Improve Healthcare By Performance-Guided Learning

Are Your Employee Training Programs Geared Toward Compliance or Growth?

It’s a simple question, yet the answer defines how many healthcare providers look at training and education for their employees. If all roads lead to a singular goal of achieving and maintaining compliance, then the programs offered are likely boilerplate, annual tests, or one-off seminars. They are geared toward mastery of a specific task, or series of goals, and tied to job requirements. They usually are seen as repetitive and an interruption rather than a valued opportunity by employees.

One Size Fits All Training Is a Missed Opportunity

The result of that approach and its perception runs counter to a workplace that should be attempting to value every employee by celebrating and capitalizing on their strengths or offering support and assistance in areas that need strengthening. For that to happen, education, whether initial, one-time, annual, or remedial, should be tied to a worker’s performance. That way, their unique areas of strength and/or weakness can be identified—and then that data can inform the specific development path they should take to achieve maximum benefit and an enhanced skill set.

This concept is known as performance-guided learning, and it’s an alignment of skill assessment and tailored education that takes talent development to a new level by creating a collaborative environment that is the foundation of personalized performance-based learning.

Here’s how it works: Employees who excel in a particular task or series of tasks become recognized subject matter experts and are given mentoring opportunities, as well as recognition for their efforts. That recognition can take many forms, from bonuses to other high-visibility awards.

Targeted Education That Pursues Improvement

Conversely, performance-guided learning offers a huge benefit by identifying areas where employees are struggling, opening the door for targeted, effective remedial education that’s designed just for them. No more cookie-cutter, annual training classes where half the room is bored because they’ve got the subject matter down, and the other half is completely lost because they’ve only just started on the job but are required to sit through a training that’s over their head.

A Stronger Workplace with Better Engagement

Performance-guided learning steps away from all that. It’s effective because performance and learning go hand in hand. Each can inform the other, building a stronger workplace where all employees can become a recognized professional in their fields while also identifying areas where some staffers may need additional development. In both cases, this approach builds confidence and job satisfaction, which translates into lower turnover. And, it aligns nicely with the rise of more visible employee engagement applications and adaptable educational offerings.

“How someone performs day-to-day on the job should guide the learning opportunities their employer offers.” says Gregg Loughman, Vice President and General Manager of People and Growth Solutions at HealthStream. “For example, if an employee is not washing his or her hands every time he or she goes into patient rooms, that person needs an immediate reminder of why it’s important to take infection protocols seriously. On the other hand, when you see someone who is exemplifying patient-centered care by taking time to talk to a family member who has anxiety and is very upset by the condition of their loved one, you have seen someone do something exceptional and want everyone up and down the organization to know that employee is a cherished member of the team.”

This blog post is an excerpt from the HealthStream article, Improve Outcomes Through Performance-Guided Learning. The article also includes:

• Connect Core Competencies and Tasks to Targeted Learning
• Data-Based Learning Improves Employee Retention and Boosts Performance
• Creating a New Approach to Training with Performance Guided Learning