What Is Employee Training and Development?

Employee training and development is a significant activity in corporate settings.

From employees’ perspective, it’s a means to acquire new job-related knowledge and skills, deliver better performance, improve productivity, and advance their careers.

Similarly, looking from employers’ standpoint, it’s a proven way to retain and manage talent, improve business ROI, and achieve growth and profitability in the long run.

But, according to the latest employee training statistics:

• 59% of employees say they received no formal training for their current positions
• 74% of employees consider lack of training opportunities as the main reason they’re not unlocking their full potential

Also, Gallup has estimated that employee disengagement costs the U.S. economy $350 billion every year.

From this, it’s clear that employee training plays a major role in ensuring employee engagement, performance, retention, and business growth. Only systematic training can keep your workforce satisfied and invested in your company.

Why Should You Keep Reading?

Perhaps you already have a rough idea of employee training. But to make the most of such programs, you first need to know them inside out or the nuances.

This post discusses all that you should know about the topic so that you can plan and implement impactful employee training programs. It will uncover the examples, types, benefits, and best strategies to create successful training programs. 

Continue reading to get to the substance of this article.

What Is Employee Training?

Employee training is a planned and systematic process of developing general and role-based knowledge and skills in employees to help them perform their duties effectively.

Such training programs are often tied to:

• Improved employee performance
• Better decision-making
• Achievement of business objectives
• Adherence to industry standards

Employers use various methods for staff training, including classroom training, eLearning, role-plays, webinars, group discussions, and more.

Pro Tip: Employee training and development programs should be engaging, flexible, measurable, and consistent to achieve positive results.

What Is Employee Training?

Types of Employee Training 

Employee training is crucial to any organization’s success, as it helps ensure that employees are trained for the necessary skills to perform their job roles effectively. 

There are various types of staff training – from on-the-job training and apprenticeships to classroom instruction and e-learning; organizations have a range of options for employee training. 

In this context, let’s explore the 10 types of employee training. 

1. Onboarding Training 

Onboarding training is the process of integrating new employees into an organization and providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their job duties effectively. 

Onboarding training starts with orientation and covers other activities, such as HR paperwork, training on company policies and culture, facility tours, introduction to team members, and role-based training.

Pro Tip: A learning management system (LMS) can help you automate onboarding and bring your new hires up to speed faster. LMS have professionally designed employee training courses and templates, which saves your time and effort in course creation. 

The primary aim of onboarding is to acclimatize new hires into a company physically and emotionally so that they feel welcome and comfortable in their new environment. 

How to Create an Employee Onboarding Training Program

2. Leadership Training

Leadership training is a type of employee training that focuses on developing leadership and management skills in the workforce within an organization. This type of staff training typically includes topics such as communication, delegation, decision-making, and team building. 

Leadership training is essential for new and experienced leaders, as it can help them build stronger relationships with their team members, improve organizational performance, and achieve business goals. Effective leadership training programs can significantly impact an organization’s success, as strong leaders are crucial to driving growth, innovation, and positive change.

Watch: How to Develop Core Leadership Skills | Training Course Introduction

3. Compliance Training

Compliance training focuses on ensuring that employees are knowledgeable about and adhere to the laws, regulations, and policies that govern their organization’s operations. 

Compliance training can cover a wide range of staff training topics and courses, such as workplace safety, anti-discrimination and harassment, ethics training, general data protection regulation, phishing awareness, and financial regulations. 

Such training is essential as it helps minimize the risk of legal and financial consequences for the organization by ensuring employees understand and follow the rules governing their work.

Pro tip: Use compliance training software to create and deliver customized training modules, track employee progress and completion, and maintain training records. Such solutions also provide automated reminders and notifications to ensure that training is completed on time. 

Watch: How to Set up Reminders and Ensure Course Compliance

4. Technical Training

Technical training imparts skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in technical fields and industries. It provides a foundation for ongoing learning and career development and can help individuals stay competitive and relevant in an ever-changing job market.

The primary goal of technical training is to equip individuals with the competencies needed to perform specific technical tasks or functions within a given industry. 

In other words, it involves training on all the technical aspects of a job. These skills are often job-specific and necessary to perform a task correctly and competently.

