| University Hospital |
Memo
To: Pat Rowe, Vice President
From: Cynthia Bonavia
CC: Jon M. Werner
Date: 13-Oct-14
Re: Technology Training Recommendations

It has come to my attention that our new software training has not been completed by all employees. This is extremely important that all employees complete the training to make the use of this software an easy transition as easy as possible and as your training consultant these are my recommendations. Prior to the training a needs assessment will be sent out to all employees including what technology difficulties the staff are having with the software and what training methods are best so we can better understand each employees business needs. We will also offer a couple of different choices to the training to fit everyone’s schedules.
The reason the training may have failed is that employees didn’t take it seriously. If you seriously want everyone using this software then it must be mandatory that they all train for this transition. This software has been installed and should be used daily. Unfortunately, I believe that it needs to be a forced training otherwise they will not want to learn a new system, because that takes time and energy. We will do an assessment of their knowledge, skills and abilities so they can all be properly trained.
Secondly, I don’t believe that coffee and doughnuts are enough of an inspiration to want to do a training. They are nice to have for the training and a nice gesture, but that is not enough to make all employees attend a training session. As far as the training methods go, I would change it up a bit. The traditional classroom instruction is boring to most people.
A combo of hands-on and web-based training would be the most effective with the different schedules of all your staff and deadlines for completion will be instilled. By offering both employees can learn a little more efficiently than they would with the old traditional methods.
The best and most effective software training we would be offering is a hands-on training. This will keep the staff alert and have them interacting with the software at the same time. This would give the staff a better feel for the materials and working with the equipment and software could be especially effective. Plus, if they practice what they are learning in the hands-on environment they will retain much more than sitting in a lecture by actively learning. They would also be working side-by-side with the trainer and it might give them the confidence and knowledge needed in learning the software. The trainees can directly observe and understand the software, and for what they don’t understand the trainer can help out with. This is an effective way of learning for kinesthetic learners, who need to learn by example. If you combine the hands-on learning with traditional learning from books or manuals and/ web-based training this would be very beneficial to the employees learning and comprehension.
The traditional training manual could be very effective with the hands-on training because they would have answers at their fingertips. It is always good to have a reference to look back on when you can’t remember things that you were taught in a quick training. Looking back at the references could trigger what you were taught and then seeing it will make you say “aha”.
When using the online training you must set goals and finish times and proof of completion to have it be effective. If it is just offered and not completed this is a failed attempt of training. By having a completion certificate and a short quiz this will ensure that the employee(s) have completed the certificate of training.
It is very important that the supervisors also attend and support the training. The supervisors/managers should be using the new skills along with the employees. If the skills are not encouraged by the superiors then why should they be used by the staff? If the supervisors are using the new software then the staff may want to use it as well and try to change and grow with the company. Lead by example.
Size is important for a successful training we should limit the hands-on training session to 15-20 employees at a time. Too many at one time might not be effective. Also set some rules before the training to avoid distractions such as, no cell phones or laptops they may need to offer a break for staff to snack or check emails to resist the urge during the training session. This would be the appropriate time for the coffee and doughnuts. This is an incentive for your break otherwise it could be a distraction.
I hereby recommend that our company must do a needs assessment, make copies of the software manual, schedule out appropriate times for actual training by use of a mandatory hands-on training and/or web-based training and start immediately, so we can all officially changeover to the new software.
I will send out an email hyping all employees up with how this new software will make their work life easier when the knowledge and skills of the software are applied, and with the complete agenda including times of the training, as we will have a couple of different training session, how to sign up for the online session and a follow up email after the training. This will be sent with an urgency return to make sure that all employees are signed up.
Thank you

Cynthia Bonavia