Training engineering: definition, levels of intervention and company approach

 A training engineering is a set of approaches and methods to design actions and training devices to achieve a specific goal . The engineering training is implemented within an organization and is developing learning skills  as part of a project training . However, it should be noted that training engineering is new and that it only appeared at the end of the 1970s. It therefore continues to evolve with the work of researchers in the education sciences.

In the works dealing with " training engineering for the company", the authors proposed an approach and a methodology making it possible to define a training engineering approach . They insisted on the need to set up a training session in 4 phases (as we will see below) namely analysis, design, implementation and evaluation.

Besides the educational project itself, it is a question of defining 3 levels of intervention in any approach of educational engineering .

1. The strategic level

At the level of a company, it is at the strategic or macro level that decisions will be taken concerning the training policy implemented. Most often, this component is managed by general management as well as human resources departments . They are the ones who will translate a global business strategy into a training strategy .

It is about having a real long-term vision of a training strategy including objectives per year, a portfolio of skills, a career plan, internal mobility needs. Concretely, you must ask yourself about the skills to acquire in the years to follow, and establish a priority plan with deadlines over several years.

In addition to the general management of a company, many external actors are also involved at this level such as OPCAs, regional councils, professional branches, etc.

2. The level of information systems

This second level concerns the organization of training sessions . This mission is entrusted to a pedagogical engineer  who coordinates training projects in partnership with internal stakeholders: administrative assistants, employees and training trainees .

It is also during this stage that the educational engineer will select his external stakeholders such as trainers , training organizations , service providers, etc.

3. The level of educational engineering

The third level of a training engineering approach will include the creation of educational scenarios and  the application of the methods chosen previously.

The actors involved in this level are those who will operate the training sessions in an operational manner . The external actors involved are the trainers, the educational designers and the internal speakers are the trainees. For the authors, a successful training is one where the learners are considered both as target of a training , but also as actors.

The 4 stages of an in-company training engineering process

In training engineering , the training manager plays the role of an orchestra conductor  since his missions are to define training needs , design a training project , and manage and lead training . In addition, he coordinates the role of various players: general management, human resources management, trainers, OPCAs, accountants or finance managers.

STEP 1: ANALYZE TRAINING NEEDS AND DEMAND

During this first phase, the challenge is  to analyze the needs and the context of the training project . Thus, it is a question of making an underlying demand emerge within an organization. The latter results from a difference between the skills of the employees and the objectives defined by the general management and the human resources department. The analysis must be based on questioning and collection of information, the organization of debates or confrontations. At the end of this phase, a diagnosis is established and a project before training is born.

Among the tools used include training strategy , the diagnosis of training already established assessments of previous training , and all census training needs already made (eg interviews, surveys, etc.)

STEP 2: CHOOSING TRAINING DEVICES

This second step will allow the training manager to formalize a training project and  select the necessary educational training tools . This phase is essential, because it will make it possible to establish a link between what is desired ( the training objectives defined within a set of specifications) and what can be achieved.

The training manager will have to rely on many tools including the OPCA training catalogs, skills benchmarks, specifications, estimated budget, training plan and any type of documentation likely to provide him with the necessary information to design training systems.

Various players are involved during this phase, including OPCAs and the company's financial or accounting managers.

STEP 3: ANIMATE AND PILOT A TRAINING PLAN

It is the very heart of any training project since it is the very realization of a training action that will allow learners or employees of an organization to acquire new skills. The training manager will play a key role during this stage. Indeed, he will be responsible for steering the training plan and the animation of the sessions training by coordinating the actions of trainers . After the session of the training completed, the manager training must perform a monitoring of all training activities  and training deviceswith trainees, but also trainers .

Various actors are mobilized during this stage including trainees, OPCAs, trainers, training organizations, accountants or finance managers.

Step 4: Set up training evaluations

This step is crucial because it makes it possible to evaluate the training actions already carried out and more generally, it will relate to the training plan and policy undertaken by the company. This first involves the evaluation of the trainees, the trainers, the training organization or if it concerns internal training of the service organizing the training action .

The evaluation of the training project can be qualitative and relate for example to the adequacy between the training action , the objectives of the company and the level of expertise of the learners. From a quantitative point of view, the analysis can focus on the number of hours worked, the cost of training and the return on investment.

This phase will make it possible to measure the differences between the objectives and the results obtained by the training action . Corrective actions will be put in place to improve the training policy . In addition, the evaluation phase will be an important source of information for the analysis phase.  The training engineering is therefore part of an iterative process by alternating analysis phases with design and evaluation phases .