Examples include:

➤ In sales: CRM or customer relationship management (CRM) system training

➤ In hospitality: Training on how to process orders

➤ In retail: How to use a point-of-sale system or inventory system

5. Customer Service Training

Customer service training is critical for organizations to provide quality customer support. It trains customer-facing employees on how to keep customers happy, build customer loyalty, and maintain a competitive edge. 

With effective customer service training, employees become proficient in  handling customers’ needs and provide proactive solutions, leading to greater customer satisfaction, repeat business, and positive word-of-mouth referrals.

This type of training typically covers topics such as communication skills, problem-solving and conflict resolution, product knowledge, and customer relationship management. It may also include training in active listening, empathy, and cultural sensitivity. 

 Watch: How to Measure Customer Satisfaction

6. Product Training

Product training educates employees on a company’s products – their features, use cases, pricing, how they can benefit end-users, and more. The training plays a vital role in sales and marketing strategies.

Product training is recommended for both new and existing employees across all departments.

However, it is primarily targeted at salespersons to provide an in-depth understanding of the product’s features, benefits, and potential applications, allowing them to communicate the information effectively to customers or clients. This, in turn, leads to greater success for your business. 

Also Read: How to Impart Product Knowledge Training to Your Employees

7. Sales Training

Sales training improves sales professionals’ skills, knowledge, and techniques in selling products or services. This training may include product knowledge, communication skills, negotiation tactics, objection handling, nurturing sales leads, and closing sales. 

Some key benefits of sales training include increased sales revenue, improved customer satisfaction, better employee morale, and higher professionalism. 

By investing in sales training, organizations can improve the performance of their sales teams, ultimately leading to increased profitability and success.

Watch: How to Master the Art of Selling | Training Course Introduction

8. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training

Organizations often provide diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) training to their employees to promote a positive work environment, enhance employee engagement and retention, and improve productivity and innovation. 

DEI training aims at promoting a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. It helps individuals and teams understand and appreciate the value of diversity, reduce bias and discrimination, and create a more welcoming and inclusive environment for everyone.

DEI training is becoming increasingly important as more organizations recognize its role in reducing workplace conflicts.

Watch: What Is Diversity, Equity & Inclusion? | Training Course Introduction

9. Safety Training

Safety training promotes safety in the workplace. It educates employees on safety practices and procedures that should be followed to prevent workplace accidents, injuries, and illnesses. 

These employee training programs are designed to meet the specific needs of each workplace and are tailored to the types of hazards that employees are likely to face. Employers are legally responsible for providing safety training to their employees periodically and ensuring they follow all the safety protocols. 

If an employer fails to provide such training, the court will consider it negligent, which can further result in prosecutions, penalties, and even imprisonment. 

It is important to note that safety training is an ongoing process and should be regularly reviewed and updated as needed to reflect changes in workplace conditions, procedures, and applicable laws.

That’s exactly where safety training software can help. Besides creating courses, you can train your workforce on the latest safety policies and procedures, maintain training records, meet compliance standards, and ensure ongoing compliance. 

10. HR Training 

HR training refers to developing and improving individuals’ knowledge, skills, and abilities in human resources roles. This type of training can cover various topics, including recruitment, employee relations, performance management, and leadership development. 

The goal of employee training in HRM is to equip individuals with the necessary tools and knowledge to effectively manage human resources within an organization. By investing in HR training, organizations can ensure that their HR professionals have the skills and knowledge needed to contribute to the success of the company. 

Such training also becomes significant considering the strategic roles HR professionals play these days in a business.

Also Read: What is HR Training 

Now that we have covered the types of employee training, let’s explore the benefits of training your employees. 

12 Incredible Benefits of Employee Training 

Your employees are your most valuable asset. Unfortunately, many employers don’t invest in their employees’ ongoing learning. By doing so, they are making a costly mistake.

Don’t be one of them. Instead, find out the top 12 benefits of training employees that you can leverage. 

1. Bridging Knowledge Gaps

This is perhaps one of the greatest employee training benefits. 

No matter the position and role of an employee in an organization, there’s always something new to learn from time to time.

Identify the mismatch between the required skills and the current skills with a training needs assessment. After that, you can close the skills gap through systematic training.

This will enable your employees to adapt to new professional requirements easily.

