“Employees are the most important asset for every business!”
This is a popular saying and presumption among businesses of all scales and from different industries. But one must understand that an employee is only an asset when they add value to your organisation.
In case your employees lack the skill and knowledge to do their jobs effectively, they will do more harm than good to your enterprise. This makes it imperative to train all employees and equip them with the right skills and knowledge, helping them add value to the organisation and further contributing to the overall growth of the business.
You can train your employees and prepare them for their jobs in a few different ways. Every business needs to identify the primary training needs based on their business model and core products or services. The following three primary areas are common training needs in order to prepare their employees effectively. These areas are:
- Onboarding training
- Technical training
- Compliance training
This blog will walk you through the nuances of all three training modules, thus helping you enhance the efficacy of employee training in your organisation. Let’s start.
Onboarding Training
Despite the level of knowledge the recruit may bring with them, onboarding training will equip them to what they need to do in the job. There are many things that a new employee needs to learn upon joining an organisation or company. This is where onboarding training comes in as a handy tool to help them learn everything about their job and the organisation that employed them. The main aim behind onboarding training is to ensure things get easier for the recruit to start their journey with minimal hassle and complications.
How to Deliver Effective Onboarding Training?
Delivering effective onboarding training is not as challenging as one might imagine it to be. Trainers need to keep a few things in mind to deliver effective onboarding training that will genuinely benefit the employee.
- Informing Recruits About Their Roles: Every recruit must know their role in the organisation. Trainers must inform the recruit about their jobs’ significance and how it adds value to the organisation. This is important for making the recruit feel valued while motivating them to deliver exemplary work.
- Interactive Training Materials: Onboarding can be an overwhelming experience for any recruit. Trainers can make this process more memorable for new staff members by using interactive and engaging training materials. This will be very helpful in keeping the employee engaged while ensuring they have some fun while learning new information about their job and new employer.
- The Buddy System: The buddy system is probably the most popular strategy to help an organisation train new recruits. One can assign a mentor colleague to help learn more about the working environment. The buddy system allows recruits to socialise with existing employees and break the ice to help make them feel further at ease in their new working environment.
- Spending One On One Time: The other effective measure you can take to enhance your onboarding training is making sure the manager engages one-on-one. Direct interactions with recruits can be very important in enhancing their overall experience in the organisation. This will also increase their chances of feeling more welcomed in the new environment.
Technical Training
Regardless of an employee’s job description, everyone needs a certain set of technical skills in their role. This may be specific system training in this highly digitised environment or even the handling of a machine. This is what makes technical training highly imperative for every employee.
Different Types of Technical Training
Over the past decade, industries have come up with many new and ingenious ways to deliver effective technical training to employees. Three of the best-known approaches for technical training include:
- Classroom Technical Training: As the name suggests, this is an approach where trainers gather trainees in a classroom to equip them with all necessary technical skills. This is highly effective as trainers can directly interact with trainees in real-time and form a lasting connection that benefits all.
- On The Job Technical Training: The conventional and age-old effective way to provide technical training to employees is on-the-job training. In this case, recruits are taught new technical skills while doing the job. This practical approach to training allows recruits to get a better understanding of the purpose their training serves. As a result, it becomes quite easier for them to retain the knowledge they gain during the training program.
- Virtual Technical Training: One of the defining aspects of every person who managed to survive the COVID pandemic is video interaction. Trainers also took this opportunity to train recruits and equip them with necessary training skills virtually.
- E-Learning: Taking the concept of Virtual Technical Training to the next level means pre-recording the training sessions or developing a system of training components where the employee can see how to use the system and practice it without jeapardising the data of the organization. This may include interactive videos and animations to help trainees better grasp the concepts. There are many ways to accomplish this that will require different levels of budget. Ask us, to learn more!
Why is Technical Training Important?
Every employee needs basic technical knowledge to be effective in their role. When a recruit joins an organisation, they need to know how to apply the skills they acquired in their lifetimes specifically to their new employer and their jobs. This is where technical training bridges the gap by allowing recruits to use their existing competence and mould it in a manner that will benefit their organisation and employer. The key is to know that you don’t have to choose one or the other of the above training options. You can mix and match for the best effect. It is important to work with a curriculum designer to build out training that is effective and won’t break your budget.
Compliance Training
Every business and organisation must comply with certain rules and regulations to get their jobs done effectively. This is where compliance training comes into play to acquaint employees with necessary rules, regulations, and other company policies. Businesses often have legal requirements for compliance training and the delivery can be done half-heartedly.
Different Types of Compliance Training
Different types of compliance training focus on different areas of the business, all serving their unique purposes. So let’s check out some of these types to understand better.
- Health and Safety: This is one of the most important compliance training concerned with the rules and regulations for ensuring the health and safety of employees. Trainers can leverage many content and training programs to inform employees about the necessary measures for the well-being and safety of all personnel within an organisation.
- First Aid Compliance Training: First aid compliance is mostly concerned with teaching employees how to respond to an emergency situation. Generally, employees learn about CPR and wound sealing measures in this type of training.
- Privacy Protection (PIPA): If your organization is collecting personal information of clients, you need to comply with local and maybe even international privacy rules. This training is especially pressing for those with access to this data.
- Organizational Training: In addition to government rules and regulations, any organization may have the need to provide additional compliance training. A common example is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Training or DEI.
Bottom Line
Employee training is very important for every business and organisation. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to delivering effective employee training. Whether onboarding training, technical training, or compliance training, each requires special attention from the business.
While there is no way out of this, the information mentioned above can certainly make things much easier for you. So make sure to put it to timely use and enhance your approach towards employee training to drive better results.
Other Articles in this Series
- Onboarding Training
- Technical Training
- Compliance Training
