Are you at a loss for figuring out how to move your in-person training to a virtual setting? Hearing a lot about neurodiverse employees, but want to ensure you’re being inclusive? Feel like you’re behind the curve on incorporating technology into training and development and want to catch up? Being asked to show the worth of your training programs?

Whew! The way we work has gotten more complex it seems, in recent years, and with it, talent development. The four-volume Train the Trainer collection offers step-by-step processes, templates, case studies, and—simply put—practical guidance on how to tackle many of today’s learning and development issues.

Foundations and Delivery

Learners have a lot of things pulling at their attention, both within the workspace and beyond. How do L&D professionals retain participant attention during a training course? Further, we know fully well that training isn’t a one-and-done event, so how do we ensure that employees put into practice what they have learned?

Learners need to be engaged, be reminded of what they have learned in order to store it in long-term memory, and feel safe in the learning environment.

The first volume of the second edition of Train the Trainer, Foundations and Delivery: Become a Successful Trainer, gives new trainers a strong base to make the most of learner time and organizational resources. The volume of 15 individual TD at Work guides also instructs on the latest in brain-friendly learning and workplace trends such as virtual learning.

Consider:

• How can we move learning closer to workers at their moment of need? (from the “Principles of Brain-Friendly Learning” issue)

• Conducting manager orientation sessions in tandem with their team’s training so managers are aware of what their direct reports will be doing (from “6 Steps to Moving Your Training Online”)

• When you’re preparing to present, ask yourself: How familiar are participants with the topic? What technology will I have access to? How can I personally relate to the audience? (from “Great Presentations”)

Instructional Design

Volume 2 of the Train the Trainer set,Instructional Design: Captivate Your Audience, delves into questions and challenges around designing learning and development content. Among the challenges many L&D leaders encounter today is designing and developing content in new ways, such as for video and via immersive learning experiences. L&D leaders know all too well that they don’t work in isolation. It takes effective partnerships with subject matter experts and the buy-in from business and other leaders to execute effective development initiatives.

As you begin designing learning materials, ask yourself:

• Who is my audience for this video? How will I measure its success? (from “And Action: Start Rolling With Mobile Video”)

• How will I do if a SME misses a deadline? (Tip: Notify those who need to know, communicate with the SME about how to get back on track, and move ahead. Refrain from dwelling on it or holding a grudge.) (from “Secrets to Successful SME Projects”)

• How do our organization’s vision, mission, and values support investment in a neurodivergent workforce? What tools do we currently have in place for doing so? (from “Welcome Neurodiversity”)

Create a Culture of Learning

The third volume of the collection, Training Programs: Create a Culture of Learning and Maximize Your Organization’s Potential, looks more broadly at the organization, with L&D leaders taking a seat at the table to ensure that they can contribute to promoting healthy and engaged employees.

According to Gallup, lost productivity and turnover costs companies $322 billion annually. Career well-being is one of the five critical factors that people need in order to thrive in their lives, again according to Gallup.

How do you contribute to this effort? By giving managers tools and techniques to effectively lead, mapping out a strategic way forward with regard to succession planning, and designing an organizational effort to upskill employees so they’re ready for what’s next.

For example:

• New managers need to build relationships with a number of individuals throughout the organization. What steps should they take in the early days of becoming a new manager to foster these relationships? (from “Orient Managers for Career Success”)

• Where does your organization already have depth in needed skills? In what areas is it lacking? What areas matter most right now? (from “Succession Planning for Today’s Work World”)

• In designing an upskilling program, what roles are potential applicants currently performing? What skills does this pool of applicants currently possess? What skills and capabilities must they develop? (from “Upskilling for Talent Mobility”)

Measurement and Evaluation

In today’s economic uncertainly, many L&D leaders are being asked, “What is the return on investment of training?” It’s been a long-posed question, yet it’s still one we struggle with.

The fourth volume of the newly released Train the Trainer, Measurement and Evaluation: Demonstrate Your Program’s impact and Value, provides an array of guidance on how to quantify the success of your development initiatives, how to frame your story so that it’ll resonate with your audience, and how to develop the systems and processes to accomplish your goals (and those of your organization).

Performance on the job isn’t just about a training course. Other factors affect employee behavior, such as: How likely is an employee to have an immediate chance to apply the new information on the job? Post-training, how likely is it that managers will be actively engaged with their direct reports and their newly acquired knowledge? (from “Evaluate Learning With Predictive Learning Analytics”)

Who is my audience? How much time do I have to craft my story using metrics and data? What tools do I have at my disposal to tell my story? (from “Executive Dashboards to Win Over the C-Suite”)

Does your L&D team have a project management framework in place? If not, you may consider implementing one, starting with discussing these questions with your L&D team: What projects have they worked on recently? What was their role? What aspects of the project worked well (communication, deadlines, budget)? What areas needed improvement? (from “Project Management for L&D Purposes”)

These volumes, individually or as a collection, can give L&D teams ideas for refreshing their initiatives, communicating initiatives to leaders and learners alike, and tools and systems to use today.