This presentation, originally created for the Wyoming SBDC Network, provides tips for creating reference tools that employees can use within the flow of work.
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Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
1. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Wyoming SBDC Network
Cheat Sheets Made Easy:
Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
2. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
About Me
• Vice President:
Ascendant Design and Training
• Learning experience designer
• eLearning developer
• Adult learning consultant
3. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
What You’ll Learn
Define job aids
and their purposes
Identify how
and when they’re
effective
Break a complex
process into steps
Apply basic visual
and learning
principles
4. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
What is a job aid?
In the chat, list some examples of job aids
you’ve used or seen in the workplace.
5. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Why Use a Job Aid?
• Simple answer: Because
mental space is limited.
• Less simple answer: Working
memory can
only hold a small amount
of information for a short
period of time.
Photo by Milad Fakurian. Sourced from Unsplash
and reproduced under a CC0 license:
https://unsplash.com/license
6. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Think back to your last
onboarding experience.
How much information did you retain
after the first week?
Write your answers in the chat.
7. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Employee Training and Retention
Employees value training …
80 percent of US workers consider
professional development and staff
training when considering new jobs
… but few actually get enough.
Only 39 percent of US workers say
their current employers are helping
them gain new skills or improve their
job performance
Source: Dobson, S. (2022, February 2.) “Why Good
Training Matters with the ‘Great Resignation.’”
Canadian HR Reporter.
https://www.hrreporter.com/focus-areas/recruitment-
and-staffing/why-good-training-matters-with-the-great-
resignation/363666
8. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Job Aid Examples
Logging into your shift
using an app
Properly preparing
meat
How to avoid
overserving
customers alcohol
Other ideas?
Put them
in the chat.
9. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Job Aid Placement
Logging into your shift
using an app
Properly preparing
meat
Other ideas?
Put them
in the chat.
Where would you put each of these job aids?
How to avoid
overserving
customers alcohol
10. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Takeaways
o Job aids are great for
processes that are done
repeatedly and don’t need to
be memorized.
o They can also be used as aids
during scenario-based
training.
o Make them easy to access
within the flow of work.
By Michael Dziedzic. Sourced from Unsplash and
reproduced under a CC0 license:
https://unsplash.com/license
11. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Break Processes into Chunks
Effective job aids are:
• Easy to skim
• Easy to navigate
• Broken down into small
steps that users can
easily follow
12. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Instructions:
Open Microsoft Teams and go to
Shifts. Select the Time Clock
icon, then click the shift you
want to clock in for. Press
and hold the play button to
clock in. To take a break,
press and hold the play button
beneath the Break icon. To end
the break, press and hold the
Stop button under the Break
icon. To clock out, press and
hold the Stop key under the
Shift icon.
Chunk It!
How would you make these
instructions more
manageable?
13. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Tools for Creating Job Aids
o Microsoft Word
o Microsoft PowerPoint
o Canva
o Others?
14. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Basic Design Rules
o Hierarchy
o Color
o Proximity and numbering
o Reading order
Use headings and subheadings
Avoid low-contrast colors
Text next to image it describes
Z-order (top to bottom, left to right)
15. Creating Job Aids for Employee Training
Picture Placeholder
Conclusion
Questions?
Notas del editor
Remember to include physical description
Learning Experience Designer and Vice President, Ascendant Design and Training
Previous: Curriculum Manger at Clear Cannabis, Inc.
Learning experience designer: Analyze learning needs for clients (mostly companies) and develop custom training solutions to help people do their jobs better
eLearning designer: Design and develop eLearning tools for clients, including instructional videos, interactive eLearning modules, and job aids
Adult learning consultant: Draw on background in teaching, journalism, and instructional design to provide recommendations and guidance on creating effective learning experiences for adults
Remember to describe images on screen
By the end of the webinar, you'll be able to:
Describe what job aids are and the role they play in training and retaining employees
Identify how and when they are most effective
Break a complex process into easy-to-follow instructions
Apply some basic visual and learning design principles to create simple job aids using readily available tools
Examples could include:
A small card next to the office phone with instructions on how to transfer a call and extensions for all employees
A OneNote note with a list of keyboard shortcuts for a computer program
YouTube tutorial that show how to use QuickBooks
Sticky notes you write to yourself to remember important steps in a process
Description: A reference resource that helps people correctly follow a process or apply a concept at work.