2. Improved Performance

When employees receive the right training at the right time, it paves the way for improved performance. That’s because training empowers them with the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their jobs proficiently and effectively.

Such professionally trained employees, in turn, bring measurable business results.

3. Reduction in Employee Bounce Rate

It’s estimated that the turnover cost for an average U.S. employee is approximately $15,000. 

No surprise that this class of workers has earned the nickname “the job-hopping generation.”

This problem underscores the importance of taking effective measures to counter employee attrition. This is where employee training can help.

Employees tend to feel valued when employers invest in their learning and development.

In addition to sharpening employees’ skills and preparing them for their job roles, such training programs prevent employees from switching jobs.

Training lets you get a grip on employees and retain them easily.

4. Greater Creativity & Innovation

Brainstorming sessions, knowledge sharing, co-learning, and other collaborative activities during a training session spark creativity and innovation in employees. This helps them become more proactive, especially when they encounter job challenges. They can apply ideas in new ways to overcome these problems.

This is again one of the significant benefits of training employees.

Well-trained employees are more agile by nature. 

They can readily respond to and handle different workplace situations. Their approach to work becomes more refined than their untrained counterparts.

This, in turn, results in greater performance and productivity.

How to Build a Culture of Innovation | Training Course Introduction

5. Engagement in the Workplace

Training increases workplace engagement by keeping employees busy learning something new and exciting.

Restricting employees to routine tasks can breed monotony over time. They easily become jaded in such situations.

During such times, learning & development opportunities can be the best antidote, a welcome break, as they bring a change in vibes. It shifts their focus to rewarding activities that promote their professional development and career growth.

6. Satisfaction and Morale Boost

One of the reasons employees leave an organization is the lack of growth opportunities through continuous learning. 

40% of employees are likely to leave their jobs within the first year if they don’t receive the necessary job training.

This proves that no employee likes to remain stagnant in their profession. They expect to move up the ladder with time and be happy about it.

Training can make that possible. It can help employees realize their real worth and enhance their capacity to contribute to an organization. As a business owner or trainer, you should offer them those opportunities that will promote growth and career development. 

When employees realize they are doing their best and are appreciated, their satisfaction level soars dramatically. This gives them the much-needed morale boost to sustain themselves in your service.

7. Increases Employee Agility and Fosters Curiosity

Agility gives a sense of achievement, a key factor for business success. If your employees are not given the right training and it’s stalling their progress, it affects their workplace agility.

When employees get stuck in their duties, productivity comes to a halt, and it can escalate into larger problems.

Employee training can teach your workforce how to resolve problems quickly and efficiently, encouraging them to become more innovative.

The need for innovation goes along with a sense of curiosity.

Workforce training can bring a positive change. Before long, you’ll be developing leaders who stand out in the crowd.

8. Promotes Brand Growth

A company that makes ongoing employee training one of its business strategies never stops growing. Such an organization always prioritizes staff training and development because it’s the surest way to outdo its competition.

Corporate training can enhance employee skills and performance and make them feel delighted. Over time, it can transform the employees into your brand ambassadors.

This can have a positive impact on your company profile and reputation. As business networks and customer base grow, so does your brand.

9. Provides Competitive Advantage 

Training provides a competitive advantage to a business by improving the skills and knowledge of employees, which leads to increased productivity, efficiency, and innovation. 

Well-trained employees are better equipped to handle complex tasks, provide excellent customer service, and adapt to changing market conditions. They are also more likely to stay with the company, reducing turnover costs. 

By investing in employee training and development, businesses can gain a competitive edge by staying ahead of the curve and meeting the evolving needs of their customers and industry.

10. Builds a Stronger Workforce

Training is an essential component in building a strong workforce. Training ensures that employees perform their jobs effectively by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills. It also helps them adapt to new technologies and changing work environments. 

A well-trained workforce is more productive, engaged, and confident, which leads to higher job satisfaction and better employee retention.

Investing in employee training benefits the workforce and the organization’s bottom line by increasing performance and profitability.

11. Helps Grow Your Customer Base

“The way you treat your employees is the way they will treat your customers.” – Richard Branson

Proper training is the best way to keep your employees motivated. This will ultimately translate into better customer care and customer satisfaction.

