Training and development | How to set up an efficient employee training program in 2021?

Imparting the right training and development programs is utmost important need for employee growth in organizations. Learn how to set up a word class training system. Read on!

Training and Development

Training and development are educational activities conducted in companies to enhance the skill and knowledge levels of employees. The program provides information and instructions on how to perform a task more efficiently. You need to understand the difference between training and development. Training is a short-term process with specific goals and processes, while development is a continuous proactive process for career development.

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What is employee training and development?

Companies design their employee training and development programs to help employees learn specific knowledge or skills, to improve their performance in their assigned role. Employee development is more expansive and focuses on employee growth and development, and considers their future growth. Employee development applies to broader skills and is applied to a range of situations. It includes skills like decision-making, communicating, and leadership.

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People development definition

People development definitions are strategies and measures to implement the company goals through appropriate qualification of employees in technical and methodological terms. It helps employees manage and achieve their goals. Companies using people development programs understand the training need for specialists and executives. The development needs of different employees group such as executives, junior leaders, specialists, and high-performing employees, and the people development program need to be customized.

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Objectives of employee training

The main objective of the training and development program is not limited to increased productivity and efficiency. Markets today are demanding, and companies are looking to improve their market share. Companies must learn new skills to add to their existing skills-sets. We have listed the top five objectives of employee training,

Training employees for increased productivity

Productivity is essential if you want to increase your customer base. Slight disturbances can cause losses. One of the ways to tackle the growth is increasing productivity and reduces the cost of the product. Training employees can help increase the productivity of your staff and find effective ways to improve the same thing. Training can give a new outlook to your experienced staff.

Training development program for quality improvement

One of the objectives of the training development program is to improve quality. Customers are demanding and quality conscious. If they are dissatisfied with the quality of your product or service, they will look for alternatives. Companies demand a premium if it offers high-quality products or services.

Employee learning ensures safety

Part of your job description is to ensure the safety of your staff or customer. Employee learning can guarantee your staff, use the equipment correctly, and creates suitable products for the customer. Proper safety training can help you ascertain the employee handles equipment better.

Employee development training helps reducing labor turnover

Your business cannot prosper if you have a high labor turnover. It can result in decreased productivity. Lack of training reduces your employee’s self-confidence. Employee development training ensures your company reduces employee turnover because they feel secure and safe.

Training staff will help them updated with technology

We live in a world where technology is changing rapidly. Training staff will ensure your staff, know the latest technology, techniques, and processes. Training and development programs help to improve productivity and reduce time spent on labor-intensive processes.

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5 steps to create an extensive employees training plan

You want to create an extensive employee training plan to prepare for the future. Training and development program will ensure your staff can adopt new technologies and enter new markets. A badly executed training and development plan can sabotage your efforts and cause a loss in revenue. We have detailed the five crucial steps to develop an extensive employees training plan,

Find out what you need in the human resource training program

Before you begin a human resource training program, you need to understand what is required by your company. Those needs fall into three broad categories,

1. Skills of your current employees and what you need to teach recruits.
2. Skills employees must learn to improve efficiency
3. Skills that employees need to support new products.

Depending on the type of employee, you may need to modify your human resource training program.

Take an inventory of resource before your start staff training and development

You need to list your training needs to build your employee training plan. You need to know what resources you have, your budget, and the support you can provide your HR department. You may need to look at the following checklist,

1. Present training material available
2. Do you have in-house knowledge and resources?
3. Do you have a budget to hire trainers?
4. Do you have a dedicated classroom?
5. Can you use the material freely available online?
6. Are there commercial courses available?
7. How much time can your company and employees set aside for the training?

Ensure management is involved in the training and development plan

Most of your employees are already busy. They need to feel invested in the training and development plan. For employee training and development to work, you need help from their managers or team leader. Your employees should be encouraged to participate. You may have to arrange for funding the training program and convince other management members to invest.

Feedback after the employee seminar

Training programs evolve, you need to change and modify things when required. To identify loopholes after an employee seminar, you need to gather feedback from the stakeholders and learners. It may help you reevaluate the training and development program and revamp it when required.

Create a detailed personnel training program

The final step is to create a blueprint of the personnel training program. It should contain,

1. Detailed curriculum
2. Tools, resources, and support required
3. Content creation and if content can be reused.
4. Schedule with precise dates
5. Evaluation criteria and performance metrics.

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5 key ingredients of employee training policy

What should your training program look like? Many companies think that training and development programs are limited to new employees. They do not implement training modules for employees that help their staff hone existing skills and learn new ones.

A study by Association for Talent Development showed that companies that provide professional training and development have a 24% higher profit margin. We have listed five ingredients of an employee training policy,

Incorporate microlearning in the training and development programs

People have a short attention span of 8 seconds. Microlearning is a technique of having short content that can hold your employee’s interest. Most effective training and development programs have four key characteristics,

1. Lean – Can be delivered by a few trainers
2. Scalable – The solution is applicable to staff at multiple locations
3. Simple – It should be adaptable
4. Seamless – Solutions cannot rely on in-person training.

