Knowledge is power, as the famous saying goes. This seems to imply that if you have knowledge, then you are powerful, but is that really the case? A slightly expanded version of this phrase provides an alternative perspective: “Knowledge is not power, it is only potential. Applying that knowledge is power. Understanding how and when to apply that knowledge, is wisdom.” This quote is attributed to Takeda Shingen, who was a famous Daimyo (or feudal lord) of Japan. What he was explaining was there is no point in having knowledge if it is not or cannot be used effectively.
A recent example where this came into play was the incident on 2 January this year, of the runway collision between JAL Flight 516 – an Airbus A350 carrying nearly 400 people – and a Japanese Coast Guard Dash-8 aircraft, at Haneda airport in Japan. While five of the six coastguard service personnel aboard the Dash-8 unfortunately lost their lives in the incident, everyone onboard JAL 516 got off the aircraft safely. This was attributed, in large part, to the emergency evacuation training the pilots and cabin crew had undertaken, as well as the response of the aeroplane passengers who followed the instructions they had learned from the pre-take-off safety briefing.
Non-fatalities were attributed, in large part, to the emergency evacuation training the pilots and cabin crew had undertaken
But philosophical musings and airport incidents aside, what do either of the above two phrases have to do with training? Well, it would help to consider some of the common misconceptions and issues surrounding training, and how training can be tailored to make it more effective within an organisation. First, there is a difference between ‘training’ and ‘assessment’.
These two terms are very commonly used in the workplace, but they are often spoken of incorrectly. This is usually because people do not understand that they are in fact two different things, as follows:
- Training. This can be summarised as the process of passing on skills and/or knowledge to persons, to enable them to learn how to perform a task. It could be a mixture of classroom and practical training, depending on the exact scope of the training, and the reasons for it taking place, and
- Assessment. This is the process of evaluating a person’s skills and/or knowledge against a standard, to determine if they meet that standard. Examples of this include written exams, professional discussions and interviews, practical demonstrations (e.g. operating a forklift truck through a set course) or creating portfolios of evidence.
During my time as a lifting equipment instructor, I lost count of the number of occasions where students would be sent for an assessment, only for me to find out they had never actually operated the piece of equipment before and had no knowledge about its use or operation. This was partly down to the issue already mentioned, regardingthe organisation not understanding the difference between training and assessment; however, often it was also down to cost.
Many organisations think they can save money by sending workers to do assessments only, in the hope that by sheer luck they will get through it successfully without having had the expense of training. These organisations may also believe they are saving time. This is because it is generally the case that training programs take more time than an assessment, for instance, forklift operator training could take between three to five days, compared to a two-hour forklift operator assessment.
What those organisations do not realise is that by cutting corners, really, all they are doing is wasting time and money. This is because many training institutions and companies will not proceed with an assessment without receiving evidence of prior experience of that job or task from the person being assessed. This is crucial to the safety of everyone involved, particularly when it comes to areas such as lifting equipment.
By cutting corners, really, all they are doing is wasting time and money
Identify skills gaps
Performing a training needs analysis, or gap analysis, is a good way to help effectively assess an organisation’s training requirements. There are many issues to consider when it comes to conducting this analysis, one of the first being why does this training need to take place? Most often it’s because it is a legal requirement from enforcing authorities in most countries and jurisdictions to provide adequate training, but that aside, there are many other reasons for training a workforce.
Some examples could include that there was a recent incident and new training has been developed as a result to try and prevent the incident from happening again. It could also be that a worker has been promoted, or moved to a different department, so needs to learn new skills. Also, an organisation may have started offering a new service or begun operating in a new way, or it may just be part of an organisation’s overall work safety culture to develop a high-skill, high-knowledge workforce.
Regardless of the reasons, once the purpose for training is established, it’s time to start looking at the scope of the training required. When I use the word ‘scope’, I mean to say the ‘range’ of the training required, which can be broken down into smaller chunks. First, how much training is required? Is it for one person, one department, or the entire organisation? Next, think about how in-depth the training needs to be, as some of the workers may be complete beginners, and will therefore need detailed and extensive training while other workers may already have familiarity with some of the concepts involved, and therefore only require refresher training. And of course, some workers may already have a great level of expertise in the area so would be good candidates for going straight to the assessment stage.
When planning training and assessment programs, do not be afraid of extending a worker’s training period, if necessary. For example, if a worker goes on a refresher training course but it becomes clear they may not know as much as they thought, or that they need a little more time than a refresher can deliver, they could be moved onto a more in-depth training program.
Once it’s clear how many people require training and to what extent, it’s important to think about the resources required. Straight away, the organisers should consider whether they have everything required to conduct the training in-house, including having competent tutors and assessors, or whether it should be arranged through a third-party training provider. In reality, it might well be a mixture of these two things, particularly if the training calls for a certain standard, such as that conducted by an awarding body like NEBOSH, or OPITO as there may be specific requirements to meet in order to conduct the training in-house, or which organisers need to ensure the third parties are adhering to.
Again, one of these requirements is the competence of the tutors and assessors, which is vital to the success of any training program. For instance, it has baffled me to see people deliver scaffolding training, yet they have never worked with scaffolding at all in their entire lives.
