Training Programs: Five Steps To Success

In today’s knowledge economy, you need well-trained workers to leverage your bottom line. Training can be either technical or emotional. Although it’s relatively easy to provide technical instruction through written or computer-based resources, emotional training requires people to communicate with each other.

For example, manuals and online resources might be effective in teaching Excel spreadsheet applications. However, they can’t deal with the emotional issues involved in sexual harassment training — only dialogue can do that.

To develop and maintain effective training programs, follow these guidelines:

1. Create a structure. Commit to training as a process, rather than a project. Set clear standards for your hard and soft skill-set needs. Create a strategic plan, budget, and schedule.
2. Provide the right tools. All training resources are not created equal. For example, some online technical training applications are better than others. To test which programs work best, have different groups of employees try different programs. Then compare changes in their productivity.
3. Follow up. If one-time training worked, you could ride a bike after reading a single book on bicycling. Provide a continuing process to help employees incorporate what they learned during the training experience.
4. Offer incentives. Give your employees rewards or payoffs for their participation in training programs. These incentives can be either financial or non-monetary perks (dinners, entertainment tickets, and so forth). Reinforce the learning experience so the employee wants to repeat it.
5. Leverage training. Whenever an employee gains a valuable insight during a training session, encourage them to share this information with co-workers who might be affected by it. Multiply the impact of training by having workers use what they’ve learned to help your agency run more effectively.

Don Phin, JD, CPCM is president of HR That Works, Inc., a firm specializing in management, employment law, and risk management. He serves as the Human Relations Key Consultant for IMMS.com. Phin, a past president of the American Academy of Employment Law Attorneys, can be reached at (800) 234-3304; e-mail [email protected]; or visit www.hrthatworks.com.