Brain Science: Pre-training Is Essential to a Complete Training Package

Several months ago, I argued that “If your training goal is long-term retention andtransfer, then what you do aftertraining is more important than what you do duringtraining.” I then showed evidence that if you systematically deliver quizzes, polls, anddiscussions in the days and weeks after training you can reshape the forgettingcurve and dramatically enhance retention. Indeed, this principle holds truewhether you are presenting live, instructor-led training, or asynchronousonline training.

Whatis pre-training?

This month, I want to introduce a related, and perhaps morecontroversial notion: If your goal is long term retention and transfer, what you do before training is also moreimportant than what you do during training.

To illustrate this notion, let’s first review some of thevarious activities that can take place prior to the first day of training. (Figure1) Again, this principle holds true whether you are presenting live,instructor-led training or asynchronous online training.

Figure 1: Pre-training can include several different activitiesthat focus training to save money, provide a common foundation of knowledge,and prime learners in a way that increases learning

360 assessment

A 360 assessment involves collecting opinions about a worker’sperformance from a range of individuals including supervisors, peers, and evencustomers. People often use 360 assessments for evaluating workers’performance, but they are equally valuable in determining training needs.

Gap identification

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and based on the 360-assessmenttool, you should be able to identify areas where a worker is lacking particularknowledge, skills, and abilities that are essential to performing his or her job.

Personal interest inventory

A thorough pre-training program should also consider theinterests and inclinations of the learner. If we understand a worker’s personalgoals it is possible to tailor a training program that will intrinsicallymotivate them.

Personal learning path

Using the 360 assessment, gap identification, and personal-interestsurvey, it is now possible to establish a personal learning path for eachindividual worker. Take inventory of your training assets and create paths thatinclude remedial courses and specific trainings that benefit both theindividual and the organization.

Remedial preparation

Remedial preparation is critical and consists of pre-work thatinsures that everyone has the requisite knowledge to begin the trainingsession. This pre-work can consist of an online course, required readings, oreven just a conversation with a manager.

The benefits of pre-training

Research has found three benefits to pre-training.

Benefit 1: Focused training

Whether you are delivering instructor-led training or onlinetraining, a systematic program of pre-training will benefit your organizationin a variety of ways. The first benefit is that it saves the organizationmoney. Many companies provide blanket training without regard to whether the workeractually needs it. Indeed, some research shows that managers believe that 50%of the training they receive is either redundant to what they already know orirrelevant to what they do. A simple 360  and skill-gap assessment can ensure thattraining is delivered when, but only when, it is really needed.

A related benefit is that your employee will develop a morepositive attitude toward their training requirements. When employees see thatthe organization has provided them with a personal learning path, they developa greater trust for the program and become more engaged learners.

Benefit 2: A common foundation of knowledge

Pre-training makes it likely that your learners will have theprerequisite knowledge when they first walk in the door. This foundation makesit easier on the instructor who can teach to a more intellectually homogeneousaudience. It also makes it easier on the learner to learn the content of thecore training. Knowledge is associative, and it is easier to learn newinformation when we can link it to things we already know. Pre-training provides learners with the foundation that they need to besuccessful.

Benefit 3: Priming increases retention

A third benefit of pre-training is that you can “prime” thelearner and make it more likely that they will retain information. Priming refersto a general memory phenomenon in which exposure to one stimulus influences aresponse to another stimulus. Here is a classic way to experience the power ofpriming. Ask a friend to repeat the word “silk” 10 times as fast as she can.Then ask her, “What does a cow drink?” More often than not, your friend willreply “milk,” and you will have demonstrated priming. Your friend was primed tosay milk (instead of water) because (1) silk rhymes with milk, and (2) because “cow”shares a semantic association with the word milk. For another experienceof priming, check out this online demonstration.

Within the context of training, priming refers to events thatmake people more likely to learn and retain essential information. For example,in the days prior to training, you can prime your students with a series offoreshadowing questions that will get them thinking about your topic. Forinstance, if you are delivering a training on “consensus leadership,” you canask provoking survey or short-answer questions about consensus leadership andget them thinking about your topic. In turn, when you discuss this topic duringthe training, your priming will make itmore likely they will retain what you have to say. This type of priming isthe foundation of the now-famous SQ3R technique that helps students become moreactive readers.

Please share your best ideas

If we want our employees to learn, retain, and transfer theirlearning, it is not sufficient simply to provide training exercises. Instead,we need to deliver a comprehensive program that includes both pre-training andafter-training experiences.

What experience have you had with pre-training activities?What have you tried? What were the obstacles and what were the benefits? Let usknow in the comments section.

Digging deeper

• If you would like to have your memory of this articlereinforced, send an email to mailto:[email protected].You will automatically receive a series of boosters on this article. Theboosters take only seconds to complete, and they will profoundlyincrease your ability to recall the content of these articles.
• The priming phenomena is a fundamental notion whichaffects many aspects of everyday human behavior. This video does a nice job of showing how thoughts of money affect theway we interact with one another.
• The original work on priming was done in the 1970s byMeyer and Schvaneveldt. Their originalpaper makes for fun reading. (Editor’snote: purchase required for full text; however, the abstract provided givesa useful summary.)