Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior - Soltanieh ...

DESIGN TRAINING SYSTEMATICALLY AND FOLLOW THE SCIENCE OF TRAINING
training as both a privilege and a necessity by describing why it is instrumental to securing
valued outcomes for individuals and their employers. It is also a time to provide a realistic
preview of training and advanced organizers of the instructional experience can help
guide this conversation.
The next step in setting the stage for learning involves stating learning and performance
standards so that trainees have appropriate benchmarks against which to gauge their
development. In addition to setting standards, trainers should discuss how trainees should
pursue goals. For example, performance goals are often sufficient when training is concerned
with skill automaticity for simple tasks; however, mastery goals, which emphasize
learning rather than the demonstration of ability, are typically more useful for facilitating
proficiency in complex task domains (see Chapter 9 , this volume). Trainees should also be
engaged in helping to set their own proximal and distal training goals.
A final step involves providing trainees with learning tips. For example, attentional
advice, strategies and preparatory information about stressors can alert trainees to important
aspects of instruction. Learners should be encouraged to explore, experiment, and
actively construct meaning from training events. For example, errors should be framed
as opportunities to reflect and delineate lessons that can be transferred to the workplace
(Keith and Freese, 2008 ). Sometimes, trainees may require instruction on how to learn
from their failures (Argyris, 1992 ) .
Deliver the blended learning solution
The second stage in implementing training involves delivering the blended learning
solution. There are three mechanisms for delivering content including information presentation,
modeling, and practice. Information can be presented via the use of lectures,
reading assignments, case studies, and open discussions. The specific content of what is
discussed is dictated by the particular KSAs targeted for development but should also
include descriptions of effective and ineffective performance, common workplace errors,
and tactics for meeting business challenges.
Trainees should be encouraged to actively construct, integrate, and associate various
facts rather than be treated as passive recipients of instructional content (Schwartz and
Bransford, 1998 ). For example, couching lessons in contrasting cases comprised of alternative,
but equally compelling, explanations for some event or dilemma can be a powerful
approach for motivating the active construction and acquisition of knowledge and skill
(Fritzsche, Stagl, Burke, and Salas, in press). Similarly, perceptual contrasts, or alternative
pictorial depictions, can be useful for helping trainees notice the subtle features of information
that can be visualized (Bransford, Franks, Vye, and Sherwood, 1989 ).
Prior to practice, trainees should be asked to engage in symbolic rehearsals or mental
simulations of the processes they intend to enact during training. During practice, trainees
should be given ample opportunity to repeatedly engage in the cognitive and behavioral
actions targeted for development to the point of overlearning. It is important to note, however,
that repeated practice is often not suffi cient to develop learning outcomes and may even
be counterproductive to skill generalization. Rather, trainers should guide trainees through
deliberate practice by requiring repetitions on gradually modified tasks (Ericsson, in press).
For example, difficulties, obstacles, and equipment malfunctions can be gradually introduced
to ramp training complexity as learners develop competence in navigating routine challenges.
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