Deciding on a staff training program is one of the most important parts of running a business that provides the best service to its customers. This means it’s never going to be quite as easy opening up a catalog and making a phone call. Depending on the nature of your business, you might have to consider several things before you choose the courses that will train your personnel best.
Your business could be as simple as running a restaurant, in which case, staff can be trained in-house. In this case, sending your staff out for professional training is a question of going the extra mile, though it will be extremely rewarding.
However, if your business is a specialized one, you will require specialized training. Medical staff at hospitals are usually the most in need of specialized training. That’s why there are bonafide nursing schools for nurses, optometry education and training for the ancillary staff at eye clinics, and specialized courses for emergency ambulance workers. These businesses could not run at all without specially trained staff aside from doctors.
If you’re considering professional training for your business staff, we’ve put together a quick checklist of what exactly you should look for in a staff training program.
You Should Make Sure the Training Program Is Within Your Budget
First of all, it is important to consider the cost of taking time off work, traveling to the training, and any other related costs. In order to make sure you can afford the training program and that it is worth your company’s while, try answering these questions:
How much will the training cost in total?
What is the opportunity cost of not doing this type of training (i.e., what opportunities are you missing out on by doing this particular training)?
You Need to Look at the Staff Training Program’s Reputation
Before hiring a contractor or signing up for a staff training program, you will want to look into the company’s reputation. You can do this by searching online for reviews and complaints, asking associates if they have ever used a particular firm, and checking to see whether the company is bonded and insured.
This is a crucial step because you don’t want any costs sunk into unaccredited institutions that may give shoddy training, or worse, take your hard-earned money and run.
You Want a Program That Will Train Your Staff Members Such That They Can Best Fit Into Your Company’s Culture
It’s important that you get to know your company’s culture inside and out. This way, you can more easily determine what kind of person will fit into this culture the best. If you set out to train a staff member into a mindset that is the complete opposite of what your company stands for, they will be less likely to succeed in their position.
You Should Think About How Long the Staff Training Is Going to Be
After you’ve decided that a staff training program is definitely the right move, it’s time to start thinking about how long the training program will be. Ideally, you would want to commit as much of your time as possible.
But in the event that that’s not possible, you should consider the trade-off between when your staff can work and when your staff can train to achieve the greatest equilibrium for the greatest profits.
How long you can dedicate to training can be affected by numerous factors. Your staff might have school or job commitments that could make taking on a full-time course impossible. Online or remote training can be a good option.
You’ll Want to Look at the Goals of the Training Program
One of the first things you’ll want to look at is the goals of the training program. While it would be nice if all training programs had the same goals and objectives, this isn’t always true.
Some training programs are focused on soft skills. Others emphasize hard skills. Many focus on building up a specific area of expertise, while others attempt to develop multiple areas at once.
Because different training programs have different goals, it’s important that you choose a program that aligns with what you want your business to accomplish. If your team has specific strengths and weaknesses they need to work on, make sure these are addressed through the program before you sign up for it.
Know What Kind of Certifications You’ll Be Getting From Taking a Class
As an employer, it’s important to know what kind of certifications your employees will be getting from any training they do. Otherwise, you may end up paying for a training course that doesn’t help your employees, and they may spend money taking a course that doesn’t help their careers. Additionally, there are certain kinds of safety certifications, such as Hazmat or First Aid/CPR certification, that are required by law for some jobs.
Once you’ve decided what kind of certifications you want them to have (if any), you’ll need to decide whether to look for training classes in person or online. If the training is about skills specific to your industry (i.e., manufacturing or construction), then it might be beneficial for the students to actually go through the motions of doing the task in person before having to do it on their own at work later on.
In cases like this, in-person classes will probably be best. These kinds of skills are often taught using hands-on methods and can’t really be replicated well online. On the other hand, if you’re looking for something more theoretical that requires learning information rather than practicing a particular skill (i.e., customer service techniques), then an online class could work better since there would be no need for physical equipment or materials anyway.
Make Sure the Policy and Procedures Are in Line With Those of Your Business
This means that you need to ensure that the program staff conducts their business in a manner befitting your company’s mission statement and core values. And further, be sure that the program guidelines are aligned with industry laws and regulations. These might seem like obvious considerations, but keeping them in mind can make quite a difference to your business.
Make Sure You Know What the Kind of Employee Turnover Is for This Program
The turnover rate is how often employees leave their jobs and need to be replaced. A high turnover rate can be a bad thing for a company, especially if the staff training program isn’t providing the skills employees need to succeed in their positions.
If employees are hired by companies but leave soon after because the skills they gained from their training weren’t sufficient, that reflects poorly on both the program and the company.
A medium turnover rate (15-25% per year) may mean that there were some difficulties with either the quality of staff recruited or with retention efforts, but that it wasn’t an overwhelming problem.
A low turnover rate (10% or less per year) might indicate that your company was hiring well-qualified staff members who had little trouble learning what they needed to know in order to keep their jobs.
The Staff Training That You Choose Could Have a Big Impact
As a business owner, you need to understand that your employees are an integral part of the company. The type of people who work for you will have a huge effect on how well the company runs and how successful it is.
For example, if you hire people who don’t share the goals and values of your business, then they may not put in an effort to help the company succeed. As another example, if you hire people who are poor at communicating with each other or with customers, then this could also be very damaging to your business.
This is why you must consider what kind of staff training program would be a good fit with your company. Even though all companies have similar goals – such as wanting to make money and becoming as big as possible – some companies are run in different ways.
Some businesses might value innovation above else, while others might focus on being environmentally friendly or on providing outstanding customer service; these differences can affect which employees would want to work for each business and which ones would be more likely to do well in their jobs there.
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