ERIC Number: ED602485
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Dec
Pages: 2
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Sustainable Change: Upping Your Staff Training Strategy. In Practice. "Lessons for and from Practitioners"
Wulfsohn, Samantha; Gaubert, Jennifer Miller
MDRC
Program managers frequently put staff training near the top of their lists of ongoing challenges. The mix of diverse, complex training needs in many programs means managers may be responsible for orienting new staff, implementing new administrative procedures, or facilitating steps toward long-term program improvement. The greatest underlying challenge here is that any or all of these may require staff to adapt how they approach their daily work. Change can be hard, and often, managers find that one-time training isn't enough to ensure staff apply new concepts and procedures in their daily work. In much of MDRC's work with programs, we view training as taking place within an iterative cycle of learning that we call "Learn-Do-Reflect," in which trainers, program managers, and program developers work collaboratively with front-line staff in the following ways: (1) LEARN: Identify and define an area for learning or improvement. Staff may help brainstorm potential solutions. Offer training on new approaches; (2) DO: Staff test out the proposed solutions while collecting data to help evaluate successes and roadblocks; and (3) REFLECT: Managers and staff review data, examine their experiences, propose course corrections, and decide on next steps. Unlike top-down management strategies, the Learn-Do-Reflect cycle engages staff, getting them to propose and evaluate solutions. That can help teams feel more invested in making changes to their daily work. The cycle can be repeated from time to time and incorporated into training strategies to promote continuous improvement over time.
Descriptors: Educational Change, Educational Needs, Program Improvement, Barriers, Cooperation, Brainstorming, Administrative Organization, Teamwork, Training Methods, Sustainability, Coaching (Performance), Communities of Practice, Supervision, Administrator Role, Workshops, Counseling, Program Administration, Staff Development
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Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: MDRC
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A