What to Train Your Employees in Besides Their Specific Job Skills
To earn your employees’ trust and contentment, your training program should go beyond teaching them their daily tasks, and providing feedback. Note that happy and satisfied employees perform better, which increases your company’s productivity. In addition, your skills and capabilities as a business owner gets more recognition, improving the reputation of your business.
Though the benefits may sound one-sided, it really isn’t the case, because your employees will also gain significant advantages from an exceptional training program. And considering today’s fast-evolving digital technology, companies don’t really have an excuse for providing insufficient training. If they’re unable to hold face-to-face seminars, the option to try out an outstanding virtual team training program is always at their disposal.
That said, what should be the aspects of a training program to encourage employees to stay and develop their career?
Continual Learning
From instructing employees specific job skills, training has introduced a new aspect, called development, which provides opportunities for long-term professional growth. In recent years, training and development have become an integral part of business strategies, and a recognized profession with distinct theories and system of methods.
Training and development paved the way for businesses to embrace “continual learning” and other aspects of a training program as a way to promote employee growth and obtain a highly skilled work force. So much so that today, employees that continually improve their skills are now regarded as vital factors to a business’s success.
Effective training and development starts with your business’s overall strategy and goals. It would be helpful to analyze your customers and competitors, strengths and weaknesses, and any relevant industry or trends. From there, the information you acquired can be used to direct the path of your training program.
Conducting internal audits will also come in handy as it lets you identify the general areas that might benefit from training. You can also determine the types of skills your employees possess to find out what skills will your business need in the future.
In a nutshell, your training and development program must be aligned with your company goals. In addition, the objective of the program should include milestones to keep your employees driven, and to allow them to monitor their progress.
Career Pathway
According to Maria Kraimer, business professor at the University of Iowa, having regular career planning discussions is critical for businesses. Employees have to be made aware of the different career paths or job opportunities within the company that they can have. Otherwise, they may be lead to believe that their job posts will remain stagnant, tempting them to leave your company.
You can hold career planning discussions through weekly meetings. They don’t necessarily have to be formal sit-down meetings, as they can be conducted through your regular interactions, project check-ins, etc. In other words, take every opportunity to reassure your employees that you seek their growth as well.
Stretch Assignments
As a manager or business owner, it is your duty to seek developmental opportunities for your team. You have to find out their career aspirations to determine how to boost their skills. But rather than selecting the best employee for a specific stretch assignment, find the best developmental assignment for that specific employee.
In line with those effective training and development aspects, maintain your periodical conferences and mentoring events. As your employees become more skilled and competent, they’ll grow more confident of your support. This secures their happiness, which can be more valuable than any output they produce.
