Editor, t&d extra (and T&D print edition too), and LO and trdev network
Colleagues too:
trdev and LO Networks Colleagues: what's your take on the below re the
non-congruency of "training" and "learning?"
Margaret Olesen is confused, concluding that the good information new
hires seek, as described in below "t&d extra" excerpt, is a situation that
calls for "training," as SO VERY DIFFERENT from "learning." To illustrate
this difference:
"Training" is almost always, in almost all situations: "telling," i.e. the
company does some manner of "needs assessment," seeking to determine who
needs to know what, and then, with almost no exceptions, TELLS people
where to go for training in what topics--as designed by those with
"training" in ISD and delivered by those with "training" in presentation
skills.
This "training" situation VS.
"Learning: asking work groups what information and knowledge THEY want to
deal with real and pressing business problems chosen by those doing the
work, and then providing "performance improvement consulting--PIC"
services, again as requested by work groups, to meet these needs. For
more detail on this "leadership / teaching / learning" model see (1)
Revan's Action Learning model and (2) Tichy's latest (2002) book. Tichy
adds a key element to the roles and responsibilities of EVERY leader of
every work group: ALL levels, ALL types and sizes of organizations: "a
Teaching Point of View--TPOV." That's NOT 'training!"
Perhaps Ms. Olesen, or T&D editors, or LO Network members (several
thousand world wide as I understand it) will choose to speak further to
their viewpoints about the real and important differences between
"training" and "learning." We'll all learn if they do.
In search of clarity, specificity, and pursuit of useful distinctions that
forward improvement of performance, results, and members'
satisfaction--things that really matter in this HR business,
Cordially -- Dick Webster
Richard S. Webster, Ph.D. - President
Personal Resources Management Institute (PRMI-a non-profit, 501-c-3, R&D
enterprise, founded in 1978)
709 Wesley Court - The Village Green - Worthington, OH 43085-3558
eMail <webster.1@osu.edu>, tel 614-433-7144, fax 614-433-71-88
***
Subject: T+D Extra -- October 25, 2002
From: t&d_extra <t&d_extra@astd.org>
T+D EXTRA is a free information service of T+D Magazine, www.astd.org.
This week:
-snip-
5. From the Archives
-snip-
5. FROM THE ARCHIVES
What Makes Employees Stay - By Margaret Olesen
"In a word, training.
In T+D's October 1999 issue, Olesen talked with new graduates who were
about to enter the workforce armed with top
technical skills. She asked them why and how they chose from among their
many job offers. To a person, the new recruits went with companies that
promised to let and help them learn--and not just the skills they needed
for the jobs for which they were hired. Those eager grads knew that it's
easy for one's skills to become obsolete quickly in the current
technology-oriented marketplace and that there's no longer a guarantee
of company loyalty. So, they asked for all kinds of training, and the
companies were happy to oblige. One candidate got her new boss to
promise to be her mentor and to not laugh at any of her questions, even
if it was to ask how to send an overnight package.
The article's personal, firsthand accounts related by the grads bring
home the point better than all of the analytic literature: New entrants
to the labor force want and plan for learning to be an ongoing, lifetime
process. They admit that they have no idea what the business world is
like or what working for a company entails. Contrary to GenX
stereotypes, these young, GenNext workers have no intention of slacking:
They want to inhale knowledge and have some control over what they learn
and how. A fact that remains as true today as it did three years ago.
FULL STORY
www.astd.com/CMS/templates/index.html?template_id=1&articleid=24242
-snip-end-
--Dick Webster <webster.1@osu.edu>
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