Why Train Your Staff?

Why staff training is important?

An organisational training culture starts with the owner or manager – you! A management team that is knowledgeable about training opportunities/challenges will send the message that your company cares about the professional development of staff, and that training is part of ‘the way we do things around here’.

A training culture is not something that develops overnight; it needs to be fostered and encouraged. Although building a training culture can be hard work, companies that have successfully developed a culture of training are perceived as quality organisations . Close collaboration and open communication between management and staff on training needs result in improved working relationships and, in most cases, greater productivity and retention of staff. Acknowledgement and promotion of the training achievements of participants, both in-house and to clients and suppliers, will also assist in making training a valued component of your company’s operations.

Perhaps the most important benefit of a healthy training culture is that the skills of your staff are formally recognised and that your employees feel that their contribution to the company is valued.

Companies that have a healthy training culture report the following benefits:

• Improved quality
• Increased productivity
• Greater flexibility and responsiveness to change
• Reduced insurance premiums
• Less wastage
• Reduced maintenance and repair costs
• Greater commitment from staff
• Higher staff retention rate
• Improved morale.

How to assess your training needs?

Step 1: Look at your business and ask yourself the following:

How well are we doing?

• Are we on track to achieve our long-term business goals?
• Are we doing well compared with our competitors?
• How is our bottom line? Could it be better?
• Are our clients happy with our service?
• Are our staff happy in their jobs?
• What business areas could benefit from training?

Am I completely satisfied with:

• The quality of my products or services?
• The efficiency of my business system

What standards do I want my business to achieve?

To answer, look at the:

• Target production rate
• Budgeted operating costs
• Maximum acceptable time lost through injury
• Maximum acceptable level of customer complaints or dissatisfaction
• Targeted increase in market share.

Ask key staff or managers in your business what they want to accomplish and how training could help them achieve their goals. For example, if you need to decrease the level of customer complaints, targeted training can improve your customer service excellence.

Step 2: Look at your staff

You should consult with all staff on a 6-monthly basis to determine their training and development needs. You can do this using:

• A focus group;
• Staff meetings;
• One-on-one meetings;
• Interpersonal / Organisational Skills Assessment (Performance Appraisal)

After consulting with your employees, analyse the results of the questionnaires, focus group, one-on-one meetings or skills assessment to determine where skill gaps lie. Compare skills already obtained with skills required to do the current job, and those skills required for future development.

Step 3: Create a training profile

Create a training profile by recording your analysis in an easily retrievable format, such as a table (if required, we can provide you with a template to copy and redesign to suit your company style guide). Identify the types of courses or experiences requested, the number and levels of people requiring training (for example, shop floor, managers) and, if applicable, the number of in-house training sessions needed.

Step 4: Draw up a training and development plan

Once all requirements have been worked out, draw up a training and development plan to show your commitment to the training process. The plan should list all of the courses scheduled, the employees identified as participants, the dates, venues and session times.

Step 5: Publicise the training and development plan

Publicise the training and development plan to all staff, preferably providing individuals with personalised notice. This ensures that all employees are advised of the available learning opportunities and receive equal access to training.