As we all have experienced, chatter regarding topics other than performance-based basic skill development, such as current events, sports or one’s families, will develop onboard and can break the tension that candidates are experiencing in attempting to do their best. This tension breaker may do good for them, but this should occur during non-development drive time.
Dr. Donald Kirkpatrick long ago defined four levels of evaluation to determine the effectiveness of any training program. It is common for the bulk of effort being put forth by any training department to focus on Level 1 and Level 2. This typically manifests as the time we spend planning for and executing the prescribed training activities that form our learning programs. Many organizations are now finding that they have the most potential for achieving performance improvements by focusing more energy and resources toward Level 3 activities, such as coaching.
In this age of smartphones, tablets, Twitter, Facebook and other social media, rapid transit has taken on a new meaning. Passengers not only want to get to their destinations fast, they want information about their trips in an instant. To answer customers’ demands of immediacy, transportation organizations across the country have taken to using a variety of methods to disseminate details as quickly as possible.
By mid-year, the new system will allow passengers to sign up for text messages and e-mail notifications with train status updates. The system will also be integrated with current social media sites, displaying the same information on the agency's Facebook and Twitter pages.