Is Your Training Plan Detailed Enough?

Posted July 24, 2017

Your employee training program may have been around for years and gone through countless updates, but after all that - is it truly detailed enough to churn out happy, productive employees?

Good training starts with a good plan that is based in the company’s values and objectives. It should also ease new employees into the system and track their progress as they get familiar with various procedures and gain experience. Ultimately, a good training program should be geared to keep employees happy and productive for a long time.

Here are a few tips on how to achieve that.

Start with a plan

For training to provide significant benefit, your company should first have a clear method and performance plan in position. Your approach should plainly articulate a handful of core abilities and competencies, as well as identify any crucial procedures that must be regularly executed. Your training should then revolve around these abilities and procedures.

Avoid useless training

Nothing can derail a training program faster than trainees being overwhelmed by information. If that overwhelming mountain of information includes anything unnecessary, you aren't doing your trainees any favors.

A good way to stick to useful information is to use trainers who have actually worked in the roles they are training for and empowering these trainers to tailor the material as they see fit. This way, trainees know they are learning only what they need to succeed - and not a bunch of information that top-level management has handed down from on high.

Schedule bite-sized training sessions

Research has shown that elite athletes train continuously, but in small increments. These men and women typically don't wear themselves down with three-and four-hour training sessions. You should approach the scheduling of your training program with the same mentality.

Many companies find success with a pattern of short training sessions followed by 'implementation sessions' - where trainees apply the knowledge they have just learned. Through this learn-apply pattern, knowledge becomes ingrained and proper procedures become habit.

Analyze and adjust

No two training sessions are ever the same, and therefore, trainers should be constantly evaluating each training session as they go, paying attention to what is working and what isn't. Trainers should document any method that resonates with their particular group so it might be incorporated into future training sessions.

At the conclusion of each session, solicit anonymous feedback from all participants, and invite participants to share any detailed thoughts in private one-on-one conversations. In particular, have trainees identify any parts of the training they found difficult or confusing.

Also, new employees' performance should be tracked starting in the training sessions and all the way through until the employee leaves the company. This data could provide insights for both the training and hiring processes.

Partner With a Full-Service Staffing Agency

At Ambassador Personnel, we work with our client companies to ensure our contract workers are successfully onboarded and trained. To learn more about how we can help your company achieve its goals, please contact us today to work with a full-service staffing agency.