The importance of training
What is the importance of training in the workplace? Training leads to better processes and business growth. In today’s ever-changing marketplace, the importance of job training has never been greater. Workforce training is an indispensable way to keep your organization competitive. Employees are human, most will have weaknesses or gaps in their professional skills. Furthermore, most professional people are specialists of one kind or another. Much of what goes on in your organization is likely to fall outside of the training each individual worker already has.
Why is training important in the workplace?
The importance of training goes far beyond checking off a to-do task for your employees. A high-quality, comprehensive training program provides employees a greater understanding of your organization’s processes, procedures, and goals. It also enables them with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective in their roles.
Equipping employees with relevant and ongoing training is one of the best ways to increase productivity and performance. In fact, organizations that provide a consistent training experience boosted businesses outcomes — take a look at these two findings:
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| According to IBM, 84% of employees in best performing organizations receive the training they need compared to 16% in the lowest performing organizations. | Gallup found that organizations that make strategic investments in employee training and development report 11% greater profitability. |
In today’s ever-changing and competitive job market, employees also note that they’re eager for ongoing training that helps them stay up-to-date in their role and make progress in their career. A study by Glint found that ongoing training and development is one of the top factors that employees say defines an exceptional work environment.
Employee training can positively impact your company’s culture because it improves job satisfaction, engagement, and retention. By embracing training and development, organizations can dramatically reduce employee turnover and increase their talent ROI.
The difference between training and development
It’s easy to use the terms training and development interchangeably. So before we jump into the specific benefits of training, it’s important to understand the main differences between training and development.
Training refers to the process that companies use to teach employees skills they need for their current job. Training also focuses on specific areas of knowledge that employees need to fulfill day-to-day tasks.
Development focuses on the career progression of every employee. Development activities are based on each individual’s career goals and areas of improvement that help them take the next step in their career.
While training and development aren’t exactly the same, they go hand-in-hand because they help employees develop the skills they need for their jobs today, as well as tomorrow.
The purpose of training
Some organizations only rely on training during periods of employee turnover or when there is a significant change to the business. Top-performing companies, on the other hand, understand that it’s important to deliver consistent and ongoing training. Let’s take a look at some of the most common training objectives.
Deliver essential knowledge: Training is one of the most effective ways to equip employees with the knowledge they need to be successful. This includes company and role-specific training.
Equip and improve skills: Skill development is an important aspect of every training program because new employees need to learn technical and soft skills. Additionally, seasoned employees need ongoing training in order to improve — and keep — their skills up-to-par over time. LinkedIn found that the top skills cited by professionals are:
- Resilience and adaptability
- Technological skills and digital fluency
- Communication
- Emotional intelligence
- Collaboration
Meet compliance standards: If your organization is part of a highly regulated industry such as financial services, asset management, or healthcare, your employees must complete mandatory compliance training. This ensures that employees understand the laws, policies, and regulations they must adhere to.
Navigating digital transformation: Digital transformation has driven fundamental changes across nearly every industry. It’s important to provide technology training for employees so they understand how new tools work and how they help them do their jobs better. This can unlock greater levels of efficiency, agility, and value for your organization.
Keep teams up-to-speed with changes and updates: Organizations grow and evolve over time, and your employees need a way to keep up with these changes. Ongoing training ensures that everyone is in the know about new products, services, best practices, and more.
Benefits of training employees
There are countless benefits to training employees. Oftentimes, they’re easy to overlook because it seems like training takes too much time and effort. Organizations that don’t invest in formalized training programs may overlook the importance of training and development for their employees. But, those that do, can measure the impact of their training programs and see the benefits of training and development in the workplace. If you need to make a clear case for investing in training and development, consider these benefits of training to employers and employees.
Improved skill sets
Research from IBM found that an employee’s skills generally have a “half-life” of about 5 years, with more technical skills needing improvement after just 2.5 years. IBM also found that nearly 30% of skills are lost annually because they aren’t performed regularly or reinforced through training. This means that employees continuously need to complete training that improves their business, technical, and soft skills.
Increased productivity and performance
Training has a direct impact on your organization’s productivity and performance. As mentioned earlier, training gives employees a better understanding of their responsibilities and the knowledge and skills they need to do that job. This will improve their confidence which can positively impact performance. In fact, Seismic’s 2023 Value of Enablement Report found that more than 80% of respondents believe that more training would help them close more deals and meet their goals.