When your existing customers are happy through exemplary customer service, the news can reach potential customers by word of mouth.

This eventually paves the way for growing your customer base and generating more revenues.

12. Your Employees Will Thank You for It

There are two main reasons employees quit: 

1. They fall out with their manager 
2. They aren’t learning anything useful

If employees are properly trained, it helps maintain healthy relationships in the workplace and enables them to work better. They’ll also be grateful to you for the opportunity to learn something and they are more likely to stay loyal to you.

Here, online employee training software can make your job a lot easier. Most of the popular software solutions on the market today are robust, accelerating how you set your employees up for success.

Watch: How to Choose the Best Corporate Training Platform

Examples of Employee Training Methods  

Organizations use various methods to train employees and enhance their skills and knowledge. Here are some examples of staff training methods:

• Instructor-Led Training (ILT)

ILT, also known as in-person training, is a method in which training is delivered by a qualified instructor or trainer, usually in a traditional classroom setting. The instructor presents information, leads discussions, and provides hands-on activities to help learners master new skills and knowledge.

ILT is a popular choice among learners as they can learn synchronously by interacting with an expert and asking questions in real time. It also provides opportunities for immediate feedback and personalized attention. 

• Virtual Instructor-Led Training (VILT)

It is a form of online training in which an instructor delivers live training to participants through a virtual platform such as video conferencing software or an LMS.

It simulates a traditional classroom setting while providing the flexibility and convenience of online learning. VILT is often used in corporate training, distance learning, and professional development programs. 

VILT allows organizations to deliver training to employees in different regions or countries, eliminating the need for travel. VILT is cost-effective as it eliminates the need for a physical classroom, travel expenses, and accommodation costs.

Watch: How to Set up Your Virtual Classroom in 5 Minutes

• E-Learning

E-learning is a method of delivering education or training over the internet through electronic devices such as computers, tablets, or smartphones. It is convenient, flexible, and cost-effective, making it a popular choice for learners and educators alike. 

The best thing about e-learning is that it enables learners to access learning materials and complete courses at their own pace and convenience.

E-learning can take many forms, including online courses, videos, podcasts, webinars, and interactive simulations. You can deliver them through various platforms such as an LMS and other digital tools.

Watch: What is eLearning and How Can It Help You?

• Microlearning

In this training method, the learning materials are broken down into smaller, bite-sized pieces of content. Courses are delivered in short, focused bursts that learners can easily consume on the go. 

The best thing about microlearning is that it enables self-paced learning, where learners can take courses in a way that fits into their busy schedules. Rather than dedicating hours to a traditional training session, learners can access short, targeted pieces of content when they have a few spare moments. 

This can lead to better engagement and retention of information, as learners are more likely to be fully focused on the material.

• Simulation

This method involves creating a realistic, interactive scenario or environment where learners can practice and apply their skills. 

This method is often used in industries where hands-on experience is critical, such as healthcare, aviation, and manufacturing.

Simulation is an amazing way to upskill your workforce. It creates an environment that closely mimics real-life situations, allowing learners to develop and refine their skills in a safe, controlled setting. This can be especially valuable for high-risk, complex tasks that require a high degree of precision. 

• Social Learning 

As the name suggests, social learning is all about learning from others in a social environment. Examples of this kind of learning include group discussions, Q&A sessions, role-plays, and team-based brain games.

Social learning is a theory that suggests learners acquire new knowledge, behaviors, and skills by observing and imitating others within a social context. It emphasizes the importance of social interaction and collaboration in the learning process.

Multiple individuals are involved in the learning process characterized by observation, imitation, and knowledge sharing.

Watch: How to Enable Collaboration & Discussions in Your Course

• Coaching and Mentoring 

Done either in person or online, coaching and mentoring provide a one-on-one learning experience to employees. It usually occurs between a new employee and an experienced senior during onboarding. 

Trainees find this method more personalized and comfortable than the one that takes place in a physical classroom setting.

• Blended Learning

Blended learning combines traditional classroom teaching with online learning activities. Elements of blended learning include face-to-face instruction, virtual classroom sessions, webinars, online quizzes, and in-person workshops.

The activities or components in a blended learning program will depend on a variety of factors, including the subject matter, the goals, and the learner’s needs and preferences. 

