In-House Training

The ASTD (American Society for Training and Development) in its 2011 State of the Industry Report findings from more than 400 responding organizations across all major industries, showed that overall, organizations continue to be committed to the delivery of knowledge and the development of employees at every level. Organizations are just as committed as ever to learning and development (L&D). ASTD estimates that U.S. organizations spent $1228 per learner on employee learning and development in 2010. Nearly two-thirds of that was spent on the internal learning function, such as staff salaries and internal development costs. The remainder was allocated to external services such as workshops, vendors and external events.

New employees expect training and development. Well, actually, so do existing employees. As an owner or manager you should invest in your employees by providing continual development. The business world continues to change. We all see that. To remain competitive employees need to keep up-to-date on industry trends and to learn new technology. For the employer, this is a benefit that allows the employer to maximize employee productivity.

To be effective, training is best designed as an on-going process. And, training should always be tailored to the level of shared knowledge and practices, and actual needs, of the individuals receiving the training.

While outside training may be cost-prohibitive for the small employer, consider in-house training. Realize you may have experts among your employees! They may not know everything, but I’m sure they know enough to be an excellent resource for your training program.

A couple of tips for the effective trainer:

Be Prepared: Have an outline of your training objectives. Know the subject matter you are teaching. Rehearse your presentation. And then again, and again, and again.

Your Delivery: Stand in a central location. Speak in a clear voice. Ensure that every individual in the room hears you clearly. Have a clear view of every individual. Allow yourself to make eye contact with each individual, frequently, during the course of the training exercise. Employee involvement is key to effective employee training. If the individual isn’t involved, how can they take ownership of their learning during the process?

Be yourself: Find your training style and stick with it. With adequate preparation you will develop an effective, natural style.

Be energetic: Set the tone and climate of the workshop. Be supportive and encouraging during the training.

Be clear: Again, know the subject matter you are teaching. If you are having to explain a concept several times, then perhaps something is unclear in your material. Ask yourself: is the content delivered in an easy to understand manner? Is the employee involved in the training or is my method just another boring lecture?

Bear in mind that any training provided to employees should be knowledge that they can use right away. It’s easy to forget something if we don’t use it. "What we have to learn, we learn by doing." Aristotle.