In today's competitive business environment, there is no shortage of training methods available to you. But if you have been immersed in a training program or two before, you know there is a clear difference between an effective-training program and one that runs your team stagnant. With the vast number of training methods and resources available to you, it can be daunting to determine which of these sources are going to equip your employees with the tools they need for better performance.
While large organizations typically have a sizable onboarding and training budget, small businesses usually do not. If this is the case, and you can't provide traditional training for every single one of your employees, establish what your goals are and who will benefit most from a program. Once you have established a need, you will have to determine the source of training.
3 Effective training techniques to consider for your business
Classroom learning
For some learners, nothing beats speaking directly to the instructor. Classroom learning also requires a student to be present when the instruction is taking place, which solves the issue of your students becoming passive since classroom learning provide its learners with the opportunity to participate in hands-on practice and exercises.
While classroom learning can offer your team and your organization benefits, this technique also comes with a cost. If you're focusing on cutting business costs, live training can feel like an unnecessary expense. With classroom training comes the cost of hiring an instructor, as well as expenses associated with travel, including lodging, transportation and food.
Host your training online
Learners can access virtual-training content anytime, anywhere you have an Internet connection. It covers your bases whether your employees are visual, auditory or experiential learners, as videos often include screenshots that demonstrate precisely how to perform any task. Plus, your employees can choose from a variety of different learning formats, whether it's live, recorded or interactive.
What businesses like most about virtual training is that it is convenient, with choices that meet all of your scheduling needs. It's also comprehensive, as you can cover a lot of material and provide an environment for continuous learning while ensuring all learning styles are addressed. Finally it's cost effective, as virtual training is typically a one-time cost for an organization. You can eliminate or severely reduce travel time and expenses, and scale your virtual solution to train more people for incremental costs.
Consider a blended approach
What we have learned through our years of service is that one size does not fit all when it comes to training in the business world. Realizing this has helped our customers meet or exceed their desired return on investment. To bring this approach to your organization, consider using more than one training method to train on one subject, as different employees typically have different learning styles. This way, you can also boost employee engagement significantly, as blended learning mitigates the risk of your employees' attention running stagnant. Finally, leverage the tools and resources you have readily available. For example, instead of sending one of your employees to a trade show or industry conference, see if it's possible for him or her to participate virtually through a webinar.
