Transfer of Learning: Roles and Responsibilities Before Learning (Part 4)
(June 2002)

Supervisors | Trainers | Learners | Co-workers and Others

This article is excerpted from a recently released publication called Transfer of Learning: A Guide for Strengthening the Performance of Health Care Workers. This guide is a result of collaboration between Intrah/PRIME II and the JHPIEGO Corporation.

In this installment, we'll review in detail the roles and responsibilities of all participants, supervisors, trainers, learners, co-workers and others, BEFORE learning.

Supervisors

• Understand the performance need

Conducting a performance needs assessment is an important step in enabling supervisors to fully understand the nature of the performance needs at their facilities. Supervisors should ask themselves: "What is the desired performance? Is there a gap between what the staff is actually doing and what they should be doing? Do I understand the root causes of this gap? Is training the right solution to improve job performance?" Although training is a popular intervention for improving job performance, other interventions might be more appropriate. Before you embark on a training intervention, be sure that training is the right solution for the problem.

• Participate in any additional assessments required for training

An additional needs assessment may be conducted by trainers to ensure that the goals and objectives of a learning intervention will meet the identified performance needs of the learners. In order to design and develop the most effective intervention, trainers often require additional information that would not be gathered during a performance needs assessment (e.g., specific learner characteristics such as the reading level of learners or current skill level of each learner on a specific task).

As a supervisor, you have unique knowledge of staff members' on-the-job performance and can describe the specific gaps in knowledge and skills that a training intervention needs to address.

• Communicate with trainers about the results of the performance needs assessment and the problems that can be addressed by training.
• Discuss specific measures of success for the learning intervention. How will the success of the transfer of learning process be evaluated?
• Involve learners and their co-workers in the process. Explain to them the importance of cooperating with the trainer during assessment activities such as being observed and answering questionnaires.
• Provide trainers access to your site and to your staff.

By actively participating in additional assessments, you will help guarantee that the resulting training will have the desired effects.

• Influence selection of learners

Selecting the appropriate staff members for training is an important part of ensuring the effectiveness of a training intervention. Participate in staff selection as much as possible and involve staff by discussing who should attend and why. As you think about whom to send for training, consider the following:

• Who will benefit most from the training?
• Which individuals are most motivated to learn?
• Which individuals have the prerequisite skills required for the course?
• Who is in the best position to share the training information with others?
• Who will be implementing the newly acquired knowledge and skills?
• Which management and support staff will also be involved in the implementation of newly acquired knowledge and skills? Include these staff in the selection process if you feel that support will be needed in order to introduce new services.
• Which two or more individuals would make a good team to introduce a new service? Sending staff from different cadres may be helpful. For example, sending a physician and a nurse to a minilaparotomy training will provide the site with a team that can work effectively together.

• Communicate with trainers about the learning intervention

Supervisors who are aware of the content of the training can model desired behaviors, better explain post-training expectations to staff, and reinforce desired behaviors after training. Awareness of the content of training can come from reviewing the course materials, receiving an orientation from the trainer, and observing or participating in parts of the learning intervention. Such interaction between supervisors and trainers allows learners to see that their supervisors are committed to the learning intervention and interested in the entire process. Communicating with the trainers also provides an opportunity for supervisors to make sure that the trainers understand the performance need. Working with the trainers, you can determine what will maximize the event for the learners.

• Help learners create a preliminary action plan

Communicate positive messages to learners about the importance of training. Identify and share with them specific expectations about performance. Before the training activity, ask the learners what they hope to get out of the training. Then explain precisely what you anticipate they will be able to do for your facility with their new knowledge and skills.

Supervisors can help learners understand how their new knowledge and skills contribute to the goal of improving healthcare by working with the learners to develop action plans. Supervisors and learners can begin preliminary work on an action plan at their job sites prior to the training event. Discussing the action plan gives both supervisors and learners a chance to clarify expectations related to the training. Generally, learners will further refine their action plans with the help of a trainer. Supervisors can then complete the action plans with the learners after the training event.

• Support and encourage learners

Once supervisors decide who will attend the training, it is important to provide those learners with the support they need.

• Assist learners with arrangements for the course. Make sure all arrangements are made in a timely manner. Support learners in this process by assigning staff to assist them. If they rely on financial support from your facility for travel, lodging or course fees and materials, provide funding promptly. If training occurs regularly, create systems to arrange travel, reimburse expenses and document the training courses learners have completed.
• Reassign each learner's workload during the training. Make sure your site functions smoothly during a learner's absence by delegating his or her workload to co-workers. Take care, however, not to make co-workers resentful by overwhelming them with additional tasks. Make plans to lighten the learner's workload for a period after training to ensure that he or she will have the time and energy to share new knowledge and skills with others and to implement changes.
• Reassure learners of your support. Assure learners that you will give them time to become proficient in their new skills. Encourage learners to include post-training debriefings with co-workers on their action plans so they can share what they learn. Offer to help by organizing staff meetings and assisting with the distribution of training information and job aids. Encourage co-workers to be supportive of learners.

