Explore the power of on-the-job training to enhance employee development in your organization. Use job shadowing as a significant component in on-the-job training, too.
Probably because I was a jointly-appointed training coordinator and OD consultant for a GM plant earlier in my career, both training and OD have always remained dear to my heart. An early memory that has always stayed close, too, is the day that the tool and die guys invited me to their training meeting and asked me to be their training coordinator.
In those days, you could be assigned a job, but you couldn't do the job, if the employees didn't accept or seek your services. As I write this, I find myself laughing. In those days, I say, but isn't it still the way - in all coordinating or managing roles? Someone has to decide to follow you. Hence my sense of pride and accomplishment when first, the skilled trades employees, then the tool and die guys, invited me to their party.
As a result of these experiences, I learned that on-the-job training is the most powerful form of job training. Employees who aspired to these skilled positions attended classes and apprenticeship programs, but the bulk of their training was working side-by-side with experienced employees in a job shadowing situation. And, the power of job shadowing should not be limited to hands-on skilled trades either.
Job shadowing is significant for employee development in any on-the-job training approach. Even employees who aspire to management roles benefit from on-the-job training in job shadowing opportunities. Learning to lead a meeting, taking responsibility for a team's product development results, and participating in coaching and mentoring for a management role is just as significant for an employee who aspires to an office job.
Do take a look at my 12 possibilities for on-the-job successful training: Provide Job Training - On the Job.
Image Copyright Catherine Yeulet
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