PDF Training Resources
Creating interactive PDF training resources is important when you’re asking the learner to complete follow-up activities or want them interact with the content on their own. Most of my eLearning and blended courses include PDF resources throughout and at the end of the eLearning. I create most resources like this in InDesign.
When our website and financial tools changed after Empower’s acquisition of Personal Capital, I created coursework for our consultants and advisors (employees who help customers understand and manage their retirement accounts). Below are examples of the job aids that accompanied those eLearning and instructor-led courses.
The objective of this curriculum was to equip our front-line employees with the knowledge and tools required to answer questions about our new website when customers called in with questions or needed help walking through the new features.
Below is a resource titled “What to Say When You Don’t Know What to Say.” This was a component of the Diversity, Belonging, and Equity curriculum in the above section. The objective of this section was to reinforce the power that words can have and encourage our employees to think critically about the words they use when communicating in the workplace. We explained why specific terms were outdated and could be offensive (for example, using “pow wow” to reference a meeting) and I created a PDF takeaway with a complete list of the phrases we discussed in the course plus others to stay cognizant of when communicating in the workplace and beyond.
Here’s another PDF example from this curriculum: a job aid for associates to reference. This job aid accompanied a course called Moving Toward Conscious Inclusion, an introductory overview of the types of unconscious bias in the workplace.
Below, these fillable forms encouraged our leaders to actively reflect on their management style. Providing these resources can help learners who require a bit more structure or want to interact with the content outside of the eLearning. Here’s an example of an activity I created while for a new leadership training program. The objective of this course was to encourage people leaders to seek feedback, help them understand why feedback was powerful and helpful, and show them how to use Workday to request feedback from their colleagues.
Upon completion of the program, we asked people managers to request feedback from their peers and direct reports.