Multimedia content in professional training and development module

Text-based training material is considered old-fashioned. Effective professional training and development module must use multimedia tools. The multimedia content that is used in training and development are,

1. Video – It is an engaging medium to provide both visual and audio content
2. Interactive – the instructions give employees tasks to complete specific tasks.
3. Image- Photos, infographics, and diagrams.
4. Audio – Podcasts, audiobooks, etc.

Pre and post-training assessment by staff trainer

Assessment helps you determine what your employees learned, and how well they are using and retaining the training material. Pre-assessment will help the staff trainer ascertain the present knowledge levels of your staff, and what they need to learn.

Post assessments allow staff trainers to identify the segments in the training program that need modification and which employees benefited most from the training. Instead of using a questionnaire style to assess training, you can use gamification to access the effectiveness of training and development.

Easy delivery and access of the employee training program

Making the material easy to access and interact with is essential to an effective employee training program. You need to implement a learning management system (LMS) to deliver educational content. LMS has proven to be an effective technique to increase productivity through continued training and development. It also allows for the content released in a time-bound and cost-effective manner.

Learning paths for training for employees

A Gallop poll found that 87% of millennials saw career development as a vital part of their job. You need to ensure the training for employees provides prospects for professional development. Building on a defined learning path will help attract talent and improve employee satisfaction. You can use tools like LMS to create diverse learning paths or customized learning programs.

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5 must-have training modules for employees

Companies invest in training programs. Some training programs are exclusive for new or trainee employees, some are leadership programs that apply to senior staff, and some skill-based training modules apply to new and old employees. The skill-based training and development may need to be changed to cater to the skills of your staff. Here are the 5 must-have training modules for your employees

Employee training course for new hires

When you hire a new candidate, they need to be familiar with your company culture and processes. They cannot afford to miss out on your onboarding training. The employee training course needs to deliver consistent and engaging content. At the same time, you need to ensure the training and development should not overwhelm the new employee.

Training & development for compliance training

You provide compliance training is to ensure the employee follows the rules and regulations of your firm. Training and development as a part of compliance training are for new and old employees. New employees need to be introduced to the rules while existing employees need periodic reinforcements. Try to ensure the compliance training is not boring and keeps your staff engaged.

Product and service training in the workplace

Employees should be aware of the product and services you provide. This is especially true for your staff that works in the front-end, interacting with customers regularly. Training and development ensure you are not embarrassed when your employee is unable to address customer queries. You need to implement training in the workplace when you want to introduce a new product or service in the marketplace.

Software training as a part of staff development programme

Most organizations use software tools and applications for higher efficiency and productivity. Staff development programme ensures your staff learns how to use the software in a safe environment. It is also easier to roll out employee development programs to help staff get hands-on experience for their role.

Training and development courses for soft skills

Soft skills are essential in today’s business environment. Companies are focusing on training and development courses on leadership, communication, and time management. You need to ensure the human resource employee training program is consistent and aligned with your business goals. You should present the content in an engaging and easy to comprehend.

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3 recent trends and approaches in staff training practices

Organizations around the world want to create an efficient workforce. Employees are competitive, goal-oriented, and self-driven. As a business owner, make an effort to channel this energy towards productivity. Use the latest trends in staff training practices. Here are the three recent trends and approaches used in corporate training and development

Employee development programme with Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is providing solutions for every industry. Using Artificial intelligence in your employee development programme would be more automation and personalization. AI-based learning programs can improve the learning experience of your staff. AI-based tools can provide tailor-made training programs and resources for individual employees.

Development training program while providing personalized training

A development training program should provide customized learning solutions. It aims to improve productivity. The development training program not only designs training modules but achieves milestones that your staff should achieve.

Give your employees the flexibility to map out strategies to achieve these goals. You base these personalized training programs on the employee’s skills, knowledge, and learning requirements. It focuses on overcoming the employee’s weakness.

Employee training programs with gamification

Gamification is using gaming techniques in employee training programs. Gaming usually involves competitive behavior. Companies create a competitive environment to encourage competition. Training and development programs can be gamified by introducing leaderboards, providing certificates for recognition, and introducing reward-based points when they complete a module. Training and development modules based on gamification result in increased engagement.

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3 grueling challenges faced in employee development programs

Whether you own a start-up or a well-established firm you need a well-run employee development program. The training program for the staff needs to address the training challenges your firm faces.

Even after careful planning and resource allocation companies, face challenges and hiccups during the implementation of the employee development program. The three top challenges faced are,

Engaging learners during training and development activities for employees

Training and development activities for employees can lack engagement on a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral level. Employees may feel the course is irrelevant and unnecessary, and training and development programs can be generic.

If you are unable to engage on the three levels, employees listen passively and have lower retention. They are unlikely to be interested in future employee training sessions.

Training program for staff that is consistent

When your company, is geographically or globally dispersed, it is difficult to design a training program for staff that is consistent. Consider the age, cultural, language barriers, and experience of your workforce. It may result in increased costs, translation issues, language barriers, and virtual training needs. Video conferences, webinars, and online forums have helped navigate the problem.

Incorporating feedback of the trained employees

Sometimes your expectation for training and development does not meet the expectation. There are times the trained employee feels unsupported. Unfortunately, problems in the training module cannot be solved, until after the program is over.

You can make adjustments and corrections only after training is over. You need to ask for employee feedback during the training program, especially the onboarding program. You can incorporate employee feedback in future training sessions.