Improving Employee Training Program Using Iterative Research and Design Process
Background
As Director of Composition, a program at Northern Michigan University serving over 1250 students a year, I managed the training and support of over 50 full and part-time employees from 2020-2022. In addition to providing day-to-day mentorship, I designed and conducted a 16-week training course for new employees and provided ongoing support to all program employees via workshops, webinars, and written support materials. Upon accepting this role, I immediately got to work trying to better understand the training needs and past experiences of my colleagues in order to design a program that would best serve their needs. I continued refining the training program using an iterative design process.
Research Methods
Needs assessment survey (Google forms) distributed to immediate past participants of the 16-week training course to assess their attitudes toward materials and approaches used in previous iterations of the course
Comparative analysis of training approaches in similarly-sized programs
Field observations of teaching and diary studies of participant experiences (open-ended weekly reflections) in the first iteration of the 16-week course to assess its effectiveness and inform further re-design
Participatory workshop (seen in image to the left) for employees to create and prioritize training needs using a variety of user-centered facilitation techniques, including a “dotmocracy” exercise and jigsaw discussion
Follow-up surveys to determine user satisfaction and guide future design of training workshops, webinars, and materials
Challenges
Covid-19 disrupted ability to hold training course or initial set of workshops in person, so I not only had to design a program that would meet user needs but determine the best way to virtually deliver the content (a combination of live Zoom meetings and pre-recorded webinars)
Limited support and resources throughout iterative design process, as I was solely responsible for the research and design of program
Impact
Successfully onboarded 24 new employees with high ratings in participant satisfaction
Advocated for the invitation of a professional facilitator, Dr. Paul Buckley, vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, to lead employee workshop on addressing racism and racial biases in the workplace based on user needs
Created sustainable training materials, such as recorded webinars and training manual, that can be used for future iterations of the program
Received overwhelmingly positive reviews of training program in formal evaluations