On-Target Learning Workshop on CD

A Workshop with Daniel R. Tobin, Ph.D.

The Kirkpatrick Model of training evaluation specifies that evaluation Level 4 is “return on expectations.” But how can you, as a training professional or the head of an organizational training group, determine what expectations to set? The fact is that training is rarely the total solution to any company challenge, but you may feel that you have little control over the other factors that contribute to the solution, so you focus on training because that is what you know.

Famed psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, “If your only tool is a hammer, the whole world looks like a nail.” If your only tool is training, then every problem looks like a training problem.

More than a dozen years ago, I wrote an article titled “The Fallacy of ROI Calculations.” The article argued against using “Return on Investment” as a measure of training’s value and offered an alternative methodology that I call a Learning Contract. The Learning Contract has three sections:

By planning all three parts of the Learning Contract up front, before any training program is developed or delivered, you can properly set expectations for what will result from your training efforts.

During these years, I have made dozens of presentations on the Learning Contract to training audiences on five continents. While my audiences have generally been very receptive to the content, they have always asked, “When are you going to develop a toolkit to help us implement the Learning Contract?”

I have now developed this toolkit and am offering it as an e-learning workshop, now available on CD (it will be available online at a later date). The title of the workshop is “On-Target Learning.”

What does this mean? On-Target Learning:

• Directly relates to the organization’s business goals and strategies
• Actually gets applied to the job
• Is reinforced on the job
• Makes a positive difference in individual, team, and organizational results

In this workshop, you will learn how to:

• Discover your organization’s goals and strategies and align your learning initiatives with them
• Diagnose what needs to be done to achieve the organization’s goals  
• Find the root causes of the organization's challenges so all can be addressed 
• Ensure that the organization sets the right expectations for learning AND for the application of learning to the job
• Select the best learning methods to meet participants’ learning needs
• Expand your focus from “training” to “learning facilitation”
• Plan for follow-up and follow-through to make a positive difference 
• Demonstrate the value of learning’s contribution to organizational results

Included in the workshop are specific tools to help you achieve these objectives:

• How to organize and utilize your own Training Advisory Board
• How to diagnose organizational challenges in terms of learning 
• How to write learning objectives in terms of individual and organizational performance
• How to choose the right learning method
• How to set proper expectations for the application of learning
• How to set up reinforcement and follow-through once participants have completed the learning program

Using the Learning Contract methodology, you can set the right expectations for all of your learning initiatives, ensuring that all of your programs are on target.  And if the expectations you set are not met, you will easily be able to pinpoint what went wrong, whether the fault lies with your training programs or elsewhere in the organization.

This workshop is designed for new or relatively inexperienced training managers/directors and for more experienced training managers/directors who continue to struggle with how to tie their programs directly to their company’s business goals and strategies and thus to demonstrate the value of training to achieving those goals. Allow 3 to 3.5 hours to complete it.

Included are:

• A set of narrated slides divided by modules titled:
  • What is "On-Target Learning"?
  • Introduction to the Learning Contract
  • Learning Contract Part I: Determining the Learning Need
  • Learning Contract Part II: Developing Your Learning Agenda
  • Learning Contract Part III: Applying Learning to the Job
  • Evaluating Learning Results
• Downloadable items:
  • Worksheets
  • Copies of basic models
  • Full set of slides for note taking

About Dan Tobin

Daniel R. Tobin, Ph.D. is a consultant, speaker and author focused on corporate learning strategies and leadership development programs.  During his lengthy career in the learning and development field, Dan has founded two corporate universities, served as vice president of program design and development for the American Management Association, written seven books on corporate learning strategies, and given workshops and keynotes on five continents.

You can reach Dan at 914-939-4737 or at DanielTobin@att.net.

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Dan Tobin’s On-Target Learning Workshop is now available on CD.

The price for the CD is US $99.00 (postpaid).

To purchase On-Target Learning, click here.