(Note: Unless learners have been trained to train others, they should not be expected to train their co-workers in the skills they will learn, especially complex clinical procedures.)

Trainers

• Validate and supplement the results of the performance needs assessment

Communicate with supervisors and, if possible, learners about the identified performance gaps and the desired goals and outcomes of training. Supervisors of learners attending your courses are some of your most important customers. To help ensure that your course will meet the needs identified by supervisors and learners you will want answers to the following questions:

• What is the performance gap that training is expected to correct?
• Are there other performance gaps that need to be addressed by non-training interventions?
• Why do supervisors and learners believe that training will improve job performance?
• What will the learners need to be able to do after the course to improve performance?
• Do the learners selected to attend the course have the necessary prerequisite skills?
• Have the supervisors and learners developed preliminary action plans? If the skill set is new to both supervisors and learners the preliminary action plan may be very general.
• Are there resources to support the learners during and after training?

With the answers to these questions in mind, share with supervisors and, if possible, learners the goals and expected outcomes of your course. You can hold brief orientation sessions with groups of supervisors to share highlights of the training content. This can also be an opportunity to pretest key aspects of the course as the supervisors update their own knowledge and skills in the content area. Feedback from supervisors can be used to link the course outcomes to the learners' specific performance needs. Supervisors and learners need to understand how attending your course can improve performance at their facilities. In the event your course does not meet the needs of the learners, you may have to modify the course objectives and content or help supervisors and learners select a different course that will better meet their needs.

Encourage supervisors and learners to develop preliminary action plans that describe how learners will apply their new knowledge and skills after training. You will also play an important role in action planning during training as you help learners consider the best ways to apply their knowledge and skills.

• Use instructional design and learning principles to develop or adapt the course

Whether you are adapting an existing course or developing a new one, a systematic process will help you prepare a course that will give learners the knowledge and skills they need to perform well in their work. Instructional design is a process that uses learning theory and principles to help you develop targeted learning experiences. Here is a summary of the process:

• Start by reviewing the performance needs assessment to find out more about the requirements of the organization in which the learners work. When feasible, conduct additional assessments. Visit the work site and talk with the supervisor and several of the learners to develop a better understanding of what they do and why they need the course you plan to offer. Find out as much as you can about the characteristics of the learners so you can target content and materials appropriately.
• Use what you have discovered about the learning needs to develop goals for your course. A goal can be broad and general, but it should define the direction of the course. 
• From the goals, generate course objectives that clearly describe the desired performance in terms of behavior. Well-written objectives should be specific and measurable. Often they include the criteria, or standards, for measuring performance after learning.
• Establish prerequisites so that the learners who attend your course are ready to absorb new knowledge and develop new skills. Because new knowledge and skills build on existing knowledge and skills, making sure learners have the necessary qualifications will help them make a smooth transition to the new material.
• Develop or adapt the content of your course based on the defined objectives and the characteristics of the learners (e.g., primary language, reading level). Select instructional approaches, techniques, and media based on the learning need. Design materials and activities to maintain learner interest and attention. Build in opportunities to practice new skills and provide feedback on performance until learners develop proficiency.
• Design and administer a pretest to assess the existing knowledge and skills of learners. Plan to give learners a posttest at the end of the course to assess what they have learned.

• Send the course syllabus, objectives and pre-course learning activities in advance

A syllabus should be part of the materials for each training course. Typically a course syllabus will contain the following information:

• name of the course
• course goals
• course objectives
• length of the course
• target audience
• course prerequisites
• course components (e.g., classroom instruction, clinical practice)
• evaluation methods

Sending a copy of the syllabus to the supervisors and learners in advance will help to:

• ensure the course goals and objectives meet the needs of the learners
• guide supervisors and learners as they develop preliminary action plans
• ensure that learners are aware of what they will be learning and allow them to begin focusing on the upcoming course content

Any pre-course activities (e.g., reading assignments, refresher modules, learner questionnaires, identification of work site problems and issues) should also be sent in advance. This contact provides a good opportunity to encourage learners and supervisors to begin a preliminary action plan. You may also want them to identify specific problems from their facilities that can be used in case study activities during the course.

