6 Expert ways to upscale employee training and development

No matter if your goal is to train novice employees or boost the expertise of your current experienced employees, it's of utmost importance to give all your team members the unique chance to grow, upscale their knowledge, and elevate their skills. Comprising a training and development program is not an easy task as there are many factors to consider if you wish to have a successful result. The most vital thing to note is that training and development play an enormous role in your company's advancement as it allows your employees to upscale their performance and at the same time give sprucing results at work. Hence, if you are thinking about setting up a training and development program that will motivate and encourage all your employees, here is all you need to know.

1. Utilize on-the-job training

If you are looking for a fast, effective, and utterly productive training method, on-the-job training is the way to go. This technique gives each employee the fair and concise opportunity to learn on the go. This means that they will be doing their regular job tasks while at the same time acquiring new skills. It might be challenging and rather daunting for some businesses, however, it has been proven to be rather lucrative for the company and rewarding for each individual to have to take part in the training while they are performing their daily duties. This method merges theory and practice and neither you nor your employees would feel like there are wasting their time or money.

2. Get the right training and learning tools

Companies and businesses who opt to start a training and development program should aim to get only the expert and up-to-date learning materials. Besides hiring a professional instructor, you need to invest in courses that provide quality and useful RTO materials in order for your team members to get vital knowledge from tangible and reliable resources. When you get, for example, adequate structured learning resources for your employees or even practical assessment tools for certain feedback, you give your employees much more than a chance to learn a new item, you give them the chance to gain life-long experience. Combine them with the other learning tools like group discussions, simulation methods, case studies, educational videos, etc. and you have a perfectly comprised training and development program.

3. Find a skillful instructor or mentor

Both online trainings and in-office one can tremendously benefit from hiring a professional instructor or a mentor. Having a mentor or an instructor means having a skillful individual who is utterly competent at a certain topic and at the same time knows how to eligible pass on the knowledge. Aim to hire a person who has a lot of experience and not only knowledge. Plus, bear in mind that he or she should come prepared, give out adequate learning materials, and actually know the matter he or she is teaching. Asking for regular feedback and assessment should be implemented as a must-do step so that employee training and development would be beneficial for all participants.

4. Opt for group activities

It's a common fact that people learn best from observation. Group activities such as discussion groups, team activities, and workshops can masterfully help your employee retain crucial information much faster. There are numerous exercises and group activities that contribute to team building which at the same time allow your employees to gather new information, learn how to participate and work in a team, and foster team problem-solving activities. The best thing about organizing group activities is that it doesn't have to be expensive, but it can be really beneficial for the entire workforce.

5. Embrace online learning

Online learning or commonly known as the e-learning method has gained popularity after the ongoing pandemic. When people can't seem to come to work in person, most employers and mentors needed to find ways to keep up with regular training. Online learning has a lot of advantages – it allows employees to learn at their own pace, they can choose hours for learning that suit them the best, they work without pressure, it's cost-effective, and they can easily track progress and compare results with co-workers. E-learning allows employees to commit to the training and development process without pressure and at their rhythm.

6. Ensure competencies are recognized

Unless you are aware of what each of your employees is capable of you won't know what capabilities should employees enhance and work on. As competencies are a set of skills that contribute to each employee's work performance, you need to identify your employees' competencies so you could together work towards improving the company's status. Some of the competencies that you can focus on in the next training and development program are problem-solving capabilities, decision-making, communication, ethics, and so on. Once you ensure that competencies are recognized to match your company best, you can influence boosting your overall production and workload.

When a business decides to work on efficient employee training and developing programs, it would soon realize that a productive return on investment is guaranteed. Not only would you increase employee retention, empower teamwork, but you would also effectively improve workplace commitment and boost organizational development.

Mike is an Australian business consulting specialist. He’s working with companies that outsource their IT maintenance. He often writes about technology, business and marketing and is a regular contributor on several sites.