What is missing in the OJT cycle? Kaizen!

I stumbled across this website that had posted a comment on a blog post:

http://trainingtools.com.au/wb/pages/posts/the-ojt-cycle27.php

In this document the author describes a three step OJT cycle at a fairly high level. 1) Prebrief, 2) Practice and 3) Debrief. The author then poses a question about the OJT cycle:

"There are some schools of thought that suggest a fourth, or consolidation step that occurs between the debrief and the following pre-brief. This may be when the student conducts the proposed remedial action [suggested by the trainer in debrief] or a ‘moment of clarity’ at 2 am the following morning. There is no doubt that this does happen but it cannot be effectively implemented into a training program. It is important that the trainer considers the process just as they would for the possibility of similar style set backs and ‘off days’."

I can't prove it, but I think what makes most training today ineffective is that training is usually done for purposes other than to solve process problems. Good training aims to reduce human error in the process. It aims to solve problems that involve people.

When a trainer sees an error, immediate correction is required. Follow-up through with kaizen, however, will eliminate the error from ever happening again. Often a 'moment of clarity' is when the trainee truly understands the reason for why they made an error. Again, this is the opportunity to correct and reinforce their learning - strike while the iron is hot! - but follow-up on their ideas to make the process better will take their learning to new heights.