Improving Training Transfer Tip #14 Hold Post-course Conversations
Holding a brief conversation with participants after training makes a significant difference in what gets applied on-the-job, especially if supervisors review participants’ action plans. Ideally you would like this conversation to occur within 1-2 weeks after training – the sooner the better. This provides an opportunity for the manager to shape their employee’s transfer (action) plans and set up support as the employee progresses down their journey. These conversations usually take only 5-10 minutes. I supply managers with a
Post Course Conversation Job Aid
that is customized for the course (in this case Business Acumen).
Things I encourage managers to say/talk about are:
- Look at the employee’s goals and discuss them.
- Do you agree these are the best goals for them? Do they need fine tuning? Get agreement on the goals.
- Ask “what kind of help do you need to make these goals happen?”
- Who do you need help from – me? Others?
- How will we know we are making progress?
- Set a check-in date(s) to review goal progress
I encourage managers to check their employee’s goals against the business results that course graduates are expected to achieve to ensure the goal(s) have a chance in aiding that purpose.
Anyone else do something like this? As always, I welcome your feedback.
