Is it time to provide better training for your employees?
Wondering what the best training options are?
Training an employee well is essential if you want to ensure that you have an effective business. Great employee training can improve your business efficiency while also helping an employee move forward in their career and in their jobs.
Luckily, there are many types of training methods that you can use to give your employees a stronger education and to boost their work skills.
Below we’ll look at the best training options you’ll want to consider when preparing to train your employees.
1. Classroom Training
One of the best types of employee training is classroom-based training.
Training employees in a classroom will usually consist of a group class that is lead by a qualified instructor to teach your employees new skills. This can take place on or off-site and may include presentations, activities, and even evaluations.
Keep in mind that this type of training may be costly. However, the great thing about classroom training is that you can train multiple employees all at once in an effective way.
2. eLearning and Online Training
Another popular way to offer training to employees in the modern age is eLearning. Cloud-based learning platforms may include a number of features including webinars, videos, activities and step-by-step courses that will walk an employee through important concepts and skills.
No matter what type of business training your employees need, chances are there’s a way to train them for it using eLearning. For example, your employees can easily take the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens Certification Training online. If you’re interested in learning more about this program, you can read more now.
Online training is great because it can be very effective and inexpensive to implement. However, training can get outdated fast so it’s important that you shop around for the very best training courses and materials.
3. Interactive Training
Interactive training is also a great way to train your employees. Interactive training can mean a lot of different things but, usually, it will include more than simply listening to a teacher or watching a video.
Interactive training will require more effort from an employee and may include work simulations, quizzes, or games. Any training that requires an employee to interact with something rather than just listening to an instructor can be very effective for getting an employee trained in new skills.
4. Role-playing
One of the best types of interactive training is role-playing. This method may be used as part of a course or another training method but can help as a standalone training tool as well.
With role-playing, employees will be walked through an artificial scenario in which they deal with a customer, face a problem, or complete a task. Multiple employees can do this together or a teacher can do it along with an employee.
Role-playing is a great tool because it uses real situations and problems to improve the critical thinking abilities of an employee. It helps them make sure they can handle a situation or task well within a safe environment.
5. On-the-Job Training
On-the-job training is one of the best ways for an employee to learn. This training method will consist of an employee doing more than simulations or listening to an instructor. On the job training is hands-on and allows an employee to actually do the job while simultaneously learning about it.
Oftentimes, an employee will do this training with a mentor or another more experienced employee who is showing them the ropes and will be able to answer any questions as they go along. However, this isn’t always the case.
Employees can potentially learn very quickly with the hands-on approach. However, keep in mind that this type of training can potentially be very stressful for an employee as well.
6. Coaching
Using the coaching method is another good option for tackling employee training.
This type of method will often be combined with a hands-on method to let an employee go ahead and get involved in a job but while also having a more experienced professional there with them to give them advice and answer questions as they go along.
One-on-one training with an employee can be highly effective and can allow an employee to learn quickly while getting the best assistance at the same time. The drawback of this method is that if there are many employees to train, it can be hard to train them all at once.
7. Social Learning
Social learning is a bit uncommon but can be an effective and affordable training tool.
Social learning simply consists of an employee learning by shadowing or observing a more experienced employee and simply watching them work. While this is similar to the hands-on approach, in this method the employee may not actually do anything.
Observing and critically watching another employee complete a task can be a great choice for allowing employees to learn fast. It can also be easy for a business to implement.
8. Reading Materials and Case Studies
Training can also be implemented with the use of reading materials alone. In this method, an employee will simply read through a guide or workbook about different work skills. They’ll learn their job skills strictly through reading about them in various types of reading materials.
Oftentimes reading materials will include case studies. Case studies can be a great help in teaching employees about realistic situations and issues that may come up on the job.
While reading can be a helpful tool for learning, ideally it should be combined with other methods to be effective.
9. Lectures
In addition to reading, lectures and presentations are another less interactive approach to employee training. Lectures in which one person teaches many employees about different ideas or skills can be an effective way to learn. However, it should be noted that lectures are less effective than other, more interactive training methods.
Using lecture-based training is especially useful for organizations that have a large number of employees. With a lecture, many employees will be trained in skills and concepts at once. Because of this, it is also one of the more affordable training methods.
10. Group Discussions
Lastly, the use of group discussions can also be a valid tool for training employees. Similarly to classroom methods and lectures, group discussions can allow multiple employees to learn at the same time.
The great thing about group discussions is that they can be highly interactive. While one experienced instructor may lead the group, group discussions will give employees a chance to speak, share ideas, and talk about training materials or job concerns.
Understanding the Different Types of Training
There are many different training methods that you can use if you want to help your employees to become more effective at their jobs and to learn more skills. Make sure you consider some of the above types of training carefully if you want to help move your employees forward in their job performance.
Looking for more ways to improve your business? to learn about the 4 simple steps that can take your business to the next level.