04 - Different Types of Employee Training Programs.

 

Introduction.

Employee training is an essential factor where workforce is central resource for any organization. As it impacts employee retention, morale and productivity. And these elements will make employee training and development as the essential factor of growth of the organization. Employee training and development is a vast area. If we consider on the term employee training, that is a program where it is a program which employee learn and gain specific knowledge and skill to develop their performance in their current role. Meantime employee development, refers to the focus on employee growth and future performance apart from the immediate job role. So in this article we will discuss about the types of employee training programs (Allen Communication Learning Services, 2021).

Workplace Training.

The term workplace training described where the process of improving knowledge, skills and efficiency in your profession. Organization conduct different types of training depending on their requirements and the urgency of their needs and the availability of resources (indeed.com, 2023),

Importance of Employee Training.

Training is critical factor for an organization’s growth and success. Creating training programs will allow organization workforce to be more productive, efficient, and adaptable and improve their skills including communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving (Gupta, 2023).

Benefits of employee training includes,

• Improves employee morale.
• Reduced chances of employee errors.
• Increased productivity.
• Improve employee retention.
• Addressing employee weaknesses.
• Close the skills gap.

Video - The Importance of Training Employees.

(Indeed, 2023)

Different Types of Workplace Training Programs for Employees.

Companies conduct different types of employee training programs depending on various factors such as, the size, requirements, and activities of an organization. Following are some of the most common types of training programs which observed in a workplace Gupta, 2023).

1. Orientation Training

This will provides basic organizational information that for new hires need to ready for their role in a company. This program benefits both employees and employers by educating new hires, arranging them up for success in their new roles, resolving any questions they might have, and helping them contribute to the organization right away (Gupta, 2023).

2. Onboarding Training

This is the process of getting new employees up to speed, recognizing their new responsibilities, getting familiar with company culture and converting them to productive team members quickly. This process is a series of events that may take time. Onboarding is responsible for truly integrating an employee within an organization (Gupta, 2023).

3. Compliance Training

This is a workplace training type authorized by legislation, regulation, or policy. It instructs employees on the laws and regulations applicable to their job function or industry.

An effective compliance training program will helps on preventing poor conduct and ensures proper governance in an organization. Also it will minimize risks, maintains reputation, and provides a better and safe workplace environment for employees (Gupta, 2023).

4. Product training

Product training includes all the information about your organization’s goods, services, or products that employees need to learn to perform their jobs effectively. Depending on different employee roles, product training focuses on various aspects and has other learning goals. Value-adding product training enables a marketing team to reach the right market and a sales team to answer the critical questions customers are looking for (Gupta, 2023).

5. Leadership training

This training for the existing leaders is a way to refresh and reset their mindset. On the other hand, leadership training for other employee’s supports them to get a better understand of their current roles and learn what it takes to become outstanding leaders in the future (Gupta, 2023).

6. Technical skill training

This training is a basic component of employee education because it is a primary way for you to improve the skills you need in your role. Employees who are already capable in their jobs can undergo further training to gain new skills and stay current with the latest technologies and processes (indeed.com, 2023).

7. Quality assurance training

This training helps employees to understand the quality assurance activities and develop processes that ensure the final product or service achieve set quality standards, which leads to customer satisfaction and loyalty (Gupta, 2023).

8. Sales Training

This is designed to develop sales team’s skills by educating those sales techniques, software tools, and novel approaches to selling. Effective sales training programs emphasis on helping sales teams define the benefits of products and services, address the unmet needs of the client, and get them one step closer to a purchase (Gupta, 2023).

9. Soft-Skills Training

“Employer will want you to behave professionally and function well as part of a team. Soft skills refer to personality traits that enable you to communicate and work cooperatively with co-workers and customers. These skills are useful for both new and old employees, and they play a vital role in building a respectful, collaborative and efficient culture within a company” (indeed.com, 2023).

10. Team Training

Team training inspires beneficial team dynamics, ensures all team members have the same professional growth opportunities and improves employee morale, collective efficacy, and member satisfaction (Gupta, 2023).

11. Diversity Training

This training programs generate awareness for diversity-focused matters within the workplace with focusing to enable positive interactions and reduce prejudice and discrimination among employees.

These programs are encouraging employees to embrace people with diverse cultures and backgrounds, including – race, color, nationality, sexual orientation, religion, gender, physical and mental ability, etc. Developing a diversity training program is an important step toward reducing the risk of workplace discrimination and harassment claims (Gupta, 2023).

12. Safety training

This training protects you from work-related injuries, and it is especially important for Organization that use toxic chemicals /other hazardous materials. These trainings also includes fire drills, evacuation plans and workplace violence procedures (indeed.com, 2023).

13. Upskilling

This is the process of employees learning new skills and gaining relevant competencies needed for today’s work environment and also for the near future. It focuses on developing employees’ skill sets, usually through continuous training programs, to help them advance in their jobs (Gupta, 2023).

