Employee education is key to your company’s success – it increases the value of your employees and builds their confidence so that they can contribute in a much more meaningful way. A well-designed educational program contributes to the motivation, engagement and loyalty of employees.
However, employee training is often neglected because companies are reluctant to spend their time and money on training people. In fact, according to the Deloitte Millennial Survey, only 24% of millennials are “very satisfied” with the professional development opportunities their company provides.
Why is employee education important?
Let’s first consider 3 important reasons in favor of employee education.
1. Personal development and self-confidence
No one likes to be stuck in a dead end – all people strive for professional development and career advancement. When your employees feel like they are contributing to the company, it gives them a sense of value. Employee training is the best way to encourage that feeling, because people feel more confident when they have more to offer. They can use some of that knowledge in their private life as well, which leads to personal satisfaction and improvement of work morale.
2. Increasing productivity
Training gives employees the opportunity to acquire a broader set of skills, so they are better prepared to deal with problems. Moreover, well-trained workers can expand their roles to cover more areas, leading to higher productivity. On the other hand, employees who are demotivated become apathetic, leading to low productivity. By investing in proper training for your employees, you reduce the need for constant supervision.
3. Increasing loyalty
It is not true that trained employees tend to seek better business opportunities. The fact is that when a company invests in employees, they feel empowered and valued, which increases loyalty to the company they work for. Remember, hiring new employees is more expensive than retaining existing ones, even if it means investing in their education. Well-trained workers can train others, which is a good benefit for you.
Where to start?
Now that you know the importance of employee education, let’s see what you can do.
Make your expectations public
To begin, clearly state the skills you expect from each role and determine what the current skills of each employee on the team are. This will help you identify gaps that you can fill with education.
Before any training begins, create an atmosphere of trust by informing all employees what they will learn and why the company has decided to invest in that particular program. Education should sound like a good opportunity to them, not a burden. This is of extreme importance for the organizer (owner, manager, HR) to be aware of this because the result of the education as an effect on the company’s business directly depends on the degree of motivation and will of the employees for the personal and professional advancement that this education should bring them.
Explore the education offer
Today, it is easy to find an offer for employee education. All you have to do is do a little research on the internet. The most important thing is to choose an adequate education, and lecturers can help you with that.
Ask for feedback
Once the employee training is complete, it would be a good idea to do an evaluation of the program to see if it has had an effect. It is also of great importance to apply the acquired knowledge, but in such a way that the employees do not have the impression that you are testing them.
Team building Arena has prepared a package that includes all the above requirements. It is a program that consists of three blocks, where the first block is theoretical, and then through practical exercises performed by the participants, examples are demonstrated that will be analyzed in the debrief that follows at the end of the program. The program is adapted to the topic being addressed, and the topics are as follows: employee communication, time and resource management, stress management and control, leadership, employee motivation and synergy, … Depending on the topic that is covered theoretically with the active participation of the participants, activities are chosen that emphasize and in practice encourage the necessary activities that are best accepted through the “game” and then in the debrief it is actively concluded how important the newly accepted values are both for the individual and for the company . It is very important that the company is aware that in all aspects it is always possible to better recognize which value needs to be further processed and reinforced in the company and that this education is carried out with special attention and eminent associates. Education is something that the company MUST constantly work on.
