Informing Strategies for Training Job-Related Tasks

By: Ellen Condon, David Hammis & Cary Griffin

There are various ways of providing information to learners and each person will respond differently to certain cues. For example, a person who has a hearing impairment will learn best if more visual cues are used than relying solely on verbal instructions. Although trainers need to use prompts or cues to teach students new skills they need to start planning how to remove those cues from day one to maximize the learner’s independence and minimize their dependence on the trainer.

Types of Cues
Demonstration-show the person how to do the step by doing it yourself.
• Verbal-tell them how to perform the step.
• Gestures-point or indicate by motioning with your hand.
• Physical Assist-place your hand on their hand to guide them through the task.
• Other: written cues; checklist, written or picture; audio tape; adaptations to task

Assists, also know as cues or prompts, are methods of providing information to the learner about how to do the task. When the new employee is first learning the task, it is best if they learn it the right way the first time. The trainer must provide enough information to enable the learner to perform each step correctly. Enough information needs to be provided in the early stages of training so that the worker does not make mistakes. The trainer needs to know all the steps of the task and be able to perform them proficiently in order to properly teach the task.

As the new employee becomes more familiar with the task, the trainer may decide to give the learner more of a chance to demonstrate whether or not they have learned the task by delaying the prompt or assist. Remember, the goal is for the person to perform the steps of the job independently.

Gradually fade your presence, from the beginning, to encourage their independence. Once the worker has begun to learn the task, provide only the information the learner needs.

The trainer’s job is to teach the person to perform the tasks correctly and up to the standards of the employer. Part of what needs to be taught is to recognize when the task is done, and when it is correct.

Sometimes trainers actually impede worker learning unconsciously through their verbal and nonverbal communication to the worker. Comments such as “good job,” “O.K. what’s next,” a smile or even a nod may be indicating to them that they finished and the task is correct. Individuals quickly become dependent on this support. Follow the “no news is good news” training strategy which means only provide feedback if the task is done incompletely or incorrectly.

The trainer should remain quiet as long as the student is performing the task correctly. Remember though, when the person is first learning the task, trainers should provide enough information for them to perform all the steps completely and correctly. Trainers need to refrain from overloading the student with verbal praise. It is difficult to fade the verbal praise and it probably won’t be available in the work environment after the trainer leaves.

When beginning training, always anticipate how to fade the teaching supports. Even if you do not think the person will ever be independent on a specific duty, (e.g. using the restroom independently), plan ahead to determine who will provide this support when you fade out completely. Would a coworker be able to help the person? Is there a Personal Care Attendant the person can hire? Could an adaptive device be installed in the restroom that would eliminate the need for a support person? Will they not need the support eventually?

Decision-Making Sequence for Facilitating Episodic and Job Related Routines

1. Provide no direct intervention.
Facilitate the routine to occur using only the natural cues found in the workplace. This decision allows the learner to acquire the skills of a task/routine merely by regular participation. This is the same manner most people acquire information about routines.

2. Provide systematic training.
Train the step each time it occurs in the natural sequence. Break the step into smaller, more teachable steps. Then teach as in the first step. When the step occurs in the natural sequence, halt the sequence, teach the step using a number of massed trials, then continue the sequence. Pull the step out of the natural sequence and teach it in massed trials until criterion. Then plug it back into the natural sequence.

3. Modify the Natural Method
Change the natural method typically used to perform the task as a method which better matches the needs of the learner.

4. Provide an Adaptation
Add an assisting device or other aid to the method which will assist the employee to perform the task.

5. Provide/Facilitate Partial Assistance.
Provide ongoing assistance on targeted steps of the job which will enable the learner to participate in the task to the greatest degree possible, if it is found that strategies 1-5 did not facilitate successful performance. The assistance can initially come from the trainer, but eventually must be provided by someone in the natural environment.

6. Restructure the Job/Routine
Negotiate with the employer for a more individually referenced set of responsibilities for the employee.

The Role of the Trainer
A trainer in the workplace has several roles:
• Organize the information for the employee.
• Support in a Respectful manner.
• Provide enough information for the employee to learn the job.
• Foster independence of the employee.
• Ensure that the employee’s performance meets the employer’s standards so they are seen as competent and valued.

After performing a job analysis, the employment consultant has a clear understanding of all of the pieces of the job which the individual needs to learn, what type of training the employer will provide, and a good idea of how the individual learns best. With all this information the employment consultant next decides how best to train the employee on the job.
The new employee should learn the job like any other new employee does, if they can. However, most work environments don’t naturally provide a lot of training and support for people to learn entry level positions. The employment consultant must balance what is natural in the environment with extra support provided to enable the person to learn the job. If the employee has difficulty learning the job through the regular training process, the consultant steps in and trains portions of the job, or provides some suggestions to whomever is training, about how to provide information in a different way.

Natural means any person, system, device that is available in the work environment for all employees to learn and perform their job, (e.g. the person who usually orients new employees, the person who drives coworkers without cars to meetings, etc.). Artificial, on the other hand, is any thing or person brought from outside the job environment, or something from inside the job situation performing a non-typical function, to assist the person with the disability to learn and perform their job, (e.g. an employment consultant, and adapted checklist). Artificial supports are not necessarily bad, they just need to be used with caution. Access the natural supports available first before supporting the worker in a way which may make them appear different from their coworkers.

The quickest way to make the new employee stand out, and insure that coworkers feel they are not qualified to ever direct the person to the bathroom, is to bring unfamiliar jargon, strategies, or techniques to the work place. If you need to change the way a person is doing a part of their job, (e.g. they need to count out six tee-shirts before placing them in a package), use materials from the environment to design an adaptation. Better yet, have a coworker or the boss come up with an idea about how to change the task.

Training should:

• Lead to the independent performance of the learner.
• Be effective for the person.
• Be compatible with the work environment.

The role of the Employment Consultant if the employer is training:

• Observe the training.
• Provide Feedback to the Trainer.
• Evaluate the learning of the employee.
• Model interactions with the employee for the coworkers.
• Present the values of Naturalness.
• Stand back and resist the urge to do it yourself!