Learners

• Participate in needs assessments and planning

You can make training more beneficial and relevant to you and your organization by proactively identifying your learning needs, participating in needs assessments and helping to plan for the training and learning activities. By yourself or together with your supervisor and co-workers, consider what new or upgraded skills you need in order to improve the quality of services at your facility. Ask your supervisor what learning activities or other types of interventions are available to address these needs.

Sometimes we don't know what we need, especially in areas such as communication, leadership, supervision and management. These needs can be identified through various types of needs assessments. If your supervisor is conducting a performance needs assessment, or if trainers are on-site collecting information related to a training intervention, communicate what you think are the existing problems at your work site. Offer your suggestions for what skills and training approaches might suit your needs. You can do this by completing questionnaires, participating in discussions with co-workers, volunteering to have your performance observed and assessed, or even offering to help field-test or review new training courses.

Once you have been selected for participation in a learning intervention, there are several important things you can do to prepare for transferring the new knowledge and skills you will learn back to your job. These activities are described below.

• Review course objectives and expectations and prepare preliminary action plans

Review the course objectives and expectations and then talk with your supervisor about them. Clarify the ways in which the training objectives are related to your job and how the learning opportunity will improve your work potential, your skills and the services you provide. Discuss your expectations and those of your supervisor. Determine how you will practice and apply your new skills during and after training. Ask what support you will receive from your supervisor.

Compile a list of the agreements you make with your supervisor. These may include:

• you will complete pre-course learning activities
• you will participate fully in the entire training program (no interruptions allowed)
• you will orient co-workers to the new knowledge and skills that will be applied after training
• your supervisor will provide opportunities for practicing and strengthening new skills after training
• your supervisor and co-workers will actively support your efforts to implement improvements.

This discussion with your supervisor, and a later discussion with co-workers, can help you begin your preliminary action plan by identifying your tentative goals and activities.

• Begin establishing a support network

Even before the training starts, you can begin to prepare a support network that will help you to apply your new skills. Tell your co-workers about your upcoming training and let them know that you will share key learning points and resources with them afterwards. You may want to schedule a debriefing session to occur soon after the training course so that you can share with them your final action plan and solicit ideas for implementing what you have learned.

Some learning approaches may allow you to practice new skills with co-workers while you are learning. For example, on-the-job learning, self-directed learning and group-based learning that take place over several sessions or modules often include skill practice or assignments that learners must complete between the sessions.

If one or more co-workers are participating in the same training course, you can complete pre-course learning activities together, then share with each other what you hope to gain from the training and how you want to work together to apply your new skills. Talking with your co-workers will help you develop a commitment to support each other to improve your skills and the quality of healthcare services that you provide.

• Complete pre-course learning activities

Prepare yourself to get the most out of the training by completing any required pre-course activities or learning tasks. In addition to the course description and objectives, the trainer may send you some background reading, a self-assessment questionnaire, and case examples or problems to analyze. Some courses require learners to successfully complete a self-directed learning module before they are eligible to start the course. The pre-course activities might also include gathering information or case examples from your own experience or work site to bring for use in training activities. Completing pre-course activities helps to ensure that you are prepared to learn and apply the new content in the course and also provides information that trainers need to make the course more relevant to your experience and working environment.

Co-Workers and Others

• Participate in needs assessments and discussions of the training's intended impact

You and your co-workers can make important contributions to the performance improvement and training process even though you may not attend the training event. Try using some of the procedures described below to help learners transfer new knowledge and skills to your work site.

• Participate in the needs assessments: help gather information, give honest feedback about individual and work site needs as you perceive them and discuss findings with your co-workers and your supervisor.
• Participate in discussions with your supervisor and co-workers about how the training is supposed to improve services. Be aware of these training goals and the action plans of the learners so that you can be supportive.

Share your thoughts and ideas with others. Training interventions require a supportive, helpful work place in order to be successful.

• Ask learners to bring back key learning points to share with the work group

You and other staff at the work site can benefit from the learning experiences of your co-worker(s). In the days prior to the learning event, make a point of talking with learners to encourage them and let them know that you share their excitement and are interested in what they will be learning. Also let them know that you look forward to helping them transfer what they have learned when they return to work. If you have specific interest or expertise in the content area, you may want to give them a list of questions that you would like them to discuss with the trainer or ask them to bring back resource materials to share.

Next month, we will review in detail the roles and responsibilities of all the stakeholders DURING learning.

For more information about Transfer of Learning, contact Rick Sullivan at rsullivan@jhpiego.net.

Read the full Transfer of Learning Guide

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