Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023 - 62

CASEBOOK
CRAFTING AN INTERNSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM
TO GROW YOUR ORGANIZATION FROM WITHIN
BY AMANDA FULLBRIGHT AND DR. APRAL FOREMAN
Organizational growth and the
retention of top talent are crucial for
business success. One way to achieve
that growth is to invest in current
employees and promote from within
the organization. Additionally, there is
research to support that a higher rate of
internal promotions is linked to higher
retention rates. To retain employees
promoted internally, they must feel
confident that they have the skills
needed to be successful in their new
position. Consequently, implementing
training
programs
to prepare
employees for their roles within the
organization becomes crucial as well.
A SUCCESSFUL
PROGRAM LAUNCH IS
ONLY THE BEGINNING.
BlueSprig's learning and performance
development department (LPD) designed,
implemented and evaluated an internship
training program crafted to help front-line
technicians upskill to become certified
and licensed world-class clinicians. They
artfully combined several training program
components, and it all started with one
question: " Why? "
L&D
When creating a training program,
learning and development (L&D)
professionals have numerous decisions
to make regarding their overall L&D
training strategy and selection of
specific training program components.
For example, the L&D professional
may choose to base their philosophical
training approach on a specific learning
theory, decide to implement a particular
instructional design model or combine
various instructional design elements.
In addition, the L&D professional may
choose to utilize one of the many
training evaluation methods, such as
the Kirkpatrick Model.
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professionals should clarify
the rationale behind the program to
understand its purpose. Ideally, the
" why " can be linked to the organization's
mission and values, or at minimum to
desired business outcomes. Once the
purpose is understood, the path to
" What? " and " How? " is more direct.
For
BlueSprig,
it was essential
to
understand the importance of the
internship program and why it was
critical to BlueSprig's mission and
values. BlueSprig needed an internship
program that leveled the playing field
for all interns, regardless of location
or academic institution.
It needed to
be flexible and scalable across many
service locations and types. The
program needed to incorporate best
Amid so many options, the L&D
professional should mix and match
training program components to build
the training strategy that will best
address their organization's
training
needs. Sometimes that can be a trialand-error
process. If done thoughtfully,
those components can be melded
together to craft a training program that
will help drive organizational growth.
DEVELOPING AN INTERNSHIP
TRAINING PROGRAM
practices based on L&D and industryspecific
research. Finally, it needed to
prepare interns for a clinical supervisor
position upon successful completion
of
national
certification. Ultimately,
the purpose was to train world-class
clinicians to change the world for
children with autism.
To accomplish those goals, LPD ensured
they fully understood the scope of the
training needs by collaborating with
other departments and stakeholders,
conducting surveys with consumers of
the program and hosting focus groups
based on survey results. Then, they
brainstormed as a team to thoughtfully
draft a training that incorporated
BlueSprig values and evidence-based
learning practices. Once they had a
draft, they went back to the consumers
to obtain another round of feedback
using the Delphi Method. BlueSprig's
LPD department used a roadmap to
guide this process that has proved
invaluable to all their training programs
(see Figure 1 on page 63).
IMPLEMENTATION
After designing the program and
confirming with stakeholders that the
program was going to address the
organization's needs, the next step
was implementation. From a project
management perspective, there
were critical components needed to
successfully launch the program. First,
those responsible for overseeing and
implementing the program needed to
be informed about the program.
To accomplish this, LPD held a series
of webinars several weeks prior to the

https://www.adp.com/-/media/adp/resourcehub/pdf/adpthestateofhr2019.ashx https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/delphi-method.asp https://trainingindustry.com/articles/workforce-development/new-project-management-competencies-to-succeed-in-a-change-driven-world/ https://trainingindustry.com/articles/workforce-development/new-project-management-competencies-to-succeed-in-a-change-driven-world/ https://trainingindustry.com/blog/content-development/navigating-instructional-design-without-formal-training-9-tips-for-success-spon-wisetail/ https://trainingindustry.com/wiki/measurement-and-analytics/the-kirkpatrick-model/

Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2023

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