Kristee

After all the reading I’m still confused on strategic training. I understand the usefullness and why organizations would want to conduct strategic training. The struggle I keep coming across is how to identify strategic training while it is taking place. The book talked about several strategies stuch as:  concentration, internal growth, external growth and disinvestment). How does a trainer go about strategically training on concentration? It’s questions like these that I keep coming across.

The only theory that I’ve devised is that since I’ve never experienced strategic training in action, I’m having hard time trying to identify what exactly goes on and what it looks like. I understand all the models, but I need more “true-life” examples to draw from. If I am able to see how things actually happen and see the end result I can more so comprehend the topics being discussed. Hopefully I can learn from others experiences and maybe realize that I have been a member of strategic training without even acknowledging it.

My education up to now has mostly utilized the traditional training methods. I have given and received countless powerpoint presentations and not to mention all the lectures I’ve received as an undergrad. What little training I have received on the job has consisted of computer-based, trial and error, and hands on trianing. I can understand the usefullness of lecture type training, but I have found them to be the lest effective for the way I learn.  Noe discussed how “presentation methods need to be supplemented with opportunities for the trainees to practice, discuss and receive feedback to facilitate learning.” I could not agree with this statement more, but I seem to find that much of the presentation methods fall short of this. There seems to be an embedded assumption that because the material has been delivered, the trainee should know what to do and how to do it. So many times trainees are short-handed on their training, but it is not always the trainers fault. As a trainer you have to work with what resources you have, and you can’t caiter your training to fit every persons needs.

I like that technology is becomming more prevalent in todays training, but some organizations are almost relying technology too much. I recently started working at the TAMU employee service center where they utilize computer-based training for sexual harrassment, ethics and discrimination (just to name a few). We have talked in class training like this meets compliance needs, but not the needs of the trainee. I understand that methods such as these are the most effective for reaching a mass number of people and meeting the standards applied by the university, but how do trainers come back and make these trainings effective. I’ve always had an opinion on this, but when I started working for A&M I soon realized what a task it is for trainers to train over 18,000 employees. Now I don’t have a clue where to start or how to train the mass numbers. My opinion as of now is that traditional training methods and technology need to come together and find some sort of happy medium to make the most of the training. 

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