On-The-Job Training in Workforce Timekeeper. Has it Changed?

Technology has changed the way we work. In some cases, it's changed the nature of our jobs. So how would this affect on-the-job (OTJ) training? More specifically, how has Workforce Timekeeper changed the way we handle OTJ training? It's been mentioned before, OTJ training has been going on as since cavemen started making spears. Why is OTJ training so great? Well, to start, it's efficient. You are working and learning at the same time.  Second, as anyone who has spent time in a foreign country knows, you are immersed in it. You are surrounded by it, you breathe it. You can't help but learn to do what you are required to. I really don't know anyone who isn't proficient at on OTJ learning; if they weren't, they wouldn't have their job for very long.   

So how is OTJ training different today? I mean, has it changed in the last few years? Has it improved?  Has the current versions of Workforce Timekeeper affected how it is conducted? Let's see...

When on-the-job training is no longer face-to-face

In the last ten years, more and more Americans have become part of the "remote" workforce. What does that mean? It means you spend more time on the phone with your boss than in person! It means you are your own IT guy. It means you make the coffee, all the time! It means you have to master distance learning. You had better get comfortable with Go To Meeting, join.me, fuze, and all the other meeting and conference software, because you have to use it. It's no longer just a cool idea, it is a standard in the workplace. Some applications, like join.me are so simple to use, there is almost no training involved, where programs like Go To Meeting offer a lot of additional features that require a little more time to master. When you are meeting with payroll managers in other facilities all over the country, you want to focus on what is presented, rather than the tool you use for presenting! 

Technically speaking, on-the-job training is more technical

Even though there are a lot of non-technical learners out there, there are a lot of users that have a technical aspect of their jobs. Basically, these folks use a computer or another form of technology in doing most of their work. Be it clocking in, requesting vacation time or reviewing and editing the time-cards of our employees, technology allows us to complete these tasks, and it is technology that has changes the face of OTJ training. Be it the form of training (as mentioned above) or what is being trained, technology is increasingly becoming what it's all about. Just like learning to handle a job on an assembly line, there are specific tasks that are required in a technical environment. It is possible that the number of tasks, and their complexity may be different, by a payroll manager can follow a checklist of things to do when processing payroll just as easily as an employee on an assembly line making hand planes. 

Still, some things never change

Even with the changes in on-the-job training today, a lot of things stay the same, and some of them are more important than anything else...

1. Successfull OTJ training requires patience! 

2. Successful OTJ training requires consistent eye contact with your learners.

3. Successful OTJ training may require you to explain things in more than one way.

4. Successful OTJ training may require you to try and try again, to ensure understanding.

5. Successful OTJ training requires you to let go; to let your learners try; and to let your learners fail.

These basic rules, regardless of Workforce Center version, are vital to successful OTJ training...and should be part of your Kronos training plan.