Regular Training for a World-Class Team

In my previous article “Hierarchy of Employee Needs” I wrote about the need for regular training. A regular training plan can help support other employee needs programs or actions you have started like an internal promotions program.

Your organization or business needs to implement a regular training plan to support employee career advancement because of technological changes, societal changes, cross-training advantages, and management skills.

Read below for more details!

Technological Changes

When I was a kid there were no cell phones, home computers, remote controls (unless you were rich), tablets, iPods, rechargeable devices, Internet, online marketing, and so much more. I’m only in my mid 40’s and there has been so much change since I started working in my late teens.

Technology is changing and every year you should be updating your business tech to take advantage of the human race’s amazing creativity. For you to do this, you must also train your employees on how to use this new tech.

If you need Microsoft Office training for your employees or yourself, visit my affiliate partner’s website Know it Sooner Computer Training.

Societal Changes

Technology is changing the world and has been for several thousand years, but society is changing also. Older generations see younger generations in a negative light because of this. Millennials are always getting a bad rap from the Baby Boomers but that is because society has changed.

Business is being done differently in response to these generational changes. Your organization should change with the times, or you will be left behind and have remnants of overly complicated systems slowing down your processes.

Societal changes may also change laws and legislation. It’s definitely important to keep up with these so your business is not shut down.

The pandemic has shown that entire sectors of the economy can adapt overnight, and it also showed us the true essential workers in the trucking, grocery, and service industries. What changes happened with social distancing and working from home?

Cross-Training

A hard part of having employees is that they can leave anytime if not treated properly. As employees leave, they take organizational knowledge forcing a new person to be hired and learn that role. This process can slow down performance, production, and profits!

It is important to have multiple employees trained in multiple roles. This will limit issues when your hire a new person to fill a role. Make sure you’re acknowledging cross-training with some sort of merit pay increase. That cross-trained employee has now become more valuable to the organization so they should be compensated.

Management Training

This is a big area where organizations make mistakes all the time. Therefore, organizations have bad bosses. A good worker is not necessarily going to be a good manager without proper training. A salesperson is an expert in sales not managing a team of salespeople.

Consider a stepped training approach for all potential promotions. Moving from a junior role to a senior role, team lead, supervisor, and manager are all big changes in duties. The higher up the ladder you go the less daily work you do as you oversee entire projects or areas and as people management becomes a bigger load.

Make it mandatory that people interested in promotions should take the appropriate training before applying for the promotion.

What Next?

A training program is only good if your employees want it. Some training you will make mandatory but if an employee wants the promotion or lateral move, they will do the training. 

The point is, to consult with your employees as you create the training plan. They’ll better understand the work and the things they wish they had known before taking on their current roles.

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