For the Love of Learning (Training and Development)

How to avoid tragic training experiences while enhancing employee engagement.

Have you ever thought…

‘Maybe if I jab this pencil in my eye I can leave this circle of hell in an ambulance, it would be less painful than sitting here listening to this nonsense.’ -or-‘Well, there goes 4 hours of my life I’ll never get back.’

We’ve all been there…a few too many times, eh?!

At some point in our professional careers, there is mandatory training. Quite possibly there is a new product being launched, new processes in place to streamline workflows with the goal of reducing friction, or CEUs for certifications you hold.

Those could be fun. Maybe.

Usually, the training is necessary to our success in a role or at the very least a requirement to keep our job. It can feel more like an ultimatum than an opportunity. Heavy sigh.

Sometimes, we genuinely look forward to a learning experience – it breaks up the week, the topic is interesting, we get the chance to meet new people and collaborate.

Other times, we would rather be hog-tied and roasted over a fire.

Why is training so painful?!?

While there are many reasons training experiences fall flat, there is no excuse.

Especially in today’s world with advanced technologies to interact with gamified learning and seek to expand skills in short, applicable modules.

Gone are the days of uncomfortable chairs, cold rooms, and long lectures from a person with a monotone voice and corny jokes. Or are they?

A critical first step

Maybe you’ve noticed a pattern amongst presenters of training programs or even keynotes: the branded slides, too many words, random images that fail to connect with the particular audience or topic, a few questions sprinkled in aimed at engaging the audience, and a collection of papers with slide images or note sections.

What’s missing? You. Connection to you. Understanding of you and your needs. Personalized for the way you interact with the world and your role – your 5 senses in action. And supportive of your learning styles.

How do we resolve this?

Learner personas – fictitious characters developed to represent a group of learners. Similar to buyer personas or even avatars.

Start with your people

Whether you’re developing an internal training and development program or searching for the right vendor to deliver a ‘done for you’ solution, it’s critical to know and understand Who is in the room.

A few things to consider about the ‘Who’ in the room:

Demographics: what are the ages, roles, backgrounds, culture (individual, team, organization), and education levels represented in the room?
Psychographics: how do they use their physical, emotional, and cognitive faculties to interact with the world; what do they see, hear, think, do?
Needs: time, space, pacing, breaks, learning style, movement, nourishment.
Outcomes: what do they need to learn and how do they effectively integrate the learning into their daily practice without disrupting a workflow or adding stressors to the workload?

Creating multiple learner personas ensures an inclusive and diverse approach to content creation and designing an effective and enjoyable learning experience.

What comes next

Creating learner personas can be fun!

Block a chunk of time in the afternoon, book a comfy room, order food, and gather your team.

Together, start asking questions about…

the best and worst experiences everyone has had in terms of training and development
learning styles
preferences and ideal scenarios
roles and requirements (past, previous, future)
gaps in knowledge
what they wish they knew more about
which resources are helpful and unhelpful
what resources would be nice to have in the future

Once everyone has reflected individually and written down their responses, engage the group in discussion. Look for patterns in their stories.

Ideally, you’ll end up with 3-5 learner personas that capture key elements of the learner’s role, state of mind, needs and desires, learning styles, and communication preferences.

The goal is to meet each learner where they’re at and facilitate the journey to get them where they want to be.

The ROI of why

Imagine this…

You open an email that is animated. It’s as though you were opening an engraved invitation to a royal soiree with confetti falling in the background and trumpets playing fanfare.

Your colleagues -or furry sidekick if you work remotely- pause, turn in your direction, and raise an eyebrow.

While reading through the details you think to yourself, ‘Wow! The agenda is exciting, the location will be inspiring – what a view! – the activities listed sound fun. I’m looking forward to this!’

Anticipation builds over the next few weeks as more details are sent to you.

When you arrive at the training event you are greeted with a warm welcome, escorted to your table, and introduced to those you’ll be working with today.

The seating is plush and comfortable, the room temperature is nice, the fresh flowers smell like heaven, the refreshments are a combination of comfort foods and new things to try…a real VIP experience!

The facilitators guide you through the learning experience in such a way that time seems to be flying. Every tool you need is provided. The conversations with your group are engaging and insightful.

You end the day with new friends and an appreciation for what you learned.

When you return to the office the following day you feel well-rested, enlightened, and eager to implement what you learned. You also have a clear roadmap for how to integrate the new information into your daily practice.