How to Build Effective Employee Training and Development Programs: 7 Easy Steps

Employee training and development cannot and should not be a shot in the dark.

Whether you’re training your employees on soft skills or delivering compulsory compliance training, it should achieve certain objectives. For that, you need to create and deploy high-impact training.

You should follow the best practices and strategies to make it worthwhile and make the right impact.

This will make the whole process meaningful and sustainable.

So, let’s see how you can do it. Check out the following employee training ideas. 

Step 1: Start With the End in Mind

To begin with, you should know where you want to take your training program and why.  

Do you want to develop leadership skills in your workforce? 

Or do you want to impart more technical and role-specific training on handling modern tools?

Either way, a clear understanding of the outcomes should be your guiding principle. More specifically, it should be based on SMART goals.

Knowing what you want to achieve makes it easier to take the right path and avoid those that won’t lead to your goal.

Watch: How to Set SMART Goals | Training Course Introduction

Step 2: Analyze Skill Gaps in Employees

There’s always something an employee can learn in the workplace to improve their professional knowledge and skills. To make training relevant and effective, you should identify and compare their current skills with the skills that a modern workplace demands.

This will reveal the gaps, if any, in your employees.

Pro tip: Use an online assessment tool for identifying skills gaps. These tools come with exciting features that make creating, delivering, tracking, and analyzing your assessments easy. 

There are several proven techniques to conduct an effective skills gap analysis that you can use. Make sure you employ them.

Watch: How to Create an Assessment Online

Step 3: Choose the Best Tool

Once you know your learning & development goals based on the skills gaps in your employees, it’s time to select the best training tool.

There are many employee training software on the market with different sets of features. Cherry-picking in this situation becomes challenging when almost all of them sound compelling.

The best bet in such a situation is to look for a solution that’s easy to understand and use. That should be the first criterion. This is because no matter how feature-packed a tool is; if it entails a steep learning curve and persuades you to frequently seek the help of customer support, it’s not worth it.

Another way to find out whether a tool is suitable for corporate training is to read genuine customer reviews and ratings on neutral third-party software review sites.

Watch: How to Choose the Best LMS Software for Employee Training

Step 4: Choose the Right Courses

Along with the tool, online courses make another essential element for employee training.

The courses you choose should be professionally designed and up-to-date. They should cover comprehensive topics and present information in engaging formats. Also, they should be of the right length, not too short or long. 

In other words, credibility, suitability, and engagement level should be the deciding factors.

Another feature to consider in these courses is that they should be easily customizable to add content from your end or modify the existing one to suit your specific needs.

If you’re using an LMS like ProProfs, you can access a premium course library as well as get the opportunity to create a course from scratch using your existing documents, podcasts, videos, images, presentations, and recorded webinars. 

Watch: How to Create an Online Course

Step 5: Add Quizzes 

Quizzes are an effective way to assess learners’ knowledge and retention. ProProfs allows you to easily create quizzes and add them to your online courses. 

With a variety of question types, including multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blanks, users can create engaging and interactive quizzes that challenge learners and provide valuable feedback. 

You can also customize the quizzes with branding and themes to create the look and feel you prefer. 

Watch: How to Create an Online Quiz in Under 5 Mins

Step 6: Implement the Program

The next step is to implement the training program and bring your plan to life. A tool such as ProProfs LMS lets you share course links via email, embed them on your website, or make courses available on social media.

Similarly, the tool lets you assign courses to learners in bulk through its virtual classroom. As soon as you assign a course to a group, all the learners in that group will be invited to take the course.

After assigning the courses, you can start tracking progress in real-time. You can view course participation, pending and completed courses, engagement levels, scores, and more.

Want to find out how to administer training to a large group? This video guide will help you: 

Watch: How to Administer Training to Large Groups

Step 7: Evaluate Training Outcomes

Training evaluation is necessary to determine whether the training has achieved its objectives. One way is to collect feedback from participants using online surveys to know how effective they think the course or instructor was and if there’s anything they want to see improved.

Beautifully designed feedback surveys can be a useful tool at this time to get input from your learners. You can use different types of templates and questions for this purpose.

Watch: How to Create a Survey Using ProProfs Survey Maker

Yet another effective training evaluation method is the built-in reporting & analytics feature in most cloud LMSs.

