Coaching
The importance of on-the-job coaching once training participants return to the job is now well documented. Much training that is conducted in organisations today is short and intensive. The two drivers for this are the lost opportunity cost of having staff away from their workplace and the difficulty of releasing staff from operational environments. Given this intensive nature of programmes, it is just not possible to turn out staff that are able to apply their new skills expertly in the multitude of complex and varying environments that they will face back in the real world, except for the most simplest of motor skills and procedures.
Assistance on-the-job may be synchronous or asynchronous, in person or mediated by technology. Assistance includes on-the-job coaching for more immediate skill requirements and mentoring for more long-term development or career needs. Many e-learning vendor solutions now include on-line coaching and mentoring via email and chat rooms.
Planning for on-the-job coaching in the programme design and implementing such help conveys to participants that management is serious about inculcating the new behaviours. All too many participants report that on returning to the job they have had no or little opportunity to apply the skills learned. If learned skills are not applied within a short period, the learning will extinguish rapidly. On-the-job coaches may be of assistance here in identifying workplace opportunities for the application of skills.