In today’s competitive market, providing learning and training development programmes is a must for any organisation. Your employees need to have the right skills to meet the challenges of evolving industries. In this article, we’re sharing the secrets of how to create an effective employee training programme.
Why consider training and development programs?
A training programme is a series of developmental sessions that provide growth, understanding, and enhancing skills or qualifications. Essentially, it’s a modern tool that equips your team with the necessary competencies to excel in their various roles. Training and development programmes are also a gateway to keeping your doors open, your staff engaged, motivated, and productive, and positioning your company as an attractive environment for high-value personnel. A happy team who finds pleasure in their job because they have what they need to do it well will do their jobs well.
What are examples of effective employee training methods and models?
Now, you may wonder where to begin in finding the appropriate and effective training programmes for your employees. indeed, your staff can’t take too much time off work to go out and develop these skills. You need to find one that suits your specific business needs, provides your employees with the right knowledge and environment to hone their skills, and doesn’t require a lot of admin. Here are a few models you can consider.
Online training
Virtual learning, e-learning, or online training is a training model that’s growing in popularity because of technological advancements being made. With this method, learners use videos, tests, guided reading, games, and other interactive activities and industry-related components as part of their training. It’s easy to implement, works well for remote employees, and organisations can track their teams’ progress.
Classroom
This is the traditional approach to learning that is led by an instructor. This method is in person and taught by a qualified learning development specialist or trainer who will use a mix of tools and materials to guide their lessons and employ various educational tactics to teach the required skills. Although time-consuming because of the time spent travelling to the classroom, it does provide employees with the time and resources to grasp more complex topics.
Interactive
Interactive training is a training model that uses various methods to impart skills to participants. Here, training methods immerse learners into at times, augmented realities, and technologies. It uses games, group activities, assessments, simulations, or other activities to keep employees engaged and ensure their participation. Additionally, learners create, implement, and flex their problem-solving skills and other activities to proceed with and achieve the development goals.
On-the-job
In on-the-job training programmes, individuals have a more one-on-one and hands-on approach to learning. This training takes occurs in the workplace and during office hours. It’s a practical method that involves learning how to do the job or acquiring the skill while in the role by observing others. It’s considered an efficient and effective mode of training because it uses on-hand resources to train others
How to create a training program tailored to your business needs
- Assess your needs and develop goals and success metrics
- Determine the type of employee training plan
- Keep adult learning principles in mind
- Develop learning objectives/outline
- Design and develop training materials
- Implement training
- Evaluate training
- Measure success
- Keep it entertaining
What does a successful training programme look like?
It’s important to note in assessing learning programmes, not all training models are created equal. The design, delivery, performance, profitability, and return on investment are outcomes you can use to determine if your learning programme was successful. Here is some of what you can look for to assess if your training programme achieved its goals.
- Training programme management: a successful programme is one where supervisors, leadership, or the organisation can manage it effectively and ensure everything that is needed is there and all questions and concerns are met.
- Organisational buy-in: it’s important that the leadership supports the programme. This means that they’ll consent to the time needed by employees to do the training and release funding to pay for the courses.
- Relevance: it’s great to have training and skills programmes but not all of these are suitable for your team. You need to determine if the course is relevant to your teams and the needs of your company.
- Post-training reinforcement: you also need to ensure that what is learned doesn’t end there. You need to create systems that put the theory into practice and the material isn’t forgotten. This can be achieved by holding refresher courses and going over the course information.
How to choose the most suitable training model for your business?
Choosing the right training model for your business is an important start and part of skills development.
- Evaluate your business needs
You need to begin by looking at your company’s needs and asking which skill areas need developing. What are the current or coming industry trends that you need to brush up on and pain points that need attention?
- How many of your employees need training?
Another question you need to ask yourself in deciding is which departments, teams, and individuals need priority training. How soon do they need to undergo the necessary development and what is the best way to phase it in? will they learn best individually or in groups? Once you know what training you need, you can then tailor the training sessions accordingly. You’ll also calculate the costs, and time frames and allocate all resources needed.
- Decide on your objectives
Goals differ from organisation to organisation. You need to set goals depending on your specific needs and what you want to achieve at the end of the programmes. Decide on the goals before making any big decisions.
- Consider workplace culture
Creating a workplace culture that is grounded in learning, growth, success, and development is important. With this comes the necessary support needed for individuals to thrive in their training and influences their level of engagement, interactions, and output. Knowing the workplace culture will help you decide on the most suitable training model for that environment. For example, if everyone works from home and you want to strengthen team bonds, you may want to consider on-the-job training or interactive models that require their presence to achieve this.
- Tools
Training requires a lot of resources to execute. Does your company have the tools needed to carry out the skills training or will the organisation providing the training equip your team? If it’s the former, what do you need to do to prepare your team? This includes finances, travel, materials, time, resources, and so forth. If you don’t have these and you find they are needed for a particular model, you may need to reassess and find one where you won’t have to put out as much, but not lose out on the quality of training needed.
Can my employees get certificates or badges?
Training certificates and badges are the enviable gold stars and applause that we all need to keep going and push us forward. They motivate employees to complete their courses and give recognition where it’s due This also boosts your employer brand externally and internally. They are easy to display and share with others, showcase competencies, and add value to your company value. And as an employer, you can use badges to keep track of employee training.
How can Alison’s LMS empower your employees for free?
Alison’s FREE learning management system (LMS) can empower your employees to greater productivity because:
- You can create an individualised learning path based on their unique needs
- It encourages life ling continuous learning ad upskilling by equipping them with the necessary skills for success
- Flexible self-paced learning programmes
To learn more about the benefits of registering your employees on Alison’s LMS, click below:
