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ILS believes that effective corporate training programs must do more than energize the learners – they must also result in measurable improvements in organizational performance. Our training systems design starts by identifying what in an organization needs to change, and concludes with concrete measurements that demonstrate real learning is taking place. That’s A Real Learning Experience guarantee.
The ILS Process
Developed by company founder and President Gerry Varteniuk in the early 1990's, the ILS training Management and implementation process is made up of seven steps.
Research
"What training is required?" This seemingly obvious question can become quite complex.
We talk to managers and the potential trainees and we ask questions. We look at the existing "behaviors" or skill levels that need to be enhanced or changed and we look at the motivators and causes. We look at the paths for improvements. We examine old training methods: what worked and what didn't. We look at the possible costs involved and prepare preliminary budgets. We look at possible teachers. Are they in-house? Who are the subject matter experts? Do we choose a training package? What are the delivery alternatives? Will it be Web based, CD, Distance education? Will it be Competency based, Instructor led? Is the present training program alterable to match the new requirements? How will we evaluate the training? We look at control groups and the number of classes required.
This step takes the largest amount of time, but it is the most critical phase. If done properly, the remaining steps can go quickly. Remember the carpenter who measures three times and cuts once.
Conclusions
Here we answer all those questions, the "what" to "who" and "why, when, and how." We sit down with our customers and work through the process with them. We sort out other details such as training locations, frequency, evaluation criteria, budgets, resources, the pilot program and perhaps most important of all: contingencies.
Essentially, three issues are addressed at this stage:
- What do we need to see them do that they can't do now?
- What knowledge and skills are required to perform the task?
- What's the required resource allocation for design, development, pilot, revision, implementation and evaluation?
Design
Given the outcomes in general terms, this is where we get to apply our creative energy and perhaps channel some of our customer's as well. How do we make this as interesting and effective as possible? What is the delivery methodology? How do we follow-up and evaluate? Will there be a self-evaluation component? What "special tools" are required to support the training event? What marketing strategy will be used? We prepare the look, feel, texture of the course and the overall style of delivery including, web pages, binders, overheads, mockups, student handbooks, etc.
Develop
This means taking all the information from "Conclusions" and the design parameters laid out at the previous step and sitting down and writing the courseware, evaluation tools and promotional materials. Following consultation with our clients, courseware is often re-written, moved around, and if necessary refocused. Final editions are prepared. Development can also mean preparing trainers for course delivery.
Pilot
A "dry run" is undertaken with trainer, trainees and experts in the class to evaluate in a controlled environment the materials and processes. The results of the pilot are used to fine-tune the overall package.
Deliver
There's no other way to think of it: it's "show time." With all the factors taken into consideration, training begins in earnest. Deliver in our case also means translation, production and distribution of materials and providing administrative support for program "role-out." This includes production of technical and service manuals, workbooks, sourcebooks and other in-class course support materials. On the administrative side, we conduct course registrations, evaluations, progress reports, training participation reports, etc, all based on information stored in the databases we administer.
Evaluate
Having decided exactly what the evaluation criteria are, we sit down with our customer and chart the progress and measure in an empirical fashion the effectiveness.
The ILS process has always been successful because it is based on partnership, awareness, and action. We work together with our customers to discover ways to make the most of the opportunities that are available. We help them improve, get there quicker, more intelligently, more productively, sharing our source of past judgement and experience.
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