A business’s growth relies heavily on its employees’ skills. With the corporate world evolving at a fast pace, equipping employees with the right skills has become indispensable As a result, employee training programs have gained immense popularity among companies over the years.
Implementing formal employee training programs offers a host of advantages to businesses. A group of highly knowledgeable managers and the low-level employees without the core skills to uphold their positions is no good to a company.
Effective employee training ensures that businesses have the human resources to support growth and expansion. In a
#1. Orientation Training
When a candidate is recruited for a position at an organization, the company should provide him/her an opportunity to ease into the role with a complete and thorough knowledge of how the company does business. This is where orientation training becomes relevant.
In addition to company procedures, employee orientation includes:
- introduction to managers and executives
- providing guidelines for workplace conduct
- familiarizing the employee with his/her job duties
This training is quite compact and does not extend for long.
#2. Technology Training
Technology is evolving at a rapid pace and has been creating a number of jobs for today’s youth. These technologies have been revolutionizing the way business is done. Therefore, employees need to have the right skills to be able to leverage the immense benefits of these tech innovations for increased workplace productivity.
The question that has become more relevant for businesses nowadays is: Are employees being able to quickly adopt the new tech and put it to good use?
The first step is to persuade your employees for the adoption. For this, you would need to put forward a compelling case for the technology in question and demonstrate what’s in it for them.
“Employees need to understand why [the new technology] is an improvement from what they had before”, Didier Bonnet, Global Practice Leader at Capgemini Consulting and co-author of ‘Leading Digital’ said, “The job of a manager is to help people cross the bridge — to get them comfortable with the technology, to get them using it, and to help them understand how it makes their lives better.”
#3. Interpersonal Skills Training
The workplace of today is diverse and collaborative. Therefore, employees are required to have a high level of emotional intelligence to fulfill such requirements. Effective communication skills, both, verbal and non-verbal are highly important to increase operational efficiency and facilitating teamwork.
Did you know that during a communication, we spend 45% of the time listening? However, the problem arises when we confuse listening with hearing. Active listening is crucial in a workplace since this can not only provide a lot of valuable information but can also reduce misunderstandings.
Such necessary soft skills training is important for effective management, sales and resolution of conflict. This will also build positive employee relationships and train them on how to take the right actions to solve problems.
#4. Time Management Training
In today’s workplace, employees are required to juggle a lot of tasks in a minimum amount of time. With meetings, managing tasks and piles of paperwork to finish, employees tend to get overwhelmed easily. This affects the accuracy and efficiency of tasks significantly. Therefore, training employees with effective time management skills can be really helpful to direct them in the right direction.
“Time management is not there to add stress to our lives as one more looming to-do on our never-ending to-do lists. It is, however, there as something we can use to enrich our lives”, Karen Trepte, an international business coach pointed out, “Sure, there is a lot we cannot control in the world, but there are things we can learn to control, to some degree. We can learn to control our thoughts, we can learn to control our time, and we can learn to control what we focus on.”
Time management training should include proper delegation, planning and problem-solving skills that can help employees make the most of available time and resources.
#5. Health and Safety Training
Workplace safety is a major concern. There are a number of risks associated with health and emergency for employees at the office. Therefore, companies should equip employees with emergency skills for fire safety, emergency evacuation and lockdown and so on.
According to Woody Hill, vice president of safety and information services at Texas Mutual, “When an employee is injured on the job, the impact can be significant, even with workers’ comp coverage. There are costs associated with lost productivity, overtime, hiring and training replacement workers, and increased insurance premiums.”
Since fire accidents are quite prevalent in large office buildings, it is important to get annual inspections done by a fire safety expert. Also, proper housekeeping can minimize a lot of accidents.
#6. Ethics Training
Ethics is a fundamental trait that implies moral conduct for an individual. It entails individual character and governs our behavior. With several employees working closely in a company, it is important to exercise professional ethics in order to maintain a safe and competent work atmosphere.
Starting an ethics awareness training program will ensure that a company is in responsible hands. It is the best way to set the right standards and teach employees about the significance of integrity in a business.
At the recently conducted Junior Chamber International Biz Meet, Thilak Karunaratne, the chairman of Sri Lanka’s Securities and Exchange Commission said, “The importance of business ethics are strongly felt at a time the Government is committed towards inclusive development. From a social point of view, the concept refers to shared responsibility and accountability in the business world that transcends to the society at large.”
Training can be imparted in a number of ways. Lectures, interactive training sessions, computer-based training, team-building exercises, drills etc. are common training methods. That being said, it is important to keep in mind that the training programs should not only relate to the specific tasks but should also be aimed at the overall development of the company.
Images: ” Training Skill Develop Ability Expertise Concept /Shutterstock.com“
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