Engagement and loyalty to a company increase when its employees feel appreciated and invested, which in turn benefits the business itself. According to the 2021 Training Industry Report, training expenditures in the United States increased by 12% to $92.3 billion. Employee training and development is a continuous process in which companies assist their workforce in acquiring the information and training required to excel and perform efficiently.
Training employees on a certain task or process is the purpose of employee training. It’s typically concentrated on short-term benefits, allowing your team to improve in their existing positions. For instance, training employees to use an updated CRM platform, introducing new health guidelines, etc.
On the other hand, professional development focuses on long-term progress and developing long-term useful skills, such as organizing a corporate communication boot camp. An effective employee training program will create professionals who not only love where they are today but are optimistic about their future prospects.
The Advantages of Employee Training and Development
Technology is continuously changing, and we must adapt to it. Employees now seek opportunities where they can learn and grow within the company, rather than merely a comfortable 9 to 5 job. An ongoing training program will keep your staff relevant and help you manage your business effectively. Investing in an employee training program has several advantages, including the following:
- Enhanced performance
- Constant skill development
- A greater sense of motivation and job satisfaction
- Higher retention and loyalty
- Active participation
- Smaller skill disparity, which helps in internal hiring
- Creative solutions to workplace difficulties
- Efficient knowledge transfer
- A better business reputation
- Networking
If your company uses the best training techniques, ongoing training is extremely beneficial to employees, helping them grow their skills continuously and be on top of their game. Below, we examine a few strategies you can implement to improve employee training.
8 Ways to Improve Employee Training
Here are 8 ways you can improve employee training at your business:
1. Understand the Purpose Of Employee Training and Set Clear Goals
You need to have a clear understanding of why you want to do employee training, whether to increase sales, enhance employee retention, minimize HR grievances, or all of the above. You can lose track if you don’t have an aim that you want to achieve while designing the program. As well, once the course is underway, you need to clearly communicate your goals to employees. Make sure they know what they should be getting out of the training.
2. Do A Survey to Find Out What Employees Want
When it comes to business performance, your employees, who are hands-on in your company’s day-to-day operations, are the best source of information. Regularly survey departments within the company to learn about their issues, the kind of training they would like, the best time to conduct it, and the areas that require it. Your employees will be pleased to provide you with their honest opinions and will appreciate that you asked.
When creating your training program, take the data from the survey into consideration.
3. Use A Knowledge Base to Make Learning Convenient
Create course content like employee training videos, infographics, checklists, and documents using digital delivery tools like Learning Management Systems (LMS) so that your employees can learn whenever it is convenient for them. Quizzes, badges, leaderboards, and other features that are included in the LMS will motivate your employees even more. Make sure to select a mobile-friendly LMS because many heavily rely on their smartphones. Keep your information relevant, entertaining, and intriguing so that it will be easier for learners to grasp.
An LMS will make it easier for employees to complete training among their other tasks. Another option is to set aside time specifically for training.
4. Use Task Management Apps for Remote or Office Training
The modern workplace has changed since the pandemic, and many professionals now work remotely. While in-person training has many advantages, remote employees can use online apps to manage workflow and make things easier. Although it is convenient to learn training material at one’s own pace, it can occasionally become confusing or isolating, especially for remote employees. These apps will help remote teams organize discussion boards, one-on-one mentoring sessions, webinars, and other initiatives.
For on-site training and day-to-day tasks, we recommend using communication and task management tools that are integrated with your scheduling and attendance solutions.
5. Cross-Department Training
Cross-department training is used to teach a set of new skills to an employee in a different department. It is frequently used by companies to fill in for an absentee, but it serves more than one purpose. Cross-training effectively identifies the functions and abilities necessary for your company and fills in the gaps through internal hiring. During a crisis or last-minute task outsourcing, a cross-trained employee can step in and work immediately without any additional training. TimeForge makes it easy for managers to mark employees as cross-trained and to temporarily assign them to different positions based on need.
6. Invest in Quality Mentors and Programs
Make it a knowledgable and entertaining experience for your employees by giving them training from skilled industry experts and programs with a proven track record. Instead of 50 substandard courses that don’t delve in-depth, you would rather have 5 exceptional courses. Make the time your employees invest in learning from these resources worthwhile.
7. Measure Progress and Refine the Program as Needed
What is the point of ongoing employee training if you don’t know how effective it is? To achieve the best results, measure and refine your approach. For example, use Kirkpatrick’s Model to evaluate and analyze the training’s outcomes and determine its overall success.
8. Provide Ongoing Training And Support
Ongoing employee training keeps employees up to speed with the skills they may require in the future to take on new projects or roles. This benefits both the company and the employee since it allows the company to keep its best employees engaged and gives them opportunities for promotion. Providing support to employees as they go on with their day-to-day will help improve the company’s workflow, efficiency, and overall performance.
Why it’s important to improve employee training
There is no doubt that any company seeking success must commit to improving employee training. Employee training programs are an excellent way to broaden your company’s skill set and rise as an industry expert. Most importantly, positive educational experiences result in happier and more effective staff. Regardless of the industry, it’s crucial to fill in any knowledge gaps among your employees if you want to maintain their productivity and satisfaction.
Training is an ongoing process that should never end with onboarding and orientation. Companies must take the initiative to update employee training programs frequently.
If you use TimeForge, our HR software includes training and certification tracking tools that can help your business stay on top of requirements and goals.
