When I think of effective and ineffective training situations, a few different scenarios come to mind. One that stood out as being really effective was actually my first job at Jamba Juice. They had a program set up where you had three 5-hour training sessions with a designated trainer. These training shifts were done in the mornings so that you did not have to learn under the extreme stress that comes with the afternoon rush. Everything in the training was well done and had follow-up associated with it; this looked like quizzes and memory checks along the way. This went hand-in-hand with the implementation/evaluation phase, as described in the Week 6 Learning Materials. Specifically, under the “Learning” section, where it references measuring what the participants have learned (possibly through quizzes) [1]. Additionally, Jamba Juice used a survey system after the training program to learn about what could be done better or what is missing from training. By asking specific questions about how confident I felt in my tasks, they were able to understand areas needing improvement. This falls under the “Reaction” stage of the evaluation phase, as described in the learning material [1].
Alternatively, when I look back on one of my engineering internships, I can vividly remember what ineffective training looked like. The company I was working for did not seem prepared for me to show up and start working. None of my login credentials worked, there was no software on my computer, and the training modules had locked me out. The training and onboarding process at a company should be used to help orient an individual within an organization, to get their new hires productive faster, and much more [1]. I felt so limited starting this job and it looks more than 4 days to have everything set up. It was not a good look for the company and made me feel discouraged with their capabilities/competency, early on.
[1] Oregonstate.edu, 2025. https://canvas.oregonstate.edu/courses/1993967/pages/week-6-learning-materials?module_item_id=24974262 (accessed Feb. 14, 2025).
