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An organisation that doesn’t carry out regular staff training can be missing out on the opportunity to help its staff do a better job. But running meaningless training without an identified goal and plan can be just as bad. Here are four steps to help you improve your staff training sessions.
1. Plan sessions properly
Preparation is key to good training, so you need to spend time to work out who needs training, what training is required and exactly what that training is going to accomplish for the organisation. Remember at all times that it is essential that the training should address a specific need within the business so that you will be able to see the benefits and ensure that the training is not simply wasted working time. The means that one of the most fundamental aspects of the training is to explain at the beginning exactly what attendees are going to learn and how they can put their new knowledge into practice.
2. Put dedicated funding and resources into training
Many businesses expect internal departments to deal with employee training without actually providing any extra budget or resources. It’s common for companies to believe that there is no need to spend money on training as it can all be handled in-house. But giving a team a budget for training can dramatically improve the effectiveness of sessions. Investing in technologies such as audience response systems, which have the potential for multiple uses within the business, can make all the difference.
3. Team managers need to take ownership
It can often be a great idea to bring in professional trainers from outside the outside the business to run the sessions. But managers should not lose sight of the fact that these sessions should be attempting to impart knowledge that is relevant to the success of the company. That means that managers need to take ownership of the training sessions to ensure that the right details are being conveyed. Also, remember that a great deal of information can be transferred within the team itself, so allow some time for people within the session to discuss ideas and provide opinions.
4. Have follow-up sessions
It’s vital that any learning from the training is reinforced with follow-up sessions. It can be all too easy to forget what has been learned in a session, so it is important to have reminders and refreshers to help staff get the most out of the training.