Along with the development of employee training tools, the role of internal trainers has been developing as well. In order to meet the needs of modern workplaces, corporate trainers must assume multiple roles at once. However, it is important to note that the importance of personal interaction among employees and trainers has not disappeared even in the age of e-learning. Let us introduce the roles of a contemporary internal trainer as they should look like according to elearningindustry.com.
Classroom training
In addition to playing the role of instructor who shares information, the internal trainer is also expected to have the ability to create an environment for employees to become motivated to learn new things. The trainer should, therefore, be both the organizer and facilitator of employee training activities. As the organizer, he organizes discussions and various exercises related to the topics being taught. As the facilitator, he administers the educational activities from beginning to end. He is responsible for ensuring that learning is fun and employees can bring new knowledge into practice.
Blended learning
In terms of blended learning, the internal trainer's role also has several facets. When training employees in classrooms, he plays the roles of instructor, organizer and facilitator of the training content as described above. Moreover, he should also be the curator of the content used to share among employees and self-study outside the classroom. Another role involves answering the questions of employees both in the classroom and in the e-learning sections of training via chat, discussion groups, etc.
Social learning
While social learning in companies has, until recently, only happened informally via interactions between employees, today we have social networks. Internal Trainers then take on a new role as moderators, whose job is to ensure that the interactions between employees via corporate social media are as beneficial as possible. He is responsible for coming up with topics to discuss and to keep discussions alive. At the same time, he becomes the organizer of the content of the discussion forums so that they are clearly organized and easy to navigate.
Other roles
The contemporary internal trainer should even be the author of the training content in the company. He should be able to create both traditional and e-learning courses based on the needs of the company and in formats matching the preferences of employees. This requires knowledge of the so-called skill gap analysis. Last but not least, he should be a virtual trainer - a trainer who is available to individuals or small groups of employees - regardless of where in the world they are - via virtual classrooms, videos, chat, etc.
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