Achieving business success is strongly related to the competence of your employees. Hence, it is worth the effort to thoroughly and systematically approach this matter. Forging a solid strategy about future employee training programs will yield the best results in the long run. Here are some tips on how to make employee training more efficient:
Assess the needs and goals
The best way to ensure success and efficiency with employee training is to reexamine the needs and goals of the company. And you can do this by knowing your company inside-out. Understanding your employees’ strengths and weaknesses will allow you to assess the needs for their improvement properly. Considering the fact that you’ll probably have limited funds, knowing your company’s needs and future goals can save you a lot of money in the process. Focusing on skills that need improvement, and not wasting time and money on insignificant ones, are the best way to improve the overall productivity of your employees.
Don’t forget online programs
In-person training programs were the standard in the previous decades, and they are still quite popular. However, it would be such a waste if you didn’t utilize the internet in the process of learning. Even though in-person programs have their advantages that you couldn’t get otherwise, online options are equally good. The great thing about online programs is that, after you purchase them, your employees could follow the curriculum at their convenience. Not everybody follows the lectures at the same pace. This is helpful because people can come back to lectures that felt complicated to them, and to reassess them at any time. One major drawback is that online programs do not offer direct feedback. With in-person training sessions, employees can ask as many questions as they want, and get the answer immediately.
Self-organized of with professional help
Organizing training sessions can be a handful. It requires a lot of time, knowledge and organizational skills. Since you have a business to run, you might not have time for all of this. However, if you do decide to carry out the training by yourself, you will need to outline a curriculum and to obtain training and assessment resources. Just make sure to have everything planned in detail, to avoid losing precious time on trial and error.
On the other hand, you could hire professionals. Their experience and know-how in the process of knowledge transfer will definitely get your money’s worth. Bear in mind that this is an investment. Hiring top instructors that are specialized in the subjects you’re interested in, and who know the proper and the fastest way to convey knowledge, could save you much time in the process.
Practice makes perfect
No amount of training would be sufficient enough without practical use afterward. Theoretical knowledge without a practical application is worth close to nothing today. Thus, it is essential to let your employees apply their gathered theoretical knowledge in real life situations, that they would otherwise face in their day to day jobs. It is advised to let them practice the same day after the lecture when they still remember everything. If they were to apply this knowledge the day after, or even later, many facts that they’ve learned would not be there.
Track progress
The whole point of employee training is to observe and track progress and to see how it affects overall productivity and efficiency. Having training sessions without the proper measuring of the outcome serves no purpose. So, in order for your business to keep evolving and growing, you need to pay attention to certain things. How much of the knowledge have your employees retained? If they didn’t remember much, is it because of their lack of effort, or because the program was faulty? How do the newly acquired skills apply in everyday activities? How has it affected customer relations and satisfaction? By knowing the answers to these questions, you’ll see whether you should continue with the same training, or maybe search for a new program.
A process of constant reestablishing and development of your employees’ skills is the best way to ensure progress. By organizing regular and extensive training sessions, you’ll get a more motivated and dependable workforce. Properly executed programs serve to boost company morale, to increase the level of cooperation within the company and, finally to help the workers in being more efficient. That’s why it is crucial to make the culture of improvement ingrained in the core of your company and to offer new opportunities for advancement continually!
Author bio:
Leila Dorari is an entrepreneur, freelance writer and business-improvement enthusiast from Sydney. Currently, she is consulting companies on the positive effects investing in their employees can have on their business performance. In her spare time you can usually find her hiking with her furry four-legged friend.
