that participants are able to use it when back at work. One way to get most value delivered is, as we discussed, to choose the most efficient format of delivering the training, another is to use creative ways of how to design and structure your training plan for the year.
- Peter J Karlsson
Leave a comment
- Learning Power
- 20 July, 2008
- Chinese Employees Want Self-aware Bosses
- 9 April, 2008
- Managing in China Without Coaching
- 31 March, 2008
- How to Lead Effectively in China (Part 2 of 2)
- 24 March, 2008
- How to Lead Effectively in China (Part 1 of 2)
- 17 March, 2008
MOST POPULAR