The whole office lets out a collective groan…
You’ve just told them that they’ve got a training day next week.
They’re probably expecting a load of dated training videos going over stuff that they know inside out because they do it every day.
Or maybe they’ll get presentation filled with business jargon that doesn’t really teach them anything of use.
Training is such an important part of the business… but so many companies do it badly.
If you really want to get the best out of your employees, you need to make sure your training is actually valuable.
These are the top 5 ways to get the most out of staff training.
5 Ways To Effectively Train Your Staff
1. Have A Clear Goal In Mind
If you’re conducting training because you haven’t done it for a while and you think you probably should, you’re not going to get anything out of it.
You need to have a clear goal in mind before you start training if it’s ever going to be useful.
- Whether it’s improving customer service
- Teaching people how to use updated software
- Going over revised company policy
You need to know why you’re doing it before you start training.
If you don’t, it’ll be an aimless day that won’t really improve anyone’s skills. Instead, you’ll just waste a day of work.
2. Relay Goals To Employees
Having a goal in mind for your training is the first step, but it’s equally important that you relay that goal to your employees.
For example, if you’ve had some complaints about the way that staff answers the phone and you just want to reiterate good phone mannerisms to your employees, you need to tell them that.
Otherwise, they’ll be wondering why they need training for something they do every day.
If they know that they’ve been making mistakes, they’ll be more engaged in a training that aims to fix that.
3. Understand Learning Styles
Everybody learns in a different way. Some people pick up information from a quick presentation, while others don’t.
Understanding that and tailoring your training is the best way to make sure people are actually taking it in.
This great guide to the seven learning styles and what they mean will help you to plan varied training sessions that everybody will get something out of.
4. Pick The Right Space
If employees are crammed into a small room with no air conditioning in the middle of summer, they’re not going to be able to concentrate on your training seminar.
Picking a comfortable room with plenty of space and any other equipment you might need will make things run a lot smoother.
5. Track Their Progress
So many employers forget about this step but it’s the most important.
After training has finished, go back to those goals you set out when you started.
Have a look at performance and see whether the training has had the desired effect.
If it hasn’t and nothing has changed, you know that the training wasn’t effective and you need to do it again in a different way.
If you don’t track progress, you’ll end up running the same training programs over and over, even if they aren’t working.
Training is vital if you’re going to get the best out of your employees, so make sure you’re getting it right.
