With the rapid changes in technology and the evolution of related skills, organizations are finding it hard to maintain their foothold in an increasingly competitive business environment. In addition, the fierce competition to find and recruit top talent can make it even more challenging for companies to hire and retain employees who are suited to their needs and requirements. In fact, according to a survey, 74% of CEOs consider the lack of availability of the right skills a concern.
These factors make quality employee training essential for organizations that want to maintain a competitive edge, retain their top employees, increase profits, and keep their employees up-to-date with the latest knowledge, skills, and trends in their industry.
However, developing a training program isn’t as simple as you might think. Companies need to create, test, and adjust an employee training plan that promotes knowledge, retention, and engagement.
To help you design a highly effective employee training program, below we share a simple guide that will make your competent workforce more flexible and able to deal with change effectively.
Establish Your Goals
A well-designed employee training program requires you to establish your goals first. You must know what outcome you want to achieve as a result of the training, whether you want to boost efficiency, minimize customer disputes, or perhaps create a greater commitment to work processes and ethics.
If you are looking to build an impactful employee training program, list all the training goals that add value to your organization. Examples include increased revenue, improved safety, reduced turnover, or greater customer satisfaction. The success of your program will ultimately depend on how well it benefits your business, so make sure that your goals are quantifiable.
Determine Your Training Methods
There are many different training methods: video training, instructor-led training, and technology-based training. Most of the time, however, your training will fall into three different categories:
- Digital training
- In-person training
- Hybrid training
Every method has its pros and cons, but when you are creating an employee training program, you will most likely need to leverage training software to help you deliver a consistent learning experience for all employees across your organization, and you’ll be able to use detailed analytics to determine the success of the program.
Create Different Types of Learning Materials
You should consider putting together a team of people to develop engaging and effective training materials. The team can be from the company itself or an external vendor. The team should be made up of a project manager, instructional designers, trainers, graphic artists, and subject matter experts.
The subject matter experts are those who will evaluate which areas require training, and then they’ll provide feedback on the program’s overall effectiveness.
It can take from six weeks to a year for the design and development stage, depending on its complexity and how many people it involves.
This step will be taken care of by the vendor if you are working with one, and you’ll get a schedule of when each phase is completed. Ensure that employees in your company are aware of their responsibility to provide feedback if your program needs extensive input at this stage.
Implement Training
Finally, it’s time to put your training to good use. Allow employees to select the type of training that they want to attend. It will increase employee engagement and allow them to focus their efforts on the areas they think need improvement.
Set clear goals for the training session and communicate your expectations in advance. Discuss how the training will help each employee by describing how it will improve their work efficiency or make their jobs easier.
Evaluate Your Employee Training Program
Next, you should evaluate the entire training program to see how well it worked and if it met the objectives. You can test new employees both before and after training to assess how much they have learned and see whether the program was worth your time and money.
One way to do this is to assess employee performance in relation to your training goals.
For instance, if you want to improve your customer service, ask supervisors or managers to evaluate the performance of employees before and after training. If the employees show a significant improvement, then your money was well spent.
Once you evaluate your program, it’s also important to get feedback from your employees. This will help you identify what worked and what needs to be adjusted for future programs.
Final Thoughts
An employee training program can be a great way to set your employees up for success, which can improve your business’s bottom line. If you’re looking to develop a successful training program, make sure to follow our mini guide, and you’ll manage to elevate your L&D and become a stronger and more competitive company.