Beth Thomas

How to Hire Instructors Who Love Training

ATD developed the talent development framework and puzzle to help practitioners understand the different components of talent development, and how organizations can build their own frameworks to address their unique needs. This blog series explores each component of the talent development framework, why it’s important to the field, and what resources ATD offers to practitioners who want to learn more.Instructional DesignThe goal of instructional design is to create formal and informal learning solutions using a variety of methods, so learners gain knowledge or skills more successfully than they would without the instruction. The designer works to restructure content with the learner in mind while incorporating an array of learning strategies, tools, and approaches to appeal to learners. Instructional design puts a focus on outcome over content and interaction over questions, and aims to maximize both learner motivation and learner application. An instructional designer must also keep in mind the ever changing trends, conditions, and pace of the global workforce. Instructional design is evolving in the technological age. While traditional classroom learning is still the most prominent kind of instruction used, e-learning and mobile content delivery are on the rise. These present new challenges, such as figuring out how to make content interactive and appealing without in-person instruction. Competency in different instructional approaches makes this transition from in-person to online easier on the designer and the learner.The ASTD Competency Study (Updated now to ATD Talent Development Capability Model™) identifies skills that talent development professionals need to be competent in instructional design:• Conduct a needs assessment.• Identify an appropriate learning approach.• Apply learning theory.• Collaborate with others.• Design a curriculum, program, or learning solution.• Design instructional material.• Analyze and select technologies.• Integrate technology options.• Develop instructional materials.• Evaluate learning design.Good instructional design is an essential component of effective training that engages, motivates, drives learning retention, and creates business impact.We’ve assembled some additional resources to explore:• Check out this research report on instructional design in the modern age.• Stay up-to-date on current trends and skills for fresh content delivery.• Expand your abilities as a mobile learning designer.• Boost learner motivation with seamless e-learning design.• Step into the new age of instructional design technology.• Refresh your design skills to keep learning interesting.• Keep up with the pace of change and technology for instructional design.• Learn about the three kinds of instructional design prototypes.• Templates for Managing Training Projects by Willis H. Thomas• The Accidental Instructional Designer, 2nd Edition by Cammy Bean• ISD From the Ground Up, 4th Edition by Chuck Hodell• ASTD Handbook, 2nd Edition (Updated now to the TDBok™ Guide, 2nd Edition) • Take a deeper dive into instructional design and enroll in ATD’s E-Learning Instructional Design Certificate Program.

The ATD Talent Development Framework: Instructional Design

It’s ironic that successful self-leadership has more to do with others and less to do with self. I learned this later in life. The sooner you see it, the better for your career. Following are three lessons I learned from personal and professional experiences.Surprise #1: Serve a Cause Greater than SelfThe first surprise about self-leadership is that working for money, power, and fame is an unfulfilling pursuit. Frances Hesselbein says it succinctly: to serve is to live.Choose a career that helps others by bringing truth, goodness, or beauty into the world and you will find greater career satisfaction and contentment. From time to time, you will experience the joy that comes from seeing the efforts of your work directly improve the lives of others. Here are a few examples:The teacher who helps a student learn to read brings greater truth and goodness to the world.The landscape architect who designs aesthetically pleasing outdoor environments brings greater beauty to the world.The journalist who helps the public see both sides of a story brings greater truth to the world.The salesman who helps a customer find the right product or service to meet a real need brings greater goodness into the world.You should seek to serve others in these ways, too.Surprise #2: Get a Coach or Mentor(s)No world-class athlete gets to the top without the help of a coach or multiple coaches. We need other people to help us achieve our potential.For instance, each of us has blind spots. Your blind spot may be that you are argumentative or perhaps you don’t speak up when you should. Some people have a blind spot when it comes to not knowing when to end a conversation or meeting. Some managers have blind spots of being over-controlling, and others don’t interact enough with the people they are responsible for leading.The need for coaching and mentoring goes beyond needing to address our blind spots, though. We need experts to help us develop skills. When I left Wall Street to write a book and begin public speaking and teaching, I needed the help of Twyla Thompson, a top acting coach at the Actors Institute. Twyla taught me how to emotionally connect with an audience.On Wall Street, I had learned to turn off my emotions when communicating and I needed Twyla’s help to turn my emotions back on. She had me do exercises that included speaking to a group of acting students. I had to make eye contact with one student at a time and maintain eye contact until the student raised his or her hand to signal that he or she felt connected to me.Twyla’s colleague Gifford Booth would stand at the back of the room and yell, “Louder, louder,” as I spoke. He helped me see a blind spot I had: I was too soft spoken. I could never have learned these things on my own and I’m grateful that Twyla and Gifford helped me become a more effective speaker.#3: Be Intentional About Connecting With PeopleI learned the hard way that all people are hardwired to connect. Connect with God.  Connect with one another. When we don’t connect, we become dysfunctional. We feel lonely, which makes us more vulnerable to stress, anxiety, and depression.  Connection makes us healthier, happier, and more productive. It helps us grow in competence and character. It gets us through the inevitable difficult seasons we all experience in life, a lesson I learned as our family and friends helped us get through the three bouts of cancer my wife Katie experienced. Today, she is cancer free and thriving.Bottom line: You can be more successful in your career and life if you serve a cause greater than yourself, get coaches and/or mentors to help you learn and grow in competence and character, and be intentional about connecting with God, family, and friends. As you experience greater peace, hope, and joy that comes from having an abundance of connection in your life, you will discover wealth of even greater value.Is your workplace culture supporting your success with self-leadership? Join Michael Lee Stallard for the June 23 webcast, “Your Workplace Culture: Life-Giving or Draining the Life Out of You?” to learn about three predominant relational cultures in the workplace—and how each affects your productivity, health, and happiness.Editor’s Note: This post is adapted from Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work. Read more on the Connection Culture website.