For example, ProProfs LMS provides real-time granular reports and data visualizations on:

• who took your course and when
• participation rate
• course progress
• completion
• engagement & satisfaction

This information lets you assess your learners’ understanding, gaps, and challenges with your course content and delivery methods.

These reports also show the results of quizzes and surveys through scores, points, or ratings.

Watch: How to Analyze Training Course & Quiz Results

You can also use the 4-level Kirkpatrick Model to evaluate the effectiveness of your online training programs. It’s the most widely used training evaluation method.

Source

Now that you know how to develop a training program for employees, let’s find out the proven ways to improve your employee training. 

Best Strategies and Practices for Improving Employee Training and Development 

There are many proven ways to improve employee training. Here are the top ones:

• Use Relevant Examples 

When designing employee training programs, try to use examples relevant to the employees’ roles. By using relatable examples, employees can better understand and apply the knowledge and skills they learn during training.

• Involve Subject-Matter Experts

Taking the help of subject-matter experts in employee training design and delivery can help ensure the training is accurate, relevant, and authoritative. Experts can provide valuable insights into industry trends, best practices, and emerging technologies.

• Use Simulations

Simulations are a great way to provide hands-on experience and allow employees to practice new skills in a safe and controlled environment. Simulations can help employees learn faster and retain more information.

• Use Research-Based Information

Training programs based on research and best practices are more likely to be effective. By using research-based information, employees can learn from the experiences of others and avoid common mistakes.

• Incorporate Experiential Activities

Experiential activities, such as role-playing, group discussions, and team-building exercises, can help employees develop new skills and apply the knowledge practically.

• Blend Delivery Methods

Incorporating different delivery methods, such as e-learning, classroom training, and on-the-job training, can help accommodate different learning styles and preferences. 

• Include Post-Training Activities

Post-training activities, such as follow-up coaching, performance evaluations, and refresher courses, can help reinforce learning and ensure that new skills and knowledge are applied in the workplace. This approach can also help identify areas where additional training may be needed.

Now that we’ve explored some effective strategies for improving employee training, it’s worth mentioning that implementing these strategies can be made much easier with the help of technology.

One platform that can be particularly useful in this regard is ProProfs, which provides a wide range of tools and features to help create, manage, and deliver employee training programs. 

Let’s take a closer look at how ProProfs can be used to streamline the process of creating effective employee training programs.

How ProProfs Helps With Creating Employee Training 

With ProProfs, you can create engaging and interactive training materials, such as online courses, videos, presentations, and assessments. It has a readymade course library and templates that make course creation a breeze. 

You can customize these resources to meet the specific needs of different teams and employees, ensuring that everyone receives training relevant to their role and skill level.

ProProfs also offers various tools, such as quizzes and surveys, to test employee knowledge and collect actionable feedback. 

Some other compelling features of ProProfs include white-labeling, an intuitive interface, multilingual support, a virtual classroom, 100+ settings and configurations, and certifications. 

Watch: How to Configure Your Online Course Settings

The best part is that it works seamlessly across all devices, like smartphones, laptops, tablets, and other portable devices. 

Watch: What Is a Mobile LMS & How Can It Help Train Anytime, Anywhere?

In addition to its training and assessment tools, ProProfs offers a range of collaboration features that allow instructors and learners to connect and work together more effectively. 

Lastly, ProProfs gels well with third-party platforms, such as Salesforce, SugarCRM, Zoom, BambooHR, etc., that enable users to extend the platform’s functionality and streamline their workflows.

Take Employee Training and Development to the Next Level!

With the right tools, courses, resources, and strategies, you can expect significant returns from your employee training initiatives.

Such training can empower you to achieve business goals and prepare for the competition with well-groomed employees.

The idea is to build a winning team that aligns its activities with your business goals.

If you need employee training software and relevant courses on onboarding, safety, compliance, HR, and sales, help is just around the corner.

Adopt a SaaS LMS that provides complete online training solutions to enterprises of all sizes and industries. You can use these platforms and the ready-to-use courses on in-demand training topics for employees.

Along with it, you can leverage its related software solutions such as quiz-making tools, collaboration tools, survey tools, and many more.

Simplify, streamline, and accelerate employee training like never before.