14. Reskilling

This is a process where employees acquire new skills to move into a different job role within the organization or to meet the new demands of an existing role. It typically occurs when an employee’s previous tasks or responsibilities become irrelevant, often due to advances in technology or skill gaps (Gupta, 2023).

Benefits of Different Types of Employee Training.

Following are key benefits different types of employee training.

• Improved technical performance and efficiency of employees in their profession.
• Growth in employee engagement also the productivity
• Improved job satisfaction which helps in increasing employee retention rate.
• High rate of self-initiative and growth among employees.

Determining Best Types of Employee Training for Your Workforce.

According to the Emeritus Institute of Management, 2022.the best types of employee training depending on few main factors. It has to be align with company goals and objectives. If the organization is performing selling products, the employees should intent to have product, sales, and quality assurance training. Also it depends on structure of the organization. If the company does not have the in-house legal, it is better to focus more on compliance training for its employees. The next factor is employees’ goals. To motivate workforces and to retain talent, companies have to offer them both technical and interpersonal skills training for their career growth. In general onboarding and soft skills training are commonly required trainings.

Measuring the Success of Different Types of Employee Training.

Some of the common measuring of effectiveness of the different employee training types are,

• Post Training Assessment.

Circulation questioners related to provide training will be one of the fastest way.  

• Supervisor Report and Feedback.

A details report prepared by trainer or the supervisor related to performance of each employee.

• Achievement of Performance KPIs.

Measuring through the achievements will take longer time where this will suits more for sales, quality assurance, and safety training (Emeritus Institute of Management, 2022).

Costs Associated With Different Types of Employee Training.

Employee training will also consist of different cost factors. Following are the most common cost factors,

• Learning tools such as the Learning Management System (LMS), artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality tools.
• Cost of outsourcing instructors.
• Custom content development for learners.
• Training assessment costs (Emeritus Institute of Management, 2022).

Employee Training Trends.

According to the, LinkedIn Corporation, (2023), following are the Top four focus areas of L&D for 2023.

• Aligning learning programs to business goals.
• Upskilling employees.
• Creating a culture of learning.
• Improving employee retention.

In addition to above trends, the core areas for employee learning and development in 2023 are:

• Mentorships.
• Employee well-being.
• Career development programs.
• Compliance.
• Hybrid or flexible work.
• Leading through change.
• Upskilling and reskilling.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion (Emeritus Institute of Management, 2022).

Best Practices and Strategies for Improving Employee Training.

There are several best practices which needs to consider when designing training programs,

Starting with focusing on improving the employee experience, which will increase engagement, motivation, and morale.

And also personalize the training’s content and format to suit the needs of the individual will also be a best practice for a company.

Then use of digital training solutions, such as digital adoption platforms, which can develop training outcomes and improve the digital experience of employee.

Setting measurable training goals that will increase the productivity while improving other key goals, such as employee satisfaction, workplace safety, and organizational communication.

To make the most of the program over the long term, track its performance and continually make adjustments (walkme.com 2023).

As the conclusion of this article, Employee training is an investment with consist of its own risks and rewards. By understanding it, organizations leaders and managers make the most suitable decisions when designing and implementing their training programs. Among different types of training programs, selecting most suitable training type and arranging with the using most impressive way will make employee more satisfied and at the end there will be high probability of achieving the defined goals and objectives. HRM has to understand the, trends and need to apply relevant strategies when implementing the training program. 

List of References.

Allen Communication Learning Services, 2021. WHAT IS EMPLOYEE TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT allencomm.com [Online]. Available at https://www.allencomm.com/what-is-employee-training-development/#:~:text=Employee%20training%20is%20a%20program,than%20an%20immediate%20job%20role. Accessed on 11th August, 2023.

Emeritus Institute of Management, 2022. Upskill and Retain Talent With 14 Types of Employee Training. emeritus.org [Online]. Available at https://emeritus.org/blog/types-of-employee-training/. Accessed on 11th August, 2023.

Gupta, 2023. 14 Types of Employee Training Programs (+Benefits, Examples) whatfix.com [Online]. Available at https://whatfix.com/blog/types-employee-training-programs. Accessed on 11th August, 2023.

indeed.com, 2023, What Are the Different Types of Workplace Training? indeed.com [Online]. Available at https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/different-types-of-workplace-training. Accessed on 11th August, 2023.

Indeed, 2023.The Importance of Training Employees: 11 Benefits Youtube.com [Online]. Available at https://youtu.be/djfNZ98KY44. Accessed on 11th August, 2023.

LinkedIn Corporation, 2023, 2023 Workplace Learning Report, linkedin.com [Online]. Available at https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report#chapter-01. Accessed on 11th August, 2023.

walkme.com, 2023.Employee Training walkme.com [Online]. Available at https://www.walkme.com/glossary/employee-training/. Accessed on 11th August, 2023.