At too many companies, some corporate executives don’t see the value in innovating the employee training processes used to teach workers the skills they need for success. An easy-to-see ROI is often tricky to demonstrate from corporate training initiatives, and besides, what is so difficult about employee training—workers learn their jobs or are sent packing, right?
Wrong. Fact is, the most diligent, enthusiastic employees can disengage in their jobs if aren’t properly trained. Furthermore, middle-of-the-road workers—the ones who may not be exactly thrilled with their new or current employment—may completely shut down if they don’t effectively learn necessary skills. Therefore, proactive, interesting, and efficient corporate employee training and program are essential to maintain (and, hopefully, increase) productivity.
Unfortunately, this reality isn’t quite embraced by many companies. Here are some more little-known facts about corporate employee training that should matter to today’s enterprises:
Replacing and TrainingEmployees Is Expensive
Generally, replacing one $8-per-hour employee costs anywhere from $3,000-$12,000. Turnover is a big issue to American companies, costing them a collective $11 billion a year. If employees don’t feel satisfied with their jobs and leave, or if they are trained so poorly that they aren’t productive and are possibly cut loose, replacing them takes time and money. Job ads must be placed, recruiters spring into action, HR must go through another onboarding, coworkers and managers are pulled away from their duties to get the hire up to speed (as well as work overtime to temporarily make up for the departed employee), and so on. Companies know that turnover costs money, but many have no idea how expensive it really is.
A Lack of Engaged Employees
Disengaged employees are a problem, but how big a problem they are is shocking. According to a poll by Gallup, 63 percent of workers worldwide are not engaged in their jobs, with another 24 percent “actively disengaged,” meaning they aren’t just unproductive—they are detrimental to a company’s success. If only 1 of 8 workers on the front lines is enthused about working, that’s too much potential lost for your business organization.
The Benefit of Engaged Employees
The negative consequences of disengaged employees are obvious, but the benefits of fully engaged workers are incredible. One study discovered that organizations with fully engaged employees outperform businesses that are not so fortunate by up to 202 percent. That number is impossible to ignore, and should reinforce the need for improving corporate employee training processes and program by incorporating the latest strategies such as processes including mobile solutions and increased collaboration.
The Rise of Video Training Content
At some point in the last century, training video got a bad rap. Videos were overproduced, were overacted, and generally required workers to sit in a windowless room to watch them. The medium has come a long way in the corporate learning and development space—videos are now more concise, more informative, and, with today’s mobile training solutions, available to view on a device anywhere and anytime it’s convenient. And ultimately, corporate learning through video is more effective than other methods: Employees are 75 percent more likely to watch a video an learn rather than read corporate training manuals.
What aspect of corporate employee training do you think would surprise others in your business?
