How to Help Employees Remember Their Training

Training is a complex task. It takes much more than simply standing up in front of a group of people and talking for eight hours. People have a hard time staying engaged in training and even a harder time remember the information presented in the training. The reason why this problem exists is because of the way in which people code information. Training by using multiple methods can help people retain the information that they have learned.

No one wants to sit through a long lecture for hours on end. The mind can only take so much boring information before it begins to wander around. People may be looking at the trainer but their thoughts are many miles away on their family, vacations, work, friends, etc... Therefore, training should be much more then simply a lecture and using other avenues of teaching can be beneficial.

The mind store information through association. The more avenues a person uses to code information into their mind the easier it is to recall the information. For example, if you say a word "cat" you might automatically think "dog". This is because you have coded the information today and in association. Using lectures, visuals, activities, etc... can help people store the information is multiple ways and help people with the recall of that information.

It isn't hard to implement different methods in a training program. For example, it is common practice to have a lecture and PowerPoint presentation. This provides for the visual and the hearing. If that PowerPoint included a short video and pictures of the topic then this will help in recording this information more efficiently.

Likewise it is also possible to have people engage in an activity like trying the product, completing a physical task on the product, or even giving a presentation on the product. Each of these methods can help to ensure that the employee not only retains the products information but also has a basic level of understanding the product as well. If the goal of the training is awareness there is almost no way to know if the employee is truly aware unless they have to complete a test, oral presentation, etc... on the product.

Using all of the senses such as touch, smell, sight, hearing, and even taste, depending on the type of training, can be beneficial to the coding of information. Getting employees moving, talking, and interested in the topic helps keep the training interesting to those that are involved. The goal of any training program is to make sure people can use the information when it is needed at the most.