Employee Training: The Importance and Value of Investing in Workforce Development

Employee training is a key factor to business success, both for the individual employee and the collective organisation. It is the process of equipping employees and new hires with the necessary skills and knowledge to thrive and perform well in the job. Regardless of industry, employee training is a valuable tool for growth, where employers can take full advantage of online courses, modern technological methods, and traditional mentorships or training techniques. 

 

What is employee training?

Employee training is any activity that helps the employee acquire new knowledge or improve existing skills. Employee training can take many shapes, from onboarding to learning a specific software. It can also be formal or less formal, digitally driven or happen with a structured or less structured plan. Most importantly, it should be viewed as a continuous effort to equip the employee with skills and knowledge that cultivates a connection to the job and workplace. If they are happy and satisfied in the role, the chances are that they will be more productive and stay longer in the job.  

 

Employee training and development

Employee training and development is the process of designing and structuring courses for internal upskilling and growth. 

Learning and development (L&D) is responsible for developing and delivering training sessions to boost employee performance and increase engagement. They are looking to close a skills gap that exists in the organisation or boost professional development among existing employees. 

Employee training is a tool that L&D departments should use to upskill their employees. Upskilling is key to motivating them and ensuring that you maintain the best talent and culture bearers at your workplace. Higher engagement, more satisfied employees will lead to higher productivity and more profit. 

 

Why is employee training important?

Employee training is important for professional development for the individual employee, as well as the growth of the entire organisation. 

There are 4 factors that make employee training worth the investment: 

• Employee performance: Employees will perform better and be more productive when they are working towards defined goals that will provide them with a benefit. 
• Job satisfaction: Employees become happier and will thrive in the job if they are managing tasks and developing their skills. 
• Employee engagement: A focus on professional development will motivate employees to upskill, invest in professional and personal relationships, and engage with all the facets of a workplace. 
• More profit: Better equipped employees with higher knowledge level and more developed skills will likely increase revenue. According to Virti’s 2023 State of Learning and Development Report, both managers and employees state that L&D has a positive impact on revenue.  

Invest in the workforce and gain profit overall 

Courses that enable employee training should be essential as you are basically investing in your employees and getting a large part of the profits. Consider training sessions as investments much like social events or modern equipment. You need to put in the effort – oftentimes money – to see progress. Once you give them the tools to succeed professionally and individually, their new knowledge and skills will benefit the entire company. There will be a direct link between their career development and the overall business potential. 

 

Different types of employee training

Technical training 

The training is based on a technical product or task. This requires technical flair and an understanding of what the product or service do. When you are doing technical training, you need to tailor it to a particular task and should be customised to the skills the employee needs to complete the job. 

Leadership and management development

Leadership and management development are two linked, but separate training activities that are focused on skills that will improve managers and leaders’ abilities. Management development is focused on accountability, collaboration and communication, where the goal is for the manager to gain skills and be more effective. Leadership development is focused on the individual leader where the goal is for their leadership to be improved and become more capable. This includes  mentoring, self-study and other learning events. 

Onboarding 

Employee training is at the basis of when you onboard new hires. The organisation equips them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in their new job. 

Read also: How to do onboarding of new employees 

Other types of training

• Soft skills training: A subset of skills training that is focused on creative, communicative or teamwork skills, rather than technical product or task.  
• Compliance training: Skills required by law, mandated by an agency or policy, which requires the organisation to schedule training.   
• Corporate training: A form of upskilling of existing employees that is focused on their individual tasks. 
• Safety training: Specific training in health and safety to reduce workplace injuries.

 

Design a thoughtful employee training programme 

If other employees see that the management are prioritising professional development, they are more likely to stay in the position. Employee retention will not follow automatically though. It is dependent on a precisely designed employee training programme. 

An employee training programme should be strategically planned and designed, where the training goals and business objectives are aligned to work together. They should support each other. This means that the efforts put into training should have a self-reinforcing effect. 

 

How to train employees? Effective training methods 

There are many ways to do employee training, where you adjust the courses and sessions with various tools. You can choose digital training methods, traditional versions or a combination of several methods. 

