Characteristics of Top Employee Training Programs

Whether you’re training new hires or building the skillsets of existing employees, the quality of your training program will have a major impact on the outcome. An effective program can lead to increased productivity, customer satisfaction, and more; an ineffective one, however, can cost you time and money without providing any return on investment.

There are steps you can take to ensure that your employee training program falls into the former category. Here are the qualities your program needs to thrive:

It Should Be Needs-Based

While learning for learning’s sake can be fun, it’s not the best use of company time or money. You should always begin by identifying a need. For example, your company is changing its time-tracking system, and all employees need to become familiar with the new system before its launch. By identifying a need, you create a solid, tangible goal, and the training program develops a specific focus.

It Should Align with Company Values

To both ensure managerial support and contextualize the lessons contained within, your training program should be in sync with the company and what it values. How does it fit into the company culture? Does it relate to both long- and short-term goals? Is there a demonstrable positive impact to the company, its operational efficiency, and its bottom line? These are the questions you need to answer at the outset.

It Needs Assessment Metrics

After assessing and identifying your company’s needs and building a program that aligns with company values, the next step is to ensure that you can measure the program’s success. Quantifiable performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of your program are an absolute must, especially if the program is meant to be recurring. What is the benchmark for success? Whether it’s increased sales, decreased waste, streamlined communication, or any of a multitude of outcomes, you need to be able to illustrate that there has been a positive return on the investment of not just money but also time and resources. When it comes to tracking money well spent, resource planning is crucial.

It Should Be Adaptable

Having easily-quantifiable metrics can also help indicate if a change is needed. Consider the phrase, “Nothing is written in stone.” While this old adage typically refers to the idea of the future being within our control, you should take it to heart in a different way — that your training methods should be flexible and open to change and growth. Sometimes, along the way, you’ll find that the methods and tools you are using aren’t the most effective ones, and you can dramatically improve your results by being open to change.

It Should Be Engaging

Little in life feels worse than putting your time and effort into something, only to discover that people aren’t paying any attention to it. Employee training won’t be very effective at all if your employees are tuned out and disengaged from the lessons at hand. Creating lessons that are hands-on or involve trainee participation, as opposed to just reciting information and hoping it sticks, are a good start. (Here’s a whole list of quick and easy ways to engage your trainees.) By making sure engagement is high, you help ensure that learning retention is high too.

It Should Be Immediately Relevant

Speaking of learning retention, did you know that most knew things learned will be forgotten if not practiced in a relatively short time frame? By providing training and then putting that training to use in real-world applications, you are helping to reinforce the lessons. If opportunities to put the training to use do not arise organically, you can assign specialized tasks designed to draw on the new knowledge in a real-world context to help make sure that the lessons stick.

It Needs an Effective Leader

Last but certainly not least, an effective training program should always have a training manager who brings great things to the table. This is a person who takes the time to understand a business inside and out, who can expertly identify your needs and relate them back to the bigger picture. They’re someone who can demonstrate results, who’s adaptable, and most importantly, someone who’s passionate about learning. After all, to be a good teacher is to always be learning yourself. Other qualities include effective communication and social skills, the ability to set clear goals and create strategies for meeting them, and being able to think outside the box. If you're wondering who may be a good leader, learn How to Identify Your Company's Next Generation of Leaders.

A good employee training program improves your bottom line — a great one empowers your workforce to accomplish amazing things. And when you empower your employees, you’ll see a remarkable, positive difference in your company.