Are you struggling to train your employees? It's alright if you are — most employers and trainers struggle to do so. Employee training today is surrounded by a lot of uncertainty. Some believe that memorization works, while others think that fancy e-Training or assessments are the solution. We're here to tell you that the way most trainers and employers are training isn't working. But, with a few changes it can work, and quickly.
So why not change the way you train employees? With actionable knowledge bases and progressive training methods, you can train employees up to 75% faster. Further, your employees will be ready to handle the scenarios they'll face on-the-job and they'll have support to back them up if they get stuck.
Rather than sitting employees down and forcing them to memorize their fancy e-Training and then pass an exam on it — try an improved method. Here are some aspects of traditional training we feel can be improved upon.
Don't Force Employees To Memorize
There's absolutely no evidence to show that memorization during training has any correlation to job performance. Think back to your own training or your time in school. When forced to memorize things rather than learn them, what do you still remember? Chances are you probably remember the things you learned through real-life experience. Simulating or providing on-the-job experience is the best way to train employees, hands down.
Also, having an easily accessible and actionable knowledge base to support your employees during their on-the-job experience will be helpful. This way employees can learn on the fly with referenceable support. Further, they'll have searchable access to documentation containing exact operating procedures. This will make for a self-training group of employees.
Ditch Elongated Training
The goal of any trainer should be to enable employees to hit the ground running and start work faster. All too often employers think that with a long training process comes better retention and a more capable workforce. This simply isn't the case.
What has been proven to be effective is on-the-job experience paired with easily searchable support. Take a call center for example. These employees typically train for six months to a year. However, this training time would be much better spent on-the-job with an actionable knowledge base in place for support.
Avoid Fancy e-Training
Another common misconception in employee training is that the fancier the training, the better it is. Lots of companies enlist fancy e-Training programs that are interactive and tell employees virtually, "nice job!" when they click the correct buttons. This training, although it is fancy, doesn't set your employees up for on-the-job success.
It's important to ask the correct question when considering E-Training: "Are my employees able to do their jobs after completing E-Training?" The answer to this is almost universally, "no." As previously mentioned, nothing can replace real-life experience with provided support that employees can access on the fly.
Understand that Assessments Don't Translate
Yet another misconception that exists in employee training is that assessments prove job-readiness. Just because a CPA or an accountant can guess the correct answer on a multiple choice exam doesn't mean that they're ready for the scenarios that present on-the-job.
To effectively train employees you'll need to provide them with two things: First, they'll need an actionable and searchable knowledge base. Second, they'll need real-life training. This way they'll be able to hold up their end of the bargain.
Your Employees Need To Learn How To:
1. Recognize the scenario
To provide your employees with what they need to recognize the scenario, make a list of scenarios you believe they'll encounter and simulate them. This will provide the real-life experience they need without negative consequences.
2. Search for help
During these real-life scenarios employees will need support. Unless you plan on looking over each and every employee's shoulder, you'll need an actionable knowledge base.
3. Know how to use support resources
Having a solution that provides support is great, but your employees need to know how to use it. Train them on how to train themselves and you'll be freed up to focus on the bigger picture.
To learn how to revolutionize your training process, check out these 4 Steps To Building Your Process Training Program From Scratch.
