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Published on 2014/02/05
Taking Corporate Training to the Next Level
Emily Bates | Training and Development Manager, Healthcare Information Management Firm
Three Advantages to Corporate Training
1. Educated Workforce
Every employee has some weakness, and a carefully devised corporate training program will allow each employee to overcome his or her weakness and gain higher skills and knowledge. It reduces dependency on workers who are more technically knowledgeable and helps employees to work independently without much supervision and guidance.
2. Increased Efficiency
Training programs lead to better efficiency. Trained employees are able to perform better because of improved skill sets such as better communication, the ability to think logically and critically and apply information in an improved manner. They’re able to adapt to change comfortably, which is a must in a business world evolving at a breakneck speed.
3. Higher Job Satisfaction/Lower Attrition Rate
Trained employees are happy employees, and happy employees translate into better performance. Employees who receive training are more likely to value and respect the organization and continue with the employer, thus reducing the attrition rate. This results in fewer resources being spent on hiring and training new talent.
Five Steps to Creating a Successful Training Program
Be careful to build a competitive and productive workforce and get ‘bang for your buck’ when you invest in training. The goal isn’t to make training a one-time event, but an integral aspect of your organization that leads to an efficient workforce. Focus on the following when incorporating a training program:
1. Understand the Skills Gaps
To understand what kind of training program is required, you must understand the skills gaps faced by employees that are a must-have for your organization to be successful. Performing evaluations and skills assessments will pinpoint the current skills your employees possess and where they need to improve. Skills assessment is a great tool in identifying and developing future training needs.
2. Be Organized
Plan your training program with the following elements in mind:
- Goals and objectives of the program
- Resources and strategies required to meet the goal
- Timeline for achieving the set goal
- Steps to be taken to achieve the goal
3. Understand the Outcomes
Carry out a skills assessment after the training has been completed. This will measure the success of your training program and reveal if the desired goal has been reached, whether the employees have really benefitted from it and whether you need to put in more effort to develop a more employee-focused training program.
4. Use Technology
Leverage technology to make corporate training a success. Online training programs can be extremely flexible and allow your employees to study things at their own pace. Institutes such as Career Step even offer customized online training programs tailored to fit your organization’s and employees’ needs. The biggest advantage online training offers is it doesn’t eat into the employees’ work schedule and thus doesn’t impact their productivity.
5. Use Innovative Teaching Methods
The latest trend to emerge as part of the corporate training process is gamification. It removes the tediousness of training and has the employees actually looking forward to it. Deloitte implemented this technique successfully for its 200,000-odd employees.
Conclusion
Corporate training has evolved into much more than an isolated event in today’s corporate world. The work environment we face today requires employees to multitask, to have excellent time management skills and to easily adapt to the constantly changing and culturally diverse workplace. Retain your employees and keep them satisfied and happy, and see your company prosper, by developing and implementing the right corporate training program.
Author Perspective: Employer
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How exactly does it not “eat into the employee’s” time to do online training?
If employees can’t use business hours to complete training, are they expected to do it in their own personal time to protect the company’s “productivity”?
Unfortunately, I know of many corporations that think this way. This to me shows a company doesn’t understand the value of corporate training. If you truly wanted training to produce results, you would offer it during work hours, with the understanding that sacrificing those eight or so hours will result in better-skilled (and therefore more productive) employees. Effective training produces a solid ROI.
For any company looking at corporate training, your employees and the institution you partner with are great resources to help you develop an effective program. Employees will be able to identify gaps and learning interests, which should guide your overall training goals. Institutions provide that subject-matter expertise you need to address the skills gaps identified. Look for institutions with a proven track record in adult education for best results.
The idea of “filling the gaps” is in dispute. research is showing that where there are gaps, they should be ignored or simply filled to a level of adequacy. The real return comes in identifying what people are good at and investing in making them excellent. The reward to the individual and the company is infinitely better.
It is also important to keep in mind that training has consistently been shown to have a very low success rate. To get a ROI, employees must take behaviour change learned in training back to the job. Frustratingly, very little of this actually happens, with some figures estimating a transfer of training to be as low as 10%. This doesn’t mean that we must not train. The issue is to design training that will increase the probability of transfer.