Your employees having the right tools for their jobs or “the right tool, for the right job, in the right way” as the phrase goes, and whether your team are using specific items, need specialist digital software or devices, or their tools happen to be knowledge, equipping your employees with the right materials can make an enormous difference when it comes to productivity, output, and even retention.
Let’s have a look at the numbers a moment, to put this into context:
- 59% of employees say they have had no formal training for the role they work in.
- Only 12% of employees can use the knowledge acquired through training to do their job.
- 74% say the lack of development programs is the reason they’ve not unlocked their full potential.
- Ineffective training costs companies $13.5 million USD per 1,000 employees annually.
- Employee retention grows by 30-50% in companies with potent training programs.
- Companies that invest in training have a 24% higher profit margin.
All round – from employee satisfaction, and productivity, to profits – making sure your employees have the right tools for their jobs makes a lot of sense.
You might think that your training and upskilling processes are satisfactory, and that your staff are fully capable of handling their positions – but when was the last time you actually stood back and looked at what you offer? When was the last time you reviewed your training policies and the content of the programs, and compared them against current work processes? Do your employees have the right tools for their jobs?
Reviewing Your Processes and the Content
Not every business grows or evolves at the same pace – especially if you have a legacy company or are dealing with a process that doesn’t change very often. But even if one aspect of the business stays relatively static, there is more to a company than the product.
Evolutions in digital marketing, content management, customer service, and other online activities are just a few areas where change is happening regularly – and your staff need to know how to handle these platforms, what to look for, how to identify an impending crisis, and actions to take to keep on top of everything.
Ideally, a business should be reviewed at a minimum of every six months – this includes looking at the business plan, the structure, the direction of the activities, and how well everything is succeeding.
This lets you know whether the business is growing, and if it’s sustainable, it will also help you identify areas where training or upgrades are required.
It’s important to talk to your team too – they are working on the front line, and are doing the day-to-day activities, they know best of all what they need to work efficiently, and whether they have sufficient training to handle this.
Each time you review your standing, you should ask yourself, “is the training sufficient?” For example, if every six months your team are giving you the same responses, and you’re seeing the same errors – then whatever training you’ve implemented isn’t working, and it needs to be readdressed.
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How Can You Tell if Your Training Programs are Working?
It’s all well and good implementing training opportunities, but you need to make sure that the content is exactly what’s needed, that the format of the training is working with your team, and that these opportunities are actually being taken by the team.
Questions that you need to ask yourself, when considering your training sessions should include:
- Were employees satisfied with the training?
- Did we ask employees for their opinion on the materials, and what they would suggest for future improvements?
- Were the training materials in an easily accessible format?
- Was employee turnout satisfactory?
- Does the training content have clear expectations for each role?
- Do we have metrics and measures in place to measure employee performance after training?
- Do we have measures in place (such as quizzes or tests) to determine how much employees know, and whether they’re retaining the content of the training sessions?
At the end of the day, your employees can only give out as much as you put into their understanding and abilities – and this includes their motivation.it is important they have the right tools for their jobs. 94% of employees say they would stay with an organisation longer if the company invested in their training, and this is certainly something to take seriously – the better equipped your team are to work, and the more motivated they are to succeed, then the more they learn, the smarter and harder they work, and the better results you see when it comes to profitability, customer satisfaction, retention, and attracting new talent.