Upskilling employees isn’t simply a nice-to-have company benefit. Rather it’s vital to company survival and retention of employees within an evolving competitive business landscape. It’s proposed that the quality and character of a business is often reflected in those of their personnel. Thus, the purpose of training employees is not just to teach necessary job skills and to improve existing competencies. Rather it’s also to develop people within themselves.

Thus, it’s both an effective way of transferring company knowledge and enabling someone to advance their career. In addition to improving productivity, upskilling employees has been shown to lead to increased job satisfaction. So how are you upskilling your employees?

Why Upskilling Employees is Important

Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, explained that “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.” This is because unskilled employees can be detrimental to a company’s profitability and ultimately its survival. It leads to poor quality work and often necessitates redoing of work. Both of which unnecessarily waste a company’s time and resources. Thus, the underlying importance of training employees is for both employees and companies to thrive and thereby survive within their industry.

How Does Training Employees Benefit Companies?

Research shows that trained staff are 23% more productive than untrained staff. Furthermore, it’s noted that implementing company training programmes can substantially reduce staff turnover. One study reports that annual staff turnover dropped from 89.6% to 56.7% after upskilling employees.

According to Forbes, there are multiple reasons why employee training matters. And therefore, why upskilling benefits companies and employees.

10 Benefits of Training Employees

1. Enhanced employee motivation and job satisfaction.
2. Increased employee retention.
3. Cultivation of a positive organisational culture.
4. Improved team performance.
5. Better-quality customer engagement.
6. Advanced diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
7. Promotion of technical proficiency.
8. Creation of a more secure and safer working environment.
9. Building an internal robust talent pool.
10. Effective employee career development.

Why do Employees like to be Trained?

In addition to boosting job knowledge, training has been shown to increase employee confidence and improve their time management skills. According to surveys, 80% of staff have found that this improves their overall productivity. It’s also been shown that job satisfaction is positively impacted when someone can be more effective and efficient in their everyday tasks. Greater job satisfaction leads to employees feeling more motivated and better at engaging with their work. This has a positive impact on staff morale as well as the mental well-being of the workforce. The result of happier employees is improved productivity, which directly contributes to overall business performance. 

What are Training Methods?

A company that embraces a training culture promotes ongoing learning, upskilling and across-board improvements. It has also proven to attract better-skilled employees and increase staff retention. Notable is that training is not a once-off event. Upskilling employees starts when they begin working for a company and continues throughout their employment. Accordingly, there are three different training methods. Each has its purpose and therefore is applicable at different points within an employee’s career.

Three Training Methods

1. Induction: Company orientation is the training employees undergo to help them acclimatise to a new job and/or working environment. This effective way of welcoming employees includes explaining a company’s culture, mission, visions, and values, learning an organisation’s structure, outlining company policies and systems and Q&A sessions.
2. On-the-job: Also known as in-house mentorship. This is the most cost-effective and efficient way to train staff. It enables a company to prescribe the what and how of training staff, thereby ensuring direct relevance to company purposes and culture. This training method includes apprenticeships, temporary promotions, job rotation and coaching.
3. Off-the-job: The use of external training experts allows a company to utilise resources which enhance but don’t hamper daily operations. One of the advantages is that training programmes can be based online. Consequently, staff can access a wider range of expertise and the best possible training programmes. This training method includes webinars, seminars, conferences, and workshops that generally deal with topics that drive personal growth for individuals.

How to Select the Right Training Method

The right training method, or training technique, is the one that is most relevant to the situation at hand. Accordingly, there are various techniques used when instituting training methods. Some of the more common types of training techniques are technology-based learning (computer-based training CBT), simulators, role-playing, watching videos, instructor-led training, coaching, and mentoring, reviewing case studies and required reading. These may take place on a one-on-one basis or within a group setting. Training might be over a standardised short, defined period or an unspecified time frame which is situationally adjusted.

Three basic steps can be undertaken to determine which training method is the right one to use. First, the needs of the workforce must be ascertained.  Secondly, define the objective of the training. The result of this is that training programmes will need to be adjusted according to employees’ existing skills and development needs. Thirdly, available resources and budget constraints need to be clarified. Once these three steps have been carried out, the right training method can be selected.

Types of Employee Training

Employee training should be seen as a key contributor to organisational growth and employee professional development. There are numerous ways to upskill employees. These ensure that staff can meet job requirements, effectively tackle challenges, contribute meaningfully, and provide quality services.

8 Ways to Upskill Employees

1. Competency-based training is tailored to improve specific skills necessary to perform job tasks proficiently.
2. Compliance training ensures that industry and company standards and regulations are adhered to.
3. Sales training teaches employees approaches to improve sales performance.
4. Customer training aims to advance employee interactions with customers. Thereby, enhancing customer satisfaction and increase their brand loyalty.
5. Leadership and management training prepares employees for roles with higher responsibility. Often topics like decision-making and strategic planning are covered.
6. Soft-skills training develops skills, like emotional intelligence, that assist employees in managing themselves and their interactions with others more effectively. Building good communication and teamwork-related soft skills can and does improve interpersonal interactions and workplace efficiency.
7. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training aims to create a more inclusive work environment by addressing topics such as cultural aptitude, unconscious bias, and racism.
8. Cross-functional training increases staff versatility through upskilling employees with knowledge and skills outside of their direct line of work.

The Key Recruitment Group’s Services

The Key Recruitment Group is an experienced recruitment agency, specialising in finding, hiring and helping companies retain top talent. With over 45 years of expertise, they have assisted in enhancing the sustainability of companies and lowering their labour risk profiles. Contact us today to find out how we can help you grow your future.