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Increasing the ROI on Training Seasonal Employees

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 Hi Candice,

I know you are gearing up for the summer season and probably quite busy preparing to onboard and train your seasonal field crews. I recall this time of year well…putting together the week-long training schedule, trying to decide what key skills to focus on given that folks are employed for three months, and then trying to figure out how to fit it all into one week. Then after the training, wondering what trainees will remember. Did I just waste our time trying to cram all that information into one week?

Well, I wanted to pass on a strategy that could help you plan your training and feel confident that you made the best use of the time available. Plus, this strategy has been shown to improve learning and retention of knowledge – which I know is essential because these seasonal folks have to hit the ground running! The strategy is called spacing, which means studying or engaging with a topic more than once and leaving considerable time in between each session (Brown et al., 2014). The opposite of spacing is massed practice, which is when you only visit a topic once, sometimes for a long period of time, but then move on and never revisit it. If you think about cramming for an exam, that’s an extreme form of massed practice.


Now, I know the typically training schedule involves blocks of time each day, and each block is dedicated to a single topic, never to be revisited again that week. One and done, right? Well, if you take a topic and spread it out over four days instead of cramming it all into one day, this forces trainees to retrieve what they learned  the previous day. This act of retrieval strengthens neural connections, making it easier to retrieve that information in the future. Spacing also supports trainees’ ability to build on and connect knowledge learned the previous day to new learning, making it more durable in the long run (Brown et al., 2014). And by more durable I mean trainees forget less and are able to better apply their learning in the field, which means less mistakes with equipment and possibly less injuries. Spacing takes more effort on the part of the trainee, so while it might feel more difficult in the moment it is a proven strategy for long term results.

I know rearranging the training schedule might be a pain, but I promise you, it will be worth it! Spacing does not require more time dedicated to a particular topic, it just asks you to rearrange that time into several smaller time blocks over the course of the week.  Balancing training time for seasonal employees is always a calculation about the balance and value of inputs versus outputs while maximizing efficiency. Spacing is a strategy where you get a better ROI, so give it a try!


Brown, P. C., Rodedinger, H. L. III, McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful learning. Belknap Press.


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