Faster ramp times
New hire training is important because it teaches new employees about your organization’s values, missions, and goals. And in order to ramp new employees quickly, they need to complete training that covers the skills, knowledge, and tools they’ll need to hit the ground running.
Higher job satisfaction
By investing in training, companies show employees that they are valued. Because training gives employees access to information they wouldn’t otherwise have, they’re more likely to feel confident and prepared to do their jobs. This goes a long way in making employees feel appreciated and satisfied with their careers with 80% of respondents noting that more training would help them feel more satisfied in their job.
Lower employee turnover
Our report also found that 50% of employees are considering leaving their company due to a lack of training. Additionally, IBM found that only 21% of new hires intend to stay at an organization that doesn’t offer training for their current role compared to 62% of new employees who do have access to ongoing training.
Improved buyer experiences
More than 90% of buyers report buying from sellers who are able to provide them with the right information and content throughout the sales process. Instead of reps struggling to deliver the right knowledge and resources, proper training enables them with the right skills, information, and content to better serve buyers.
Build customer satisfaction and loyalty
Training increases lifetime customer satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue for your company. Customers who feel they receive great service from knowledgeable and friendly agents spend 140% more money compared to those who had a poor experience with a brand.
Increased consistency
An effective training program delivers a consistent learning experience and level of knowledge to every employee. Consistency is important when it comes to understanding processes, products, or services. For example, a robust customer service training program increases the likelihood that your agents will deliver a consistent experience to customers. Or, for a sales team, this means that everyone knows how to deliver a great first demo.
Enhanced company reputation and demand
A strong training program is a great way to improve your company’s brand and reputation. Employees want to have access to ongoing training and development opportunities. So, by offering different types of training, your company is likely to attract new talent.
Common types of training
Just as there are many benefits of training, there are also a variety of different types of training organizations should consider based on their industry and business goals. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common types of training for today’s organizations.
Onboarding: The onboarding process is the training cycle that a new employee goes through to become familiar with their new job and company. The main goal of onboarding is to introduce new hires to the organization and provide the foundational knowledge they need for their role.
Cross-training: Cross-training enables an employee to work in several different roles or to do a task that may be closely related to their normal responsibilities. This is helpful to their career development as it expands an employee’s skill set and knowledge.
Reskilling: New data suggests that we’ve transitioned from the Great Resignation to the Great ReShuffle as more than 2 million people have changed their field of work or occupation. While the majority of these workers moved to a new company, others opted to stay with their current employer and transition to a new department or role. This requires reskilling to ensure they can perform a different job.
Upskilling: Gartner, Inc. found that nearly 60% of the current workforce needs new skills in order to do their current job correctly. With technology rapidly changing how most organizations operate, organizations need to help their employees improve their technical knowledge and skills through upskilling.
Sales training: Sales training enables your sellers on the skills, techniques, and best practices they need to interact with buyers throughout the sales cycle. This is key to building relationships, improving negotiation skills, and being prepared for every buyer interaction.
Customer service training: When agents are trained on your company’s service standards, products and services, and processes, they’re more likely to provide consistent and exceptional service to customers.
Choosing the best training methods
Training is only impactful if it’s delivered in an effective and engaging way, so it’s best to consider what type of training method is best for your organization’s training needs. Popular and beneficial training methods include:
- Online learning: Team members access training through online training software.
- Coaching: Employees receive coaching and feedback from their manager or trainer.
- Hands-on practice: Employees get the chance to practice applying a skill or knowledge in a practice environment.
- Role playing: A group of team members come together to role play a common scenario they’ll face in their job.
- Classroom and group training: Usually, led by an instructor, this type of training brings people into one location for live training.
If you need help selecting the best training method for your organization, consider the following:
- Training objectives: Remember the purpose of your training and what you want to accomplish. Make a plan based on your short-and-long-term goals.
- Time and availability: Do you need to complete training in a matter of days, weeks, or months?
- Training costs: Will you need to bring in an outside trainer or subject matter expert? Does your budget allow you to pay for your employees to travel to one location for training?
- Level of comprehension: Is this subject relatively new for learners? Or, do they have a basic understanding and need to take their knowledge to the next level?
- Group size: Do you need to provide training to a small group of employees or your entire team?
