Farmers Insurance claims the No. 2 spot on the Training Top 125 with a forward-thinking training strategy linked to its primary mission: FarmersFuture 2020. It's not surprising an insurance company would have an insurance policy for the future. But Farmers takes that strategy one step further, setting its sights on 2020 with a far-reaching plan to…

Preparing employees for the immediate work in front of them is a challenge. While most companies are still mastering effectively training their own workforce, some, such as "Training" magazine Top 10 Hall of Famer The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, have set up for-profit academies open to the public. When Ritz-Carlton won the national Malcolm…

If money is the root of all evil, is it also the root of all motivation? When talking about workplace performance and training, the experts' consensus is a resounding "No." This article discusses why cash doesn't motivate everyone all the time when it comes to workplace performance and training and takes a look at what does.

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) was an efficiency expert whose concerns were less about avoiding worker fatigue and more about increasing profit margins by any means necessary. Taylor was devoted to finding the One Best Way to carry out a task and then training workers to do that task unvaryingly; attempts by employees to improve their own…

Most research and conceptualizing of training transfer assumes that the content of the training is irrelevant in whether or not or to what extent transfer is successful. The singular perspective that all training is the same when it comes to issues of training transfer is misguided. This is especially true for the types of training that have been…

Purpose: There is a lack of research covering the training requirements of organisations implementing highly demanding information systems (HDISs). The aim of this paper is to help in the understanding of appropriate training requirements for such systems. Design/methodology/approach: This research investigates the training delivery within a…

Presents a simulated dialog that explores the issues surrounding the terms and concepts of "training needs assessment" and contrasts those with "needs assessment." Needs, needs analysis, and training requirements analysis are defined, and it is concluded that needs assessment is a better term than training needs assessment.…

Reports the results of a survey of 23 business organizations regarding the current effectiveness of performance technologists and current preparation of people for the role. Highlights include the desired performance, including designing interventions, and a three-stage model for preparing performance technologists based on the organizations'…

Discusses problems that arise when computer software users have to learn a new system while maintaining productivity. Highlights include active learning; a constructivist view; Vygotsky's zone of proximal development; and a model called Design for Learnability (DesiL) that focuses the performance technologist on an ethnomethodological study of…

This interview study examines the collective advice, concerns, and recommendations of 15 past presidents of ISPI (International Society for Performance Improvement) regarding essential skills for performance technologists, the application of instructional technology, instructional systems development, and ISPI's role in the preparation of…

Provides eight reasons why a trainer with an instructional technology background and an employee-centered focus on performance improvement should be involved in solving human performance problems. Abilities highlighted include: systematic thinker; systemic thinker; analytical; team player; excellent interpersonal and communication skills; knowing…

Presents 12 informal learning opportunities that human performance professionals can create for employees, including learning exchanges, conference summaries, exchanging ideas, posing questions and problems on email or bulletin boards, lunchtime programs, information sharing, recommended reading lists, vendor and consultant presentations,…

This book presents an approach that organizes the principles and processes of an emerging human resource development (HRD) paradigm requiring training to be everyone's business. Chapter 1 describes the paradigm and presents a practical approach for applying it. Chapter 2 draws a picture of highly effective training (HET), focusing particularly on…

During the last two decades, a shift has emerged in business and government sectors from a focus on training to a focus on performance improvement. This shift to Human Performance Technology (HPT), also called Human Performance Improvement (HPI) or performance technology, emerged in the educational technology literature in the late 1970s and early…

Over the past year the author has conducted user, task and context analyses as part of a larger project to develop a knowledge management (KM) system for the U.S. Navy. In this piece he shares that experience as well as point out a few of the challenges that he encountered. Ideally, this account will provide the opportunity for others to compare…