And would you look at this…my calendar has pre-populated check-in meetings with my cohort and coach for additional support! I didn’t need to move appointments or figure out where to add another task.

As you reflect on the learning experience you think, ‘It’s like they know me…what I think about, what I need to be comfortable while adapting to new ideas and approaches, how I feel in my role, my life experiences and aspirations…what an incredible experience!’

This dream can be your reality

Truly. It can.

A little extra planning and forethought, a dash of creativity, a little bit of research, and a willingness to try new things is all it takes.

If you would like to delve deeper into this option, here are a few resources to get you started:

Websites | Blogs | Templates:
- Check out www.td.org and consider becoming a member for an impressive array of resources, like this article.
- Another great source is www.miro.com for several interactive tools and many templates for a variety of personas or avatars.
- Specifically for eCourses, check out this article, from SHIFT eLearning.
- A great overview and guide on learner personas from Growth Squad.

Happy Learning!

Jason G.

May 2, 2024.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Nicole as a consultant, trainer, and administrator of Predictive Index for both for-profit and non-profit entities. In both cases, the PI software proved to have an immediate impact on my teams With the non-profit organization, we used PI to evaluate both our board members and frontline outreach teams. The PI data was used to better align our board committees and to give our executive director an easy-to-read playbook for managing the diverse personalities and motivations of a growing board. I’m unaware of what other tools could have given us the deep insights we got from PI, and they came at a critical time. It was indeed a blessing. With our outreach teams, PI gave us the same level of operational management insight. We were also able to leverage the software as a screening tool within our hiring process. Nicole trained several of our board members and team leads on the software so that we had the working knowledge to access and integrate the many recommendations into our daily workflows. Due to the successful implementation with the non-profit, I introduced Nicole to the HR manager at my employer. I suggested an in-house demo with one of our teams that needed some tweaking following a recent expansion. There was some hesitation, even a little pushback. Some team members felt we were “too busy” even to take the questionnaire, let alone roll out whatever new practices it would recommend. What’s rewarding about PI is that the whole system initiates with two simple questions. Even those in opposition had to yield to its simplicity. From there, it was a similar experience as that with the non-profit. The “work-style” assessments were incredibly accurate, and they immediately helped the team’s directors identify the sources of common tension points within the group. I left that organization for a C-level position with another company, and I was able to perform the same team and organizational assessments for my new group. Consistently, PI delivered the relevant insights to empower us as leaders to get the most out of our group. Beyond that, the PI assessments spotlight what our organization is presently set up to accomplish vs. what we, as leaders, have defined as our organizational goals. That distinction is invaluable and eye-opening as we focus our strategic plans. Far more than the value of the software, Nicole’s expertise, generosity, patience, and compassionate nature have been instrumental in helping our teams understand and adopt the PI recommendations. We operate in a competitive industry, and people management has never been as challenging as now with the recent shifts in the labor market. I’m thankful to have PI as a tool and Meraki as a partner to help us be more skillful and efficient in our people management, which, of course, translates directly to the successful delivery of our products and services.

T.H., Non-profit

January 6, 2024.

The depth of Nicole’s heart is unmeasurable. I met her for the first time in a parking lot unloading necessities for a group of young people who were searching for guidance and in need of necessities. Her giving didn’t stop there. She continued to bless our non-profit with her gifts and resources. Two years later she is pouring into our organization with her wisdom, using the Predictive Index to build a foundation that has taken our non-profit to stages that a “new” and “small” non-profit can only dream and hope for. Her wisdom, gifts, and talents have changed our organization! We doubled our guesstimated reach of serving vulnerable youth this year, youth that are wandering our streets, in the community we call home, searching for someone who will show them their worth. Our mission is that no youth will journey life on their own without a consistent, healthy adult beside them. Meraki Consulting Partner is walking beside our team and we are so deeply grateful, as is our community and the youth we’re currently serving and will serve! Thank you!

P.C. ,Travel

December 15, 2023.

“I have gone into a coaching session completely broken and in tears. Everything seemed to be going wrong in my life and work was a nightmare. Nicole listened to everything I said and even brought things to my attention that I had never really thought about. By the end of our session, I was laughing and had a game plan for tackling issues at work and home.”

D.R., Engineer

October 12, 2023.

"Nicole is undaunted in her approach to breaking down the barriers of limiting beliefs. Thanks to her I have a new appreciation for my strengths and talents and the desire to grow even more than I have already.”