A recent workplace training study over the last year resulted in an astonishing fact:

Between 79-80% or workplaces spent less than $1000 in training on their employees

That’s a staggering amount and even more when you break it down further:

• Given a median hourly rate of $22, this equates to 45 hours of training
• 45 hours is just barley the first week of work for a full-time employee
• This is an annual figure, meaning onboarded staff from prior years barely get 1 hour of training and development a week
• Weekly, the average employee gets less than $20 of training spent on them to develop skills or increase productivity

It’s no wonder that lack of adequate training, development of skills, and creation of new challenges are a consistent metric that appears in most every survey of why employees leave.

Leaders and organizations can do better than this. So as to get our mental acuity focused into the realm of increasing training competency, here is a checklist of items you’ll want to consider in making your training programs effective to better develop your staff and organization.

1. Onboarding with Clear Expectations.
2. Onboarding with a Mentor, Big Sister/Brother
3. Mini-boot camp (or training camp) training (any title will do)
4. Yearly skills calibration
5. Micro-learning accessibility
6. Tailor training methods to meet employees needs, not company’s (or the trainer’s)
7. Thread Culture, Values, Vision through every fabric of training (yes, the finance team too!!)
8. Subject ALL staff, from hourly to C-level – to the exact same training modules and sessions
9. Mix up remote digital training with in-person small groups
10. Find each person’s needs and match to a training plan
11. Train every day (athletes and orchestras do it!)
12. Make training a bigger budget line item – it does ensure a solid ROI if done right
13. Leadership must by in
14. Training must be a culture, not a counter-culture
15. Always work to improve content, engagement, and relevancy
16. Ask trainees for feedback personally, not through a survey
17. If you do ask for feedback through a survey (because some of you will), leave open ended comment boxes so employees aren’t penned into a few irrelevant answers that don’t allow them honest feedback
18. Infuse fun and creativity
19. Encourage training credit in extra-curricular training that augments and dovetails into the work (thru Lynda.com, local colleges, online sessions, etc)
20. Reinforce continually to keep skills sharp throughout their career
21. Have a monthly training focus throughout the entire organization to rally around a core value (customer service, safety, communication, integrity, etc)
22. Combine learning styles for maximum impact and reach
23. Include your hourly staff in teaching to build there skills and grow future teachers, trainers, subject matter experts, leaders
24. Don’t make it boring – mix it up with breaks, change seat locations, content structure to avoid boredom and increase retention

These are just a few of the many ways great companies get proper training done. It’s easy – if you’re willing to make it happen. And it reaps benefits – if you execute it correctly.

If you have other methods of training that you’d like to include, please list them below!!

(image: pixaby)