Many companies make the mistake of investing little time or money into training employees effectively because the practice is not seen as cost-effective. It is important, however, to look at the process of training employees as an investment rather than a burden, since employee training may boost productivity, quality of services, and even employee happiness. The management of a company must buy into this model, and a fair investment of time and resources should be allocated to the employee training process. High-quality training materials will be necessary, as will effective trainers.
The process of training employees should not be a one-time affair; it should instead be an ongoing process that engages the employee in effective practices and valuable skills that will help both the company and the employee build a foundation for higher productivity. Training materials should be carefully researched and purchased with the company's goals in mind; this should be done well before any program for training employees is in place, and practice runs of training sessions should be conducted to measure the effectiveness of the training. The training sessions can be evaluated and modified during this phase to ensure the program is ready to go when employees enter the classroom or training room.
One of the most important steps a trainer must take when training employees is to establish the connection between the materials being presented and the employee's job. Relevance to one's job will promote interest in the subject matter and help an employee stay engaged throughout the training. Employees who see no connection between the training and their jobs, even if that connection does exist, will see less point in engaging in the training in a useful way. The instructor should clearly state the importance of the training and its relevance to the employee before any training begins. It helps to restate this relevance throughout the training as well.
Employers will need to track the overall results of training employees to ensure the training is working properly and producing benefits for the company and the employees. Measurable data should be collected before, during, and after training to track the effectiveness of the program, and if positive results are not seen, the company should consider altering the training program or overhauling it altogether. This process can be a long one, but the results of creating and implementing an effective training program will often produce significant benefits well worth the investment of time and resources.
