Effective On-the-Job Training

"Go sit next to Joe," is the phrase that launched a thousand careers in the utility industry. This direction has long been the standard for OJT. Like an apprenticeship, the goal is to take new and unproven employees and site them beside the veterans to gain experience and eventually competency to go at it on their own. While this idea may seem logical, it comes with a lot of obstacles to consistency, rigor and accountability. Advancements in education research have revealed that sitting beside someone is not an effective training process.

For effective OJT, a program must be organized and structured with activities such as scenario-based training and simulations to accompany book learning. Every position must have specific skill development that challenges the student to perform the responsibilities of their job before they do so unsupervised. The Effective on-the-Job Training white paper takes you through the who, what, where, when, why, and how of effective OJT.