Employee Training and Development: Strategies for Business Growth

In the current economic landscape, it’s more important than ever to implement strategies that will turn your business into a more sustainable and profitable venture.

One of the best ways to do this is to invest in your staff, which will require you to not only hire good people in the first place but also provide them with excellent employee training and development programs.

Technological advances and the ways in which companies are doing business continue to change at breakneck speed. So, human resources leaders and corporate management must rethink how they can get the best out of their employees.
In this post, we’ll outline some of the ways you can empower your employees and benefit your organization.

What is an Employee Training and Development Strategy?

In the corporate sense, an employee training and development strategy represents a firm commitment from a business to enhance the overall skills and knowledge base of its staff.
The primary purpose for doing so is to ensure they make a more meaningful contribution to the company through their everyday performance, which, in turn, can help the organization to better meet its overall objectives.

Why is Employee Training and Development Important?

Employees are vital to the successful growth of any business, and to put it bluntly, an organization that does not have a well-considered and designed training program in place is putting itself on the back foot.
Companies that do can enjoy a competitive advantage in the marketplace thanks to several benefits from successful staff training.
Arguably, the most important one is that employees will be able to do their jobs better, as they will receive the skills and knowledge required to be more productive and efficient in their roles.
This, naturally, will go a long way towards helping the business meet its targets and operate in a more streamlined way. Additionally, it will ensure that your organization is better able to adapt to the latest technological developments, process modifications, and industry trends.
Moreover, employees should feel more engaged and satisfied with their roles within the company, which usually manifests itself in high levels of staff retention and even promotions.

What Are the Different Types of Employee Training Methods?

Overall, there are five different types of employee training and development methods that should be incorporated into any strategies designed for business growth.
Which one(s) you use will depend on the specific goals and needs of your company, but they include the following:
 

1. On-the-Job Training

On-the-job training is the act of being taught new skills while actively doing real job tasks.
Overall, this hands-on approach can be very effective as it allows staff members to develop their abilities in the context of their everyday responsibilities.
It can be particularly useful for those involved in customer service, technical support, and manufacturing, where the impact can be fairly immediate.
 

2. Online and E-Learning Courses

This method uses digital platforms to deliver flexible training programs to their staff members.
The great thing about it is that it is very accessible and can be done remotely or at your employee’s desk. 
It can also incorporate microlearning, which means that staff members can learn without too much distraction from their daily activities.

3. Seminars and Workshops

This approach to training takes the form of a more traditional classroom-style arena, which is usually led by expert facilitators.
The main purpose is often to encourage group activities, exchange ideas, or convey theoretical knowledge.
It is perfect for companies that want to encourage staff collaboration and is tailor-made for those who prefer to learn by being ‘taught’.

4. Mentorship

Often companies will run mentorship programs, particularly when onboarding new staff, which pairs less experienced mentees with more knowledgeable mentors. 
It usually takes the form of a peer-to-peer relationship that provides the former with practical insights and personal guidance that can help them gain skills and knowledge quickly.

5. Blended Learning

A blended learning approach is one that takes all the other four elements and incorporates them into a more flexible employee training and development strategy.
It can be very effective because it reinforces what knowledge and skills you want your staff to have in multiple ways

How to Develop Employee Training Strategies for the Workplace

An employee training and development strategy can be a very complex thing to draw up, especially if you run a big company. But it is worth taking the time to do so because you will want to maximize the benefits of it.
Overall, there are five main steps you need to take when devising your program, the first of which is to identify exactly what the strategic objectives and goals of your organization are.
It is unfair to demand your staff perform at optimal levels if you don’t know what that actually means. So, take the time to understand what you want your company to achieve within the next 12 months and beyond.
Once you know in which direction you want your business to develop, you will have to assess where your staff currently are in terms of their skills and knowledge. There are several diagnostic tools you can use to determine this, although you should also incorporate staff reviews, feedback sessions, and surveys when doing so.
The goal here is to produce a personalized action plan for each employee to identify what areas you would like them to develop their skill set in.
After creating this, you can choose what training methods will be most appropriate for each employee and start to roll out an overall schedule for your entire organization, and when each program will take place.
When you do roll out your employee training and development programs, you will need to record what specific training activities each staff member has undergone to avoid them doing it more than once (unless required)
You should also make a conscious effort to fine-tune your programs by gaining feedback from those who took them and monitoring the overall effectiveness of them as a training initiative.

Conclusion

The business world is more competitive than ever, and for many companies, the performance of their staff can make or break them.
While it is important to have a good hiring and onboarding process in place for new staff, you should also develop resources to ensure that your employee training and development strategies are as robust as they possibly could be.

FAQs about employee training and development

Here are some answers to questions training managers frequently ask about employee training and development.

What is employee training and development?
Employee training and development is a program of activities that businesses provide for their employees to enhance their overall skills and knowledge base.
As a continual process, its purpose is to enhance both the growth of the company and the contribution of the individual within the workplace.

What are the four main types of training and development methods?
Overall, there are four primary methods that are incorporated within corporate training and development. They are eLearning, traditional classroom-style training, on-the-job training, and blended learning.