| Many people don't understand the difference between | | | | video and print, but it's still not "training." |
| education and training. Education is giving out | | | | Tests. We all hate tests! To ensure consistency in |
| information and communicating to your trainees. | | | | tests, keep them simple and visual (use as many |
| Training is about practice and building skills. Today's | | | | pictures as possible), and use multiple-choice, ordering, |
| younger generation of employees wants to be trained, | | | | or true-false format to ensure consistency in grading. |
| not educated. | | | | Most of our employees no longer take fill-in-the-blank |
| Problem is, if we don't educate them before we train | | | | or essay tests. Ensure they have the basics down. Do |
| them, it could lead to problems. Think about how you | | | | all your trainers actually grade tests the same way? |
| learned to drive. You need knowledge of the laws and | | | | All the above forms of "training" are really just |
| then the actual training of getting behind the wheel. | | | | education, yet most managers think it's training. We |
| Same can be said for learning about the birds and the | | | | didn't get our driver's license after reading the book, |
| bees--if the education part isn't done effectively, the | | | | watching the video, and passing a test--we had to |
| training could lead to undesirable results! | | | | demonstrate our skills to the authorities before we |
| Mark Flores, director of ops for Chuck E. Cheese's, | | | | received permission to drive. Education is the |
| uses the macaroni-and-cheese example to | | | | necessary evil that must come first, though. |
| demonstrate the difference. We've all made mac | | | | Do we follow the same format with our employees? |
| & cheese plenty of times in our lives, but if we | | | | Many companies do not--we just memorize a bunch |
| don't follow the instructions exactly, we might get | | | | of useless information the guest cares little about and |
| macaroni soup, crunchy macaroni, or something else | | | | then we're ready. You need to be validated on the |
| other than what we intended. So how do we deliver | | | | skills it takes to do the job and re-validated periodically |
| education and training to ensure consistency? | | | | in the future. Knowing the job and doing the job are |
| Manuals. Boooooooooring! We do need documentation, | | | | two entirely different things--and the guest notices. |
| but make it fun! Include tons of photos and minimal text | | | | Skill Validation |
| so it's more of a comic strip look. People are more | | | | Having the new employee demonstrate skills for a |
| likely to remember what they see versus what they | | | | manager shows you two things: how good the trainer |
| read, so retention of information is better. Additionally, | | | | was, and that the employee can do the functions of |
| it's easier to translate into other languages. | | | | the job. We all might think we have the same definition |
| Videos. Better than reading for most employees, but | | | | of "greet the guest" or "suggestive sell," but when we |
| they need to be short segments (3--5 minutes | | | | see our employees in action, we find it's all across the |
| maximum) with tons of visual image changes. Our | | | | board. If we don't coach them through the skill, they will |
| employees today are used to watching CNN with | | | | simply do what they see at other restaurants (which |
| talking video, a crawler message along the bottom, and | | | | often isn't good). Conduct these validations every |
| the weather forecast on the side--all while having four | | | | 90--180 days to keep standards top of mind. |
| online chats with their friends. Long, drawn-out videos | | | | People train people. Just because someone is a good |
| lose their attention quickly. Watch a segment and go | | | | employee doesn't mean they will be a good trainer. |
| practice what you learn. You can watch the next | | | | The proper tools to educate will help, but the payoff is |
| segment after that. | | | | in the trainer demonstrating, coaching, and validating the |
| Online. Golden Corral, White Castle, Sea Island Shrimp | | | | skill of a new employee. To illustrate this point to your |
| House, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Chuck E. Cheese's are | | | | team, ask your trainers to train you on how to tie your |
| all using or testing e-learning. Since it is self-paced, it | | | | shoes or put on a shirt. Act like you know nothing |
| goes at the speed of the learner. Be careful: As we've | | | | about it. Point being, it's a simple task we can all do in |
| seen with e-books, it's not too comfortable to read a | | | | our sleep--like ringing up orders or making burgers--but |
| book on a PC, so keep the text to a minimum. Review | | | | it's incredibly hard to train someone else how to do it. |
| questions can be built in as a checkpoint for the learner | | | | Macaroni and cheese anyone? |
| to advance to the next section. Great way to replace | | | | |