Training

A good experience

In high school I had an internship at a cell protein lab where I had to take extensive trainings on lab safety. This company spent a lot of time creating a well thought out program for new hires of all levels and included reoccurring trainings. And after each group of required trainings, employees were asked what could be made better/clearer for the next group of trainees. The HR department took serious consideration to any feedback they received and tried to incorporate it into the next. They were able to make the course content memorable and meaningful. This was possible by combining videos, quizzes, and hands-on training for all employees. I still remember a fair amount of what I learned when I first hired on for that internship.

A less ideal experience

On the other hand, I attended a cashier training for a restaurant job that was less than ideal. There were several new hires crammed in a conference room with another worker who only had a year or so more experience than all of us. They handed out large paper packets with fill in the blank questions that we were to follow along and fill in. The training material was overcrowded with too much information and there was no practical training during that session. The official training did not create a proper learning environment. The content did not seem meaningful, other than stressing security issues and responsibilities, which were heavily repeated (i.e., do not leave the till open and walk away from the register). The entirety of this training session was one person reading off slides. Luckily, once I started working, I received excellent hands-on training with the register with an experienced manager who was able to answer all of my questions and assist me when I got stuck. Trainings should be able to transfer as much knowledge as possible to the employee (1). Training content should not bombard hires with too much information and stress the meaningfulness of that training.

1. Swift, M. (2021). Outline – Job Analysis and Job Design. Retrieved from Canvas: https://oregonstate.instructure.com/courses/1833321/files/89024901?wrap=1