The Efficacy of Deliberate Practice Delivered Using Asynchronous Training Technology

Abstract

Employee productivity is key to survival in business. Senior employees require access to advanced training that does not necessitate extended periods away from their work. Once performance begins to plateau, it can be difficult to reach experienced employees with cost-effective, timely, and relevant training opportunities. Organizations must find ways to enhance employee performance; however, research suggests workplace training is too expensive and is too often without lasting benefit. The purpose of this study is to further quantify deliberate practice as a potentially efficient, customizable mode of training using asynchronous e-learning. The study compared traditional seminars with online deliberate practice training. While additional research is needed in wider learning contexts and with larger sample sizes, improvements among the deliberate practice groups were significant. Using a mixed methods pretest/posttest research design, the deliberate practice training showed improved performance and increased satisfaction compared with the traditional seminar approach.