Training Program Focus

A service technician training program should be designed to focus on the performance of the technician. This approach makes it necessary for the program designer to go beyond the idea of simply presenting information to the technicians. The program designer must incorporate each of the performance-based factors (listed below) into the training program.

A major obstacle in the preparation of a successful training program is the confusion that exists between training and information sharing. Understanding the difference between the two concepts is a good first step in the process of preparing a program.

• Performance-based training  programs are designed to allow a person to learn a skill or improve a skill. It is mandatory that, upon completion of the training, the individual is able to perform a skill in a measurably-improved manner. The technician must be faster, more productive, and more accurate. The key is an improvement in the technician's performance.
• Information sharing,  i.e., videotape or lecture presentations, involves information or knowledge that is gained by listening to an individual present material. Upon receiving the information, the technician must internalize the message and decide how to use it, or how to turn it into or improve upon a skill, thereby applying the knowledge.

It is essential that training programs be written to attain a well-defined objective (i.e., measurable improvement in the technician's performance). The maintenance shop manager must know what the training program needs to deliver. The manager must define what is expected from the program and how that improvement can be measured . Once the manager determines the desired outcome, then the objective becomes easy to write.