Implementing Employee Training And Getting It Right

Effective workplace training has been proven to improve employee retention, boost productivity rates, and lead to an all-around improved employee culture. Statistics show that 74% of employees are willing to learn new skills, and 90% of employees agree that training and development improved their performance.

With the ATD suggesting that employers with comprehensive training programs have 214% higher takings than those without, now is the time to do so if you aren’t on board with ongoing training and development. This post has some tips on how to get your training in place and benefit employees quickly.

Establish Goals

Before you put any training in place, you need to identify your goals from the training. What do you need to achieve, what skills will help your employees get there, and what skills do they already have? Then, look at your target audience and tailor your training to ensure your employees can fit their needs and engage with it in the right way. From here, you can identify what your training needs to look like and how you can achieve this.

Build Your Training Program

When you know what you need your training to work towards, you can then start bringing this to life by completing your training program. Do your employees need training to boost soft skills to improve customer interaction? Do they need support to close deals and get the sale? Or are there gaps in their knowledge? Once you have a grasp on your training needs, you can complete modules to help individuals get from where they are to where they need to be.

Map out your training content, and make sure to keep things hyper-focused. You only need to give them the knowledge and skills they need to support what they already do.

Create Learning Experiences

How your employees learn is just as important as what they learn; each person will absorb the information differently. You need to identify the best approaches for each person to help them succeed in the best way possible; most employees prefer their training and education to be accessible whenever they have time so they can dip in and out. If this is the case for your employees, you can look at uploading your training information into an app they can indulge in when they are free or in bite-sized segments. If you have primarily older employees, they might learn better face to face, so a classroom experience might work better for them where they can see what they are learning in real life and engage with an instructor. Studies show boomers learn better face-to-face. At the same time, Gen Z prefers and learns more effectively if they can access content at their discretion in short bursts digitally via app format. Regardless, you must use a mix of multimedia content to help you keep it fresh and engaging. 

Make the content relevant and engaging. Keep it on point and ensure the delivery is tailored to benefit each employee individually or the majority of the workforce. Use quizzes such as Quizgecko to help test current knowledge at the end of each learning section or to help you ensure everyone is still on the same page regarding processes, interactions, policies, and more.

Review Training

It’s not enough to simply put training materials in place; you need to review the training and progress periodically. Measure the results against the criteria set out in point one. Are you getting improved outcomes, or are you still noticing standards aren’t quite where you need to be? This can help you to tweak your training content and application method.

Read the answers to quizzes and tests you set at the end of training modules, look at how often people are checking into complete training, and identify patterns that can better help you deliver training or improve the type of training and formation you are giving people.

Ask employees for feedback on the training they receive and how you can improve what you do. Chances are you won’t get it just right for everyone, but feedback can help you enhance your training program and make it work for your employees and your business going forward.

Working with your employees to give them the skills and knowledge to do their job roles is proven to be worth the investment. You need to look at the employees you have working for you to assess the type of training you need to implement, be it in-person practical training, lectures, or digital bitesize content. From here, using your company goals and objectives, you can supplement existing skills and knowledge to help your employees do what they do better and easier. Train and support employees day to day and remain more loyal to employees as they know their development and success is something the company is supporting.