Enterprises are increasingly taking the important task of training their employees seriously. Recent research discovered that companies are spending an average of $1,004 per employee on learning and development. This represents a 10 percent increase over the previous year. Moreover, the better established a training program is, the more companies will spend per employee—$1,317 on average.
Although the dollar amounts devoted to employee training programs are up, are companies truly achieving an effective ROI with their efforts? Throwing money at the problem isn’t a solution by itself; the quality of training must be high or else the learning won’t translate into engaged workers and increased productivity. Here are four key tactics professional training specialists use or are adopting to make the most of their companies’ employee training programs:
1. Interactive training
Learning and development shouldn’t be an “I talk, you listen” endeavor. If workers feel like they are being preached at or lectured to, they will tune out the training and may actually become less engaged in their jobs. Top training professionals recognize the value of interactive employee training programs. Their approaches might include visual presentations, hands-on training, and the opportunity for workers to ask questions and offer input into the process. Employees aren’t subjects or pupils with this strategy, but instead are active participants whose interest is piqued and opinions are valued.
2. Videos, podcasts, and other non-print mediums
Textual training materials—particularly printed content—were the stalwarts of employee training programs for decades. In 2015, however, they simply aren’t effective, especially with millennials making up the bulk of today’s workforce. Video and audio content better resonates with younger employees, and are proving to be successful with older workers as well. Video is a particularly powerful medium, for good reason: Study after study has shown that people remember and internalize much more from visual images than from printed text. Apply that to employee training programs and you get workers who are more likely to use their recently learned skills right away.
3. Dynamic delivery methods
Another drawback of printed training content is the delivery—a thick bound manual that makes college textbooks seem svelte, or a 2-inch binder that won’t fit into a backpack. Neither makes employees want to open up and start reading. Mobile solutions move employee training programs onto tablets such as an iPad or Surface. Besides being much less intimidating, tablets are a technology most millennials are familiar with. Content is easier to access and more appealing, thus increasing the likelihood that employees will absorb what is contained within.
4. Direct experience
Incorporating training content into the practical applications of those processes and functions takes employee training programs to another level. Imagine a line cook learning a new recipe not by reading a document in a back office, but by taking an iPad with him or her into the kitchen, watching video of how to prepare the dish, and pausing and rewinding the video as needed to fully grasp the process. The quality of learning improves, as does, most importantly, productivity because the cook is mastering the recipe sooner.
What tactics do you find effective in your employee training programs?
