Business owners can invest tens of thousands of dollars in employee training over their countless years in business, but that doesn’t mean they’ll end up with highly trained and productive employees.
Not all training methods are made equal, which means some can be effective for onboarding and upskilling while others aren’t. How you carry out training can also make a difference. If you’re tired of investing in training and development only to end up where you started, your training programs might be failing for some of the following reasons:
You’re Using Outdated Training Methods
Many decades ago, training your employees from a written manual was commonplace. After all, many business owners didn’t have any other options. However, that has now changed. We have advanced training methods like virtual reality training programs designed to make training more immersive and collaborative.
Explore advanced training options that cater to multiple learning styles. For example, virtual reality training incorporates the best of live instruction, web-based training, and audio and video content and combines them into one easy-to-use training program.
Your Training Has No Focus or Direction
You might see a desirable training program being advertised and believe it has valuable information your team could benefit from. That might be true, but you might not enjoy the results you desire if you don’t have a particular reason for holding your training sessions in the first place.
Make sure you know what your ‘why’ is before planning your next training session. For example, if your employees build websites, but you must now use new security features, your ‘why’ would be to make sure your employees know about the new features to incorporate them into future site builds.
You Hold One-Off Training Sessions
Training and development is important, but you might assume that only one session is required to benefit from more productive employees and higher retention rates. One training session might provide your team with new knowledge, but it can take much longer to turn that knowledge into actual process and productivity changes within your business. Instead of holding one training session, create a series and consider follow-up reinforcement to see eventual positive change.
You Don’t Practice What You Preach
Every business needs a strong leader to follow the same processes they expect of their employees. As a result, any training opportunity for your team is also a training opportunity for you.
By taking the lead and using the knowledge you have learned, you’re showing your team that you’re eager to see positive change. If you were to carry on with old, outdated processes, your employees would be more likely to follow your lead, making your training a redundant practice. As the saying goes, lead by example.
You Don’t Allow Enough Time
It can be frustrating when you don’t see any results from your training programs. However, it’s important not to expect changes overnight. After making training your priority for several weeks or months, you might then have to wait the same amount of time again to identify noticeable changes in your workplace. Habits can take a long time to form, and any form of training can require patience and consistency.
Most well-established businesses incorporate at least a small amount of training and development, but not all will see the results they desire. If you’re struggling to get the most out of your team, consider whether your training is to blame.