Essential resources for effective training
Time is a big factor that organisations often do not consider. There is no point in having an excellent, in-depth training course, if everyone is rushed through it in one hour. If a course has a minimum contact time (the actual physical time of interaction between tutors and students) then ensure the program meets, if not exceeds, that contact time.
Organisations sometimes come up with all sorts of reasons for trying to rush things, with training being seen as less important than other tasks. This is often caused by departments within the organisation not communicating with each other, or not planning sufficiently, resulting in conflicting priorities. So make sure to schedule adequate training time into normal working or operating hours. It is important to note that should workers be identified as requiring certain training to carry out their duties, they should not be expected to do this outside of working hours or at their own expense. Remember, in most if not all jurisdictions, the legal requirement is for the employer to provide ‘adequate’ training for their employees. Of course, what constitutes adequate is very subjective and totally dependent upon all of the circ*mstances highlighted here, and more besides.
Facilities and equipment are another consideration. Students are not going to learn anything if they are uncomfortable due to undertaking training in a poor learning environment. Successful organisations will often have their own training rooms or departments adequately fitted out with tables, chairs, whiteboards, stationery, projectors and other IT equipment, air-conditioning and heating systems, with good lighting. Appropriate training equipment should also be provided. These can be scaled down training aids such as small models of vehicles, simulators, or even full-scale actual pieces of equipment such as harnesses and lanyards, for example. All of this will depend upon some of the aspects already mentioned, but in particular, it is best to consider the risks posed by the training itself.
Where it’s possible to control the risk, training should be as real as possible. An example of this would be having students actually operate a forklift truck as part of their training and assessment, under the close supervision of the tutor. Any practical training that is very high risk and which itself could pose unacceptable dangers to the tutors and students, however, should be avoided. Ideally, this could be done with the use of simulators, which are highly effective such as the JAL 516’s use of simulators for practising evacuating an aircraft. This will still give the students a measure of practical training, in a relatively safe and controlled environment.
Once everything is prepared and ready to go with the training, a suitable assessment of some kind should be incorporated into the training program. These assessments should always be based upon the actual training content, as there’s no point asking someone how to make bread if the training was on how to knit clothing. This is where, on many occasions, training programs fall short because either the assessments are not suitable, or the assessment is not done at all. Having some sort of assessment is good for evidence of the worker’s competence both during and after the training, as part of incident investigation, evidence of competence when tendering for contracts, and so on.
There are also two different types of assessment to consider when creating a program, they are:
- Formative assessment. It consists of activities and other techniques used to measure a student’s performance during the training. The results from this should not be final, but should be used as a gauge to see how well students are performing i.e to give you an idea of whether students are on the right track or otherwise. Formative assessments could be done through practice exercises, group discussions, question and answer sessions, video reviews, mind maps or spider diagrams, and so on. Formative assessment should never be given a score or grade, as a low score can demotivate students by putting unnecessary pressure on them, thus preventing them from improving.
- Summative assessment. These are activities used to give a final determination on a student’s performance. They are often scored or graded in some way and the required standard is usually denoted by a pass mark, score or grade. Ideally, all of the formative assessment and other training techniques should, in effect, be used as a practice to prepare the students for the final summative assessments.
Incorporating various kinds of assessments into training helps ensure that learners are engaged and involved during the training. There is nothing worse for learners than being sat in a classroom for hours at a time, listening to someone read PowerPoint slides to them. Getting learners actively involved and keeping their interest level high can help keep them in the ‘challenge zone’. So assessments are not just a useful tool in a training program, but they are vital to its success, to ensure that people – learners and tutors alike – simply do not go through the motions.
When to review training strategies
Something else certain organisations can often overlook is reviewing their training plans. Things change all of the time, such as legal requirements, technologies and working practices, so it is important that training regimes are reviewed to ensure that all information presented is accurate and up-to-date. That is not to promote change for the sake of it – as the old adage says, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
However, showing a poor quality, 20-year-old case study video, for example, when there is a much newer and possibly more relevant version available, can switch people off, particularly if they are renewing or refreshing their qualifications and end up seeing exactly the same slides and information time after time. It can demotivate them while turning training into a tick box exercise, rather than a learning opportunity. Developments in VR and AI technology certainly open up a whole range of new ways organisations can train and assess their workforces, and e-learning is something that has grown significantly over recent years.
Keep challenging workers
Ultimately, training and assessment is just like anything else in an organisation, they must be carefully managed to ensure they are a success. For an organiser who is unsure of where to start, it is recommended to conduct training needs analysis to find out where the skills and knowledge gaps are, and to bring in knowledge and expertise from third-party training providers, awarding bodies, industry guidance, and enforcing authorities as needed, to help build and manage a training program that is relevant, engaging and effective.
And be sure to consult the workforce, to get their ideas on what works and what doesn’t, and to directly involve them in the program to make surethey understand what training is needed and why. And don’t forget, knowledge is power, but only when used effectively.
Author
James Pretty (CMIOSH), is a Chartered HSE and training and development professional with global experience in multiple high-risk industries.
