Creating an Effective Training Program: What Small Businesses Need

All small businesses benefit from well-trained staff, but few invest time and effort into well-rounded employee training. The result is a workforce that lacks the necessary knowledge and skills to function effectively as a member of a small business team.

Ample evidence demonstrates that high-quality training programs reduce turnover and drive staff engagement, all while building qualifications that improve a worker’s performance in the workplace. Small businesses tend to have smaller workforces, which means every employee needs to know how to pull their weight. If you are looking for employees who exhibit loyalty, enthusiasm, and a comprehensive skill set, you need to offer a training program that ensures employees gain what they need to succeed — and here’s how.

What Workers Need

No worker is perfect. Every new hire will join the business with gaps in their skill set; perhaps they are unfamiliar with the business’s products or don’t know how to use a copy machine. The goal of your training program should be to close any and all gaps in knowledge and skills that workers may have so they may improve their confidence and productivity.

There are various ways to determine what kinds of training your employees need. If your team is small enough, you may observe your staff and take note of individual and group weaknesses. With larger workforces, you might hand out assessments or collect surveys to better understand which skills need to be shored up. Some common areas of worker deficiency that you might test include:

Office skills. Even the most educated, most experienced workers might struggle with basic responsibilities around the office, like organizing files or scanning documents. Having an office skills element of your training program can ensure everyone is able to perform these essential tasks, even if office administrators are not present to perform them.

Customer interaction. In small businesses, everyone should be prepared to interact with clients and customers, even if not everyone is in a traditional client-facing role. Practicing behaviors like active listening, proactive support, and quick, effective communication can lead to a much better customer experience and more rewarding customer relationships.

Health and safety. While some industries can pose a greater risk to workers, even office staff can benefit from a comprehensive safety training program. Focus on information about mental and emotional wellness, such as methods of stress relief and self-care. Safety training can help eliminate harmful and wasteful behaviors while showing workers that you care about their health and well-being.

How Workers Learn

Usually, it isn’t enough to present information that workers need. For a training program to be effective, you need to present necessary information in formats that make it easy for employees to engage and learn. Of course, everyone learns differently, so you might diversify your training program to provide specialized training programs for every type of learning. Some popular varieties of employee training include:

In-person training includes lectures, seminars, presentations, and other training that require employees to attend in person. Learning in person keeps workers accountable and ensures they focus on the material they need to know.

Online training includes online courses, video conferences, and other forms of training that can occur over the web. Online training gives workers more flexibility, allowing them to improve their skills on their schedule. Plus, online training can be more affordable for small businesses, as you can find existing programs available online.

Coached training includes mentorship programs, which assign workers (or groups of workers) to a coach who will develop closer relationships and perhaps provide continuous training as necessary. Personalized training can be more impactful, but it does require more time and effort from all parties involved.

Self-guided training includes reading books or participating in microlearning courses. Plenty of workers appreciate the autonomy of self-directed training, which allows them to learn what they need at their own pace.

Too often, employee training only shows workers where to find the bathroom. Because your small business needs every employee to be their very best, you should strive to offer a comprehensive training program that delivers the knowledge and skills they lack. Often, high-quality training programs provide a much better return on investment than businesses expect. The sooner you provide your workforce with better training, the sooner you can see the incredible results.