Getting Training Messages to stick can be Tricky. This New Report reveals the Key Factors behind Successful Staff Induction Training and how to implement them.

Melbourne, Australia (July 26,2010) – Digicast Productions, a safety and induction training video production house, today released a new white paper “Optimising Induction Training: Reduce Costs, Improve Quality and Talent Retention”.   Around the world, many companies train new starters and contractors ineffectively often finding it difficult to get training messages to stick inside people’s heads.  This paper outlines the impact of poor induction training, the high cost of face to face training and the growing importance of including visuals in training materials.

Eighty-three percent (83%) of human learning occurs visually, yet the majority of companies produce text based induction training materials that have a 10% effectiveness rate on recall levels.

Smart organisations who regularly need to train contractors and new staff are looking for a more streamlined, engaging and cost effective way to ensure staff absorb training messages.

This exclusive white paper addresses the various pitfalls of a poorly designed induction training process and what can be done about it.  The report looks at:
•    What current induction training programs are really costing companies
•    The importance of avoiding a poor safety culture
•    The emerging trend of using more visuals in communication
•    How to make training messages sticky
•    A little mistake that cost a Quarry $20,000 a year

For a complete copy of the whitepaper, download it now.
About Digicast Productions

Established in 1991, Digicast is an Australian vendor of customised safety and induction training videos.  Thousands of people each year worldwide are trained with Digicast training videos. For more information, visit Digicast or The Workplace Improver blog for training tips.

Contact Marie-Claire Ross
Digicast Productions
+ 61 3 9696-4400
mc@digicast.com.au

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1. Use more Visuals - 83% of human learning occurs visually.  Use lots of photos, videos, diagrams and colour to present training information.  Avoid relying heavily on text based training.  After all, we only recall 10% of what we read compared to 50% for what we both see and hear.

2. Tell Stories – During training, tell stories of exemplary staff behaviour that typify the type of action you want staff to do.  Stories help people make emotional connections.

3. Lead by Values – Let staff/contractors know what your values are.   Using values, empowers workers to make decisions based on company values.  Difficult for staff to make the right decisions if they only have rules to follow.

4. Positivise it – Remove negative language.  Tell people how you want them to behave, rather than telling them what you don’t want.  Remove words such as ‘no’, ‘can’t and ‘don’t’.

5. Involve senior management - Senior management play an integral leadership role in establishing culture.  Effective leadership whether it be concerning safety, a new sales method or business structure must be led from the top.  They must be involved in the induction process.

6. Reduce complication - Get rid of long sentences, jargon and big words in training materials.  Keep it short and tweet.

7. Ask more why questions - Teach people why they need to do something, so they can always figure out the how.  Otherwise, company processes keep getting perpetuated without people ever questioning why they do something.

Think you need help to improve your company induction training materials?  Then, go to the seminar to find out more information.

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When new starters, contractors and even customers are required to start training with you, the interaction they have with your company will determine how long they want to stay and how long they will do business with you.

After all, first impressions aren’t easy to erase.

That’s why it is important with any staff or customer training that the training materials are written in friendly and welcoming language.

Yet, many times we see evidence of induction training manuals written in jargonistic corporate speak that seems keen to scold new starters for possible misdemeanors before they have even begun.

It is important that all training materials exclude negative terms such as ‘no’, ‘can’t’ and ‘don’t’.  Not only is it unfriendly, but negative language can often be hard for the brain to understand.

Take this sign, for example.  This was placed at the back of a cafe that I enjoy going to.  It has very friendly staff, great coffee and a queue to get in (not my favourite part).

While waiting for my table and walking around the neighbourhood, I found it.  My attention was grabbed for the wrong reason -  I really couldn’t understand it.

My first impression was that no deliveries were allowed.  That seemed strange to me, so I read on, only to be amazed that they were allowed but I couldn’t instantly grasp when.

It is quite amazing how the word ‘no’ at the start of a sentence can really throw you off the true meaning of a message.

So I have decided to  positivise the sign in an attempt to show you, dear reader, how easy it is to make communication messages easier to understand .  And yes, I know that positivise isn’t a real word, but I really like it.

All Deliveries Here

We accept deliveries:

Before 7am and after 6pm Mon-Fri &

Before 9am and after 6pm Saturday

Ah, isn’t that much better?   My brain feels happier now.

Of course, this sign isn’t for staff or even customers.  But as a customer I gathered that they didn’t like their delivery people very much.

However, the point of this example is how negative language can be so much harder for the brain to take in.  While using positive language makes messages so much easier to understand.

Perhaps, it’s time to positivise your training materials?

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According to Steven Bell, senior associate with law firm Freehills, in January 2012 the new Australian OHS laws will expect companies to drive safety management internally and push greater alignment between key messages and action.

The new laws will introduce a level of personal responsibility that will help drive the changes needed for better OHS.  This means that senior managers will be expected to foster a positive workplace culture, receive regular safety reporting and a practical understanding of what is happening on the ground.

This is a great step forward as senior management actually drive the safety culture of a company.

Currently, most companies promote a safety culture, but send out mixed messages when it comes to a safe workplace.  For example: A fairly standard grumble by many workers is that they are expected to work safely, yet at the same time they are told to work faster or in a way that involves safety risks, to drive productivity.

So with the new requirement to promote safety messages and show evidence of a positive safety culture, what is the best way to communicate workplace safety messages?

With any communication program, it is important to take into account that people absorb messages differently and the more they see it, the more likely it will be taken on-board.  Therefore, any workplace safety communication messages need to include a variety of communication approaches such as posters, training videos, staff newsletter and ‘toolbox’ talks.  They all need to be branded with the company’s unique safety messages.

In addition, the workplace safety communication must be personalised to the company.  Generic safety messages won’t cut it.  Instead, it needs to be formulated according to your culture and demographics.  And then it needs to be followed up with action.

A lot of companies that we have worked with have successfully used a customised training video as the main communication medium to drive OHS behaviour change. They have then supported the training video with posters, newsletters and other safety specific materials.

A staff training video is an ideal way to connect with staff.  Made correctly it will positively and believably demonstrate your company commitment to the healthy and safety of your workplace.  After all, research has found that training videos are more persuasive than written material which is perceived as less important and credible.

In order to take into account the new laws, consider creating a customised training video that includes:

• An introduction by senior managers talking about the importance of safety to the staff and company.
• Safety rules/explaining that poor safety effects the viewer and other workers
• Procedures
• Summary

Of course, just playing a training video doesn’t automatically ensure that staff will know your training messages.  It needs to be followed up with a consistent workplace culture that always considers the safety rules/message in every activity.  Not just when played on a training video.

More importantly, senior management must support and agree with all the safety communication tools.  And refer to them often.

After all, staff won’t believe that the company backs its safety messages, until they see the proof of action.

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Do new staff feel undervalued in your company?

When it comes to induction training, common complaints are that it is ‘boring’ and ‘overwhelming’.

Yet, inductions also represent the only first impression that you ever get with a new employee.  Inductions are a great opportunity to align new starters with your company values and processes.

In this interesting seminar, you will learn:

• Five induction trends that could send you out of business
• The benefits of getting your induction process right
• Seven tips to improve your induction process
• How your company can be the industry leader

The details are:

Monday 26 July 2.30 – 4.30pm at Protector Allsafe 41 Greens Rd Dandenong

The cost is free for members; $5 for non-members.

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A recent UK survey by National Accident Helpline found that over a third of people questioned who suffer work accidents or injuries in the workplace have not had health and safety inductions.

The telephone survey of 121 claimants found that 42 respondents (35%) had not been given a health and safety induction when they joined their workplace.

Beth Powell, National Accident Helpline consumer director, said: “This result shows that UK organisations still need to improve the way that they look after their staff’s safety at work and a health and safety induction for all new starters would be a key step towards this.

“More than 15,000 people a year contact National Accident Helpline after work accidents. Many of these would be avoidable with appropriate safety equipment, training and supervision.”

A health and safety induction typically includes information on duty of care, site rules, manual handling and other relevant safety information to that organisation.

In Australia, while we haven’t undertaken the same research study as the National Accident Helpline to compare the results, a recent study by Safe Work Australia found a similar finding.  That being: part time workers are injured at a rate of 74 injuries per million hours worked versus 35 for fulltime workers.

Jarrod Moran from the ACTU blamed “less induction, less training and supervision” as the reasons for the high injury rates for part time workers.

Poor inductions undervalue the importance of safety.

And according to Professor Patrick Hudson, companies lose 10% of their turnover as a result of poor safety, costing billions in lost production and flow-on effects.

So how can companies improve their induction process?  Ensure it is undertaken regularly and that it is systemizd with a customised training video.

Given that educational researchers have found that 83% of human learning occurs visually, a custom made training video is an ideal way to get important information understood quickly and effortlessly.  It will also save training time and dollars.

You can find out how a well known steel manufacturer reduced their training time and improved their training outcome, here.

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Truck driver training

Recently, I was speaking to a client about what baseline figures we needed to measure before and after his company induction training video gets released.

What I found interesting was that even though there are some key figures we can measure (eg: trends in customer complaints and accidents), as far as he was concerned the video was mainly a holistic training device to help in a number of key areas that were immeasurable.

In this company, they have 450 truck drivers who do a vitally important job.  Yet, other staff members in different departments and even the truck drivers themselves, do not realise how important this role is to the company success.

The training video has been written to let truck drivers realise how important their responsibilities are and the broader impact on the company itself.  This is part of the all-important introduction which clearly lets drivers know what the company does, who they serve, how their job role impacts the company, the importance of safety and their job responsibilities.

The induction video is a way of connecting emotionally to these truck drivers so they realise the importance of their ambassador role for the organisation while also ensuring the fresh and timely delivery of their milk products.  It also includes procedural tasks.

Interestingly, my client made the remark that the training video was really a different communication medium to ‘put life’  into their induction document.  And while it is important to train on procedures, it was more important to align the truck drivers with the broader perspective of their job and the company vision and values.

What pleases me, is that this organisation understands that training is not just about teaching the right processes, it is also about getting staff aligned with what the company does and why, as well as the importance of jobs.  It’s not just about delivering a product on time, it’s also about the being an important visible representative of the company.  After all, a truck driver that is discourteous reflects badly on the company reputation.  By letting staff know the greater meaning and importance of the job, the more they will see purpose in what they do which will result in better performance, but also better job satisfaction.

After all, a happy team is a productive team.

What can you do to your training materials to provide information about the importance of the job role and its relevance to the broader perspective to your company?

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Delivering Happiness is one of those business books you just can’t put down.

Since hearing about the rise and rise of Zappos (the online shoe and clothing retailer) that was sold to Amazon last year for $1.2 billion in Amazon shares, I’ve been very interested in hearing about what they do.

I expected this to be another business book by an over-achieving, cocky CEO with an over-sized ego to match.

After all, how many 23 year olds do you know that have sold the company they have built to  Microsoft for $265 million?

But Tony Hsieh is different.  Way different.

He spent his time at Harvard choosing courses that had the least work and effort so he could sleep and party (sounds a lot like the group of uni pals I hung out with back in the day, except it took  us a long time to get our careers happening).

After graduating and getting a highly paid job at Oracle doing very little, he and his friend left to start a web design company.  Except they realised that it didn’t excite them.  They then started LinkExchange which grew and grew into a large company within only 18 months.  When it was no longer fun, they sold it to Microsoft.

With lots of time on their hands, they invested into 27 companies including one called Zappos.  When they couldn’t get further venture capitalist funding, Tony Hsieh stepped in as the CEO and also poured in his remaining money from the LinkExchange sale.

What’s fascinating about this book is how long it took for Zapppos to become profitable and how it very nearly didn’t even look like it would survive.  Through trial and error it finally made money.

Zappos is known for its amazing customer service.  Tony goes through how this evolved (my favourite part of the book is that rave culture actually influenced the core values) inlcuding how it was the pursuit of happiness that has set the corporate culture.  He goes into a lot of detail about the core values and how they ensure staff are matched to their values.

For those involved with motivating, training and retaining key staff this is the book for you.  It is very insightful and a great read.  For any budding entrepreneur or general manager of a large organisation, this book will help your realise the importance of company culture and how to nurture it.

You can find out more about the book at:
http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com

http://www.amazon.com/deliveringhappiness

For those of you interested in getting a free copy, I have one available.  Email me at mc@digicast.com.au

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Those of you who have read my posts know that I’m a big fans of telling stories to indoctrinate staff and contractors (see Telling Stories to improve Company Inductions).

In his book Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership, Harvard professor Howard Gardner wrote, “leaders achieve effectiveness largely through the stories they relate.  Stories must in some way help the audience/team members to think through who they are and frame future opinions”.

One of the best ways to induct new staff is for senior managers to be involved and to be seen getting involved.

The ex-CEO of Virgin Blue airlines, Brett Godfrey, would always turn up to staff induction training to introduce himself.

And while it is important for senior managers to introduce themselves and welcome new starters, they also need to talk about legendary company stories.  It’s a great way to improve the safety culture, customer service and pride in the company.  Also, particularly useful for welcoming staff from a new merger/aquisition.

Film them!

It’s a surprisingly simple, but effective way for new staff to know who the senior staff member is and to feel like they know them.  It also saves the CEO or Executive General Manager a lot of time.

We have filmed many senior managers welcoming new starters and giving their own personal introductions.  It’s warm, funny and believable.  And it’s a great way to start an induction training video.

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Do new staff feel undervalued in your company?

When it comes to  inductions common complaints are that they are ‘boring’ and ‘overwhelming’.

They also represent the only first impression that you get with a new employee.   This is a great opportunity to align them with your company values and processes and make them want to stick around.

In this fun and informative presentation, you will find out what most companies are doing wrong during the induction process and what you can do to make your company a leader in safety inductions.

You will learn seven ways to instantly improve the induction processes in your company.

These great tips will help you to improve your safety culture, productivity and engage your new staff/contractors with clear and consistent training materials.

For those of you serious about improving the quality of safety training in your company or welcoming new starter or contractors, this event is not to be missed.

Wednesday 16 June – GOSH

Royal Geelong Yacht Club

6.30 – 9.00pm

Monday 26 July – Southern Safety Group

3 – 4.30pm

Protector Alsafe Premises at 41 Greens Road Dandenong

To find out more or register, click here.

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