Get an overview of the most common training methods below: 

• Instructor-led training: Instructor, oftentimes in a physical space, offers training. The employee is also present in person.  
• Online training: Only online courses or digital resources to gain knowledge or skills.    
• Blended learning: Combination of online course and in-person training.  
• Coaching: A form for peer-training where another employee is explaining tasks or responsibilities to a new hire. 
• Mentoring: Another form of peer-training where a senior employee is sharing skills or knowledge with a junior employee. 

 

The key elements of a successful training course

If you want to create a successful training course, you must ensure that the training programme is consistent with the overall goals of the business and individual employee. You should examine the objectives, ensure that they can be achieved using the tools and methods you have chosen, and evaluate and adjust the course offer continuously. 

Align training goals with business objectives

The training programme must be designed according to the goals and objectives you want to achieve. If you are using many resources on upskilling employees or onboarding new hires without a clear understanding of how this can help profitability, you are less likely to be successful. 

Choose right training method 

In person, digital or blended learning offers various up- and downsides and you should choose the method that is most relevant to your employees. You should also consider using a combination of traditional, instructor-led training and digital training. 

Read also: The benefits of online learning 

Use the right tools for training 

Learning management system enables you to create and distribute online courses, which makes it a great tool for creating training programmes. In the FrontCore LMS you can customise your own course, which participants can take anywhere, whenever they want. This offers them flexibility, which will enable them to fit training courses into a packed schedule. 

Continuous evaluation and improvement

What impact does the training have on participants? How does the course material increase engagement? How effective are the digital learning tools available? 

The answers to these questions have a potentially huge impact on how effective your course is, and therefore a massive factor to how well the employee training is going. Therefore, you must gather feedback and update the course material to align participants’ expectations and actual programme. Course evaluation is a great tool for understanding the needs of your participants and how well you are able to answer their needs. 

Additionally to qualitative feedback, you should collect data based on predetermined metrics. Engagement and course completion are metrics you can use to justify the budget and scale of course to the necessary stakeholders. 

Read also: How to create an online course 

 

Why is training important for employees? 

Employees view learning opportunities as signs of care, as these are investments – both financial, professional, and personal – from the employer. It signals that the employer takes the development of the employee seriously. A whopping 94% of employees surveyed in the 2024 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report said that they would stay longer in their company if it had invested in training and development. 

Whether it be an onboarding process or upskilling in a certain software, the employer will always gain from the training that is being offered. A skilled, well-equipped employee is more efficient, profitable, and is more likely to thrive in the role – and therefore stay for a long time. In the UK, 7 out of 10 say that learning improves their sense of connection to the company, which is a key factor to feeling happy and secure in the position. 

Training is something that cultivates a positive culture within the organisation. By investing in knowledge and skills, you as an employer are shaping the environment to be curious and engaging. A learning culture is the foundation of employee training. The knowledge and skills gained here will not stick if the workplace is not conducive to development. This entails that learning and upskilling should be encouraged. If conflicts arise or business circumstances occur, people are also more equipped to handle this in a constructive and inclusive way. 

 

Summary of the best practices for learning and development

• Personalise the training sessions and courses to the employee’s unique needs and wants. 
• Take full advantage of online and digital training tools. 
• Use senior colleagues and promote collaboration and mentorships. 
• Ensure that the learning is continuous and a part of everyday processes. 
• Remember to evaluate the initiatives and always improve what can be improved. 

 

Try a LMS for employee training 

If you work with upskilling internally in your organisation, you can engage a professional course provider or organise your own upskilling training sessions. For the latter, you can use a learning management system (LMS). You can use the FrontCore LMS to simplify and boost e-learning efforts. This is a tool you can use for in-house training, which allows you to build online courses that can be organised however you like.

The LMS is a valuable tool for several reasons: 

• It is a time saver!
• It is cost-effective
• It streamlines administrative tasks 
• You get valuable insights into metrics and user behaviour 

For training or courses you can use the training management system (TMS) to administrate courses and integrate it with LMS to facilitate online and physical-based courses.

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