Corporate Training
28 articles on Corporate Training.
Continual Learning in the Workplace
Even if you’ve been part of a certain company or specific industry for years, there is a good chance that things aren’t the same as they were a decade or so ago. In fact, even over a length of time as short as the past 12 months, certain aspects of the role, organisation or sector may have changed dramatically. Nowadays, business moves forward incredibly quickly and it is imperative to move with the times. Entrepreneurs and enterprises staying ahead of the curve are bound to be better prepared and more likely to succeed, while those left trailing behind will ultimately fail. But whatever the future may have in store, how can you and your employees increase the chance of prosperity and reduce the risk of collapse? The answer for many is continual learning. By providing ongoing training at various levels, an organisation can carry out present-day operations to the best of its abilities while adapting effectively and efficiently to what lies ahead. Levels of continual learning Even though a business with good intentions may wish to implement continual learning through comprehensive training courses, which involve every single department or member of staff, it is best to approach this type of
When is corporate eLearning most effective?
Using electronic media or information and communication technologies for educational purposes is becoming an increasingly popular trend. When it was first developed and introduced, eLearning came in for some criticism, as many people believed that computers would replace teachers and lines of communication or human support would be lost. However, technology has now progressed to a point where smartphones and tablets can be fully integrated into a learning environment, which is beneficial for both educators and students. Although eLearning can be hugely advantageous in schools or for people taking distant learning courses, it also has several plus points from a corporate perspective. Training and tuition is an ongoing challenge for several businesses, as employees are often uninterested or demotivated by boring and out-dated teaching techniques. What’s more, for certain courses or programmes, members of staff are taken away from where they are needed most, which impacts on operational efficiency and increases expenditure. For these reasons, eLearning has turned out to be an attraction option for businesses looking to increase employee proficiency while maintaining productivity and cutting down the cost of training. However, that doesn’t mean to say corporate eLearning can be introduced and integrated anytime, anywhere. There are certain times,
Corporate Training Tactics for Increasing Learner Retention
If planned and carried out correctly, corporate training can have incredibly far reaching rewards and merits. From increasing employee adeptness and proficiency to improving bottom line performance and sales, teaching your workforce new skills and changing their behaviour will undoubtedly bring about more success for both individuals and entire enterprises. However, training isn’t always a straightforward exercise and there are several challenges to overcome. Along with establishing a budget, finding time to coach individuals, choosing the right teaching methods and examining a training programme’s success, actually knowing whether employees have learnt and retained valuable information is one of the biggest obstacles a business faces. Unfortunately, several employees find training fairly tedious and uninspiring. Sometimes this will be down to the teaching method itself or the person leading the programme. However, it can also be caused by the subject matter, which could be quite irrelevant or not connected to the individual’s job role. Consequently, workers aren’t prepared to learn new knowledge or skills in the first place, let alone retain and apply this information when back at work. Even if members of staff can demonstrate their learning in the working environment or real-life scenarios, there is always room for improvement. If
3 ways to improve technical sales training
At the end of the day, the majority of companies are hugely reliant on sales to achieve success. If you don’t generate sufficient turnover and profit, chances are your organisation will fail or founder. Therefore, it is in an executive or manager’s best interests to find ways of improving sales team performance, particularly in the knowledge-intensive arena of technical sales training. Product knowledge training has long been held as one of the secret weapons of successful sales organisations. From changing the company culture and hiring more talented staff to providing incentives and introducing performance-based bonuses, there are a number of different techniques and tactics to boost bottom-line conversions. However, several of these approaches are short-term fixes and won’t lead to prolonged prosperity. That being the case, a more sustainable and sure-fire strategy is required. This is where the boons and benefits of training become apparent. By teaching your sales teams new skills, expertise and knowledge, they will feel more comfortable at work, be better equipped to carry out their role and inevitably deliver better results. Training can change workforce behaviour, enable personal growth and transform a company’s fortunes, which is beneficial for both individuals and enterprises. However, training presents a
How a Culture of Learning Impacts Business Performance
If a business finds itself struggling, there are numerous steps and measures it can take. From reducing the cost of certain products and providing purchase incentives to prioritising customer services and improving after sales care, these tactics and techniques have been proven to be fairly successful. Unfortunately, these are short-term fixes to long-term problems. An organisation that truly wants to improve bottom line performance must take a long hard look at internal operations, daily procedures and perhaps above all else, the company culture. If every employee is singing from the same hymn sheet, things are bound to improve. Not only will productivity and efficiency increase, workforce motivation and happiness is bound to be high as well. But how can a business implement and maintain such an effective and successful environment? The answer is by introducing a culture of learning. The relationship between learning and performance At its very basic level, the relationship between learning and performance is quite simple to understand. If a business prioritises the training of employees and believes in teaching them new skills, then members of staff will be a strong position to carry out their job roles and responsibilities in a competent way, thus improving performance.
Getting Started with Gamification
Nowadays, we are presented with an abundance of different teaching and learning techniques that aim to improve knowledge acquisition and retention levels. While some of these are passing fads, others have been scientifically proven to work, such as gamification. This method of training has caused quite a stir in recent years, as it not only delivers results, but can also be highly entertaining and enjoyable for the individual learning. When you compare gamification to traditional training techniques such as classroom teaching or office-based learning, it seems like a no brainer. However, understanding gamification and knowing how to introduce it is another matter. Several businesses won’t be fully aware of what is involved with this teaching technique or how it can be implemented to training situations. That being the case, here is a guide for getting started with gamification. What is gamification? Gartner recently defined gamification as: “The use of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and motivate people to achieve their goals.” Game mechanics refers to elements including points, badges and leader boards that are commonplace in several video games, while experience design describes the journey a player takes, facilitated by narratives and story lines. As opposed to
The Influence of Training on Employee Retention
According to a report carried out by Oxford Economics, replacing members of staff costs £30,614 on average per employee. This is due to the cost of lost output while a replacement gets up to speed and the expenses involved with recruiting and assimilating a new worker. The research goes on to add that it takes around 28 weeks for a new hire to reach their optimum productivity level and outgoings for advertising costs, agency fees together with invested time during the interview process contributes to the price of recruiting replacement staff. Therefore, it is in a business’ best interests to find ways to improve employee retention. Increasing salaries and benefits, introducing flexible working schedules or providing plenty of praise are fairly effective tactics, but even these can have a detrimental impact on employee motivation, daily operations and most importantly, profit margins. As a result, more and more organisations are prioritising training, as it has a wealth of far-reaching benefits, which include boosting employee retention rates. After all, the famous US motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said: “The only thing worse than training employees and losing them is to not train them and keep them.” Misconceptions about investing in training Despite the
Onboarding New Employees
Do you remember what you wanted to be when you grew up? Are you currently pursuing that career or doing something completely different? It is fairly normal for today’s generation to change what they want to do in life, but this is a trend that is becoming increasingly apparent for all ages across the job spectrum. According to research, half of hourly workers leave their jobs within the first 120 days of employment. On top of that, managers begin new jobs every two to four years on average. And as a whole, 25 per cent of the working population undergoes a career transition each year. As a result, it is fair to say to say there is no such thing as a ‘job for life’ anymore. But why are so many people deciding to leave their posts so hastily? Certain employment is seen as mere experience or a stepping-stone to something better. Some people get bored with their chosen profession and feel like a career change or new challenge. However, a lot of the time it is because staff are not prepared enough or equipped with the right skills to enjoy and carry out their job effectively. Therefore, employers need
What is ‘Skill Fade’ and How to Combat it?
Even though every business tries to teach employees to the best of its abilities, a fair amount of knowledge will be lost over time. From teaching techniques and individual ability to methods of testing and evaluation criteria, there are various reasons why ‘skill fade’ happens. However, the majority of these causes can be rectified with the right approach. Defining skill fade There have been various studies and lots of research into the subject of skill fade, however it can be defined as the decay of ability or adeptness over a period of non-use. However, a lot will depend on the type and nature of the individual’s expertise or competence. For example, if you haven’t ridden a bike for a number of years, you’ll still be able to get on and not fall off with relative ease. This kind of skill is like an automatic or natural tendency that is hard to forget and lose. Conversely, it is much easier to forget how to complete tasks or activities that are more complicated and less predictable. At school, you might have been able to explain Pythagoras’ theorem in great detail. But seeing as you haven’t needed to recite this piece of
Corporate Sales Training – A Fresh Approach
Let’s be honest for a minute. If you let your staff know they’ve got a corporate sales training course coming up, chances are they won’t be overly excited about it. Even though further coaching and tuition is an important part of personal and career development, it isn’t always greeted with delight or glee. On top of that, there are no fixed guarantees that your sales staff will retain and be able to apply every piece of information they’ve been told. Even with the best will in the world, the variety of techniques used to teach sales isn’t overly effective or fruitful. Therefore, a great of money is potentially wasted on training programmes that aren’t benefitting employees or the company. For these reasons, a different approach, such as spaced repetition, will feel like a breathe of fresh air. With this learning technique, engagement and retention levels increase significantly. Along with proving to be a wise investment by the company, sales staff will enjoy and appreciate training a lot more too. The problem with current corporate sales training Most of the time, corporate sales training is one-off event which takes place within the space of a day. On some occasions, it
The 7 Habits of Inspirational L&D Professionals
Highly effective learning and development professionals have seven habits which define the learning process within an organisation. The habits are intertwined with the very foundations of organisations and they promote stellar learning culture and work ethic. Our research has uncovered what these common traits are.[gap height=”20″] 1. Professionals understand communication is key Learning and development culture must be an integral part of an organisation, which means the communication of the importance of learning starts from the hiring process; employees need to understand and recognise that continuing professional development is key to their being respected and valued within an organisation and that only through continued learning can they continuously perform at their best. Communicating effectively is one of the biggest habits of highly effective learning and development professionals, for supporting learning and rewarding employees who seek to be the best and gain new knowledge and skills is the key to growing a highly talented workforce. [gap height=”20″] 2. Professionals trust management It is much harder to learn and gain new knowledge and skills as an employee if there is no trust with those in management. Employees will invest their time into learning initiatives if they trust and believe
How to Engage the Modern Employee
For quite some time, classroom training has been the preferred teaching method for most learning institutions. Children enter this environment on their first day of school, experience it right up until finishing university and continue to receive lessons or further enlightenment during full-time employment. Acquiring new knowledge in the classroom still remains incredibly effective, as it takes place away from the workplace in a dedicated environment, provides two-way communication with another human being and encourages group interaction. However, today’s fast-paced working world means that classroom training isn’t always the perfect solution, especially for the modern employee. As opposed to simply writing down notes in a classroom, the modern employee cohort are tech-savvy individuals who would much rather interact with and share the information they receive. Not only do they want to obtain new skills and benefit from additional training, they expect it too. Work doesn’t just occupy their time and put money in the bank, it is a setting where progression and development are perhaps the most important considerations. On top of this, a whole new level of engagement is required due to this generation’s love of technology and social media. For these reasons, classroom training doesn’t always suffice and
Reading about it is the easy part
See what daily retrieval practice looks like running on your own training content.