Job aids come in a variety of formats and for a wide range of purposes. Today, we'll focus on job aids you can distribute as digital or printed handouts that employees can use in the flow of work.
Remember to describe image on screen
When we encounter new stimuli, like being shown a process at work, our working memory processes it. Often, it will connect the new information to the person's existing database of knowledge in a process called elaboration. This makes it more likely that the information will be stored in long-term memory, where it can be retrieved and used later.
However, working memory is pretty limited; it can only hold so many new items as information at once. The general consensus is between 4 to 9 pieces of info, depending on the type of information. It also doesn't last long in working memory (about 10-60 seconds unless it's rehearsed.) (source: Memory and Learning - Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation - University at Buffalo)
Imagine the last time you started a new job and they gave you all the information you needed to do the job in one day. How much of that did you remember?
Consider the extraneous demands on your cognitive resources: You're nervous or excited, you're trying to remember everyone's names, you're trying to figure out the culture and remember where you parked your car ... you're short-term memory is trying to handle way more than it can process.
Instead of telling employees everything they need to know, it's more effective to shunt the majority of that info to a job aid
Only require them to memorize truly essential information that needs to be accessed immediately or in an emergency.
Training is a powerful tool for attracting and retaining employees
American Staffing Association survey: 80 percent of US workers consider professional development and training as an important consideration when considering new jobs — and that's across all generations in the workforce. (Source: Why good training matters with the 'great resignation' | Canadian HR Reporter)
Only 39 percent say their current employer is helping them gain new skills or improve their job performance — again, across all generations (ibid)
Job aids are a simple, cost-effective way to provide training that helps employees learn and grow in actionable, concrete ways
Pause and check the chat
Remember to describe images on screen
Here are some processes in a restaurant that might benefit from a job aid. Ask the audience to provide some.
How to use an app to log in and log out of your shift
How to properly cook different types of meat
How to avoid overserving guests alcohol
Ask for other ideas in the chat; come back to it at end of Slide 9
Remember to describe images on screen
Where would you place these job aids?
App: Near the employee entrance/exit with a digital copy they can download to their phone
Proper cooking: In the kitchen
Checking IDs: In a discreet place at the bar
Remember to describe image
Pause to check the chat
Remember to describe image onscreen
Remember cognitive load: Break down longer processes into smaller, easy-to-follow steps that users can quickly skim and return to work.
When possible, it should be easy to jump from one section to another (c.f., the handout for this webinar: Use built-in headings and subheadings. Enable the Navigation Pane to easily jump to another section.)
Remember to describe image onscreen
Remember to describe images onscreen
Hierarchy: Headings, subheadings, text
In Word, use the built-in heading styles; when users turn on the Navigation pane, it will make it easy for them to see the contents and jump directly to the section they need.
Color:
Avoid low-contrast colors
Use color to show relationship (background colors, font colors, etc.)
Relationships between text and images
If including screenshots or images, number the instructions and the images.
Make sure the images and related text are next to each other
Use call-out boxes to draw attention to important aspects on a user interface
Reading order: Z-order (top to bottom, left to right, just like a comic book)
Accessibility Include alt text to describe images (PowerPoint is great for this)
Set the reading order so screen readers can navigate it
Remember to describe image
Conclusion: Job aids are easy but powerful tools for training employees; use them to provide quick references in the flow of work, especially when onboarding new employees or training employees on new processes and equipment
Questions/thoughts?
