Instructional designers are often encountering clients who are frustrated with the performance of their employees. By the time they approach you they think they already realized the best way to solve the performance issue… training!
In one of my roles I was asked to develop a handwashing training refresher for healthcare professionals in the hospital setting. I was told I am to continue the work of a previous designer on an eLearning module. The module was almost ready and it detailed beautifully the importance of handwashing (WIIFM), vivid video demonstrations and a well written quiz.
When I inquired about the performance deficiency, I found out that the staff actually knows how to wash their hands and are aware of its importance in order to reducing cross contamination.
Where is the problem then? Talking to some nurses I found out that if you work according to the hand-washing guidelines you will end up washing your hands 20 times an hour.
Washing your hands is:
- Time consuming – about a minute every time you touch a new environment
- Boring – you have to scrub your hand for at least 15 seconds(it is longer than you think, try it..)
- Hurts – the soap irritates the skin and gloves with talcum in them dry the skin further
So it seems that the suggested fix was not really about training.
Before jumping to a training solution it is wise to look into the real issue at hand.
A classic approach is the Mager and Pipe approach to look into the issue at hand. Here is a link to the workflow on HPT website . If you want to read more, “Analyzing Performance Problems, Or, You Really Oughta Wanna” it is the first book in the classic Mager 6-pack.
A more concise approach can be found in Jean Barbazette book “Training Needs Assesment“.