How to Get Better Results from Company Training

There’s no avoiding the fact that to get better results from company training, the training process must be properly and strategically managed.

This is an area where companies of all sizes, from corporations to small businesses, often fall short.

Move away from entrenched thinking

It’s easy to get stuck in training processes that are neither productive nor strategic. This leads to a mismatch between training and company objectives.

It’s important to move away from thinking about training in these negative ways:

as a once-off event during onboarding or when significant process changes occur
as a box-ticking exercise
to be handled ad hoc by staff who can “spare the time”
for individual employees who are driven to learn
as something that rarely needs updating
as separate from core business processes
as separate from quality management.

6 ways to get better results from company training

Training helps employees build their skills and perform better in existing roles. Yet, in many companies, the purpose, timing, and content of training is flawed.

Here are six ways to get better results from company training.

1. Align training with company objectives

Training should be aligned to target company objectives and goals, such as better performance, productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction. Look for areas within the company where needs can be satisfied through training.

Once you’ve established your company’s goals and objectives, you can design targeted training programs.

2. Align required competencies with specific roles

A company can use today’s technologies to personalize training content so that it adapts lessons based on employee competencies within specific roles.

Training can be tailored to every single employee’s needs, learning style and delivery method.

3. Reduce the burden of training through automation

Automation can reduce the burden of training through guided learning. Rather than provide training at specific intervals – which can be inconvenient – guided learning embeds continuous learning into a live application.

Think screen pop-ups as you go that support rapid, context-sensitive and personalized learning. This is especially relevant for functional leads, employee onboarding, cross-functional teams, IT, and end-user training.

4. Deliver training when and where it’s needed

Training is often delivered at a time when it bears little immediate relevance to an employee’s role but fits in with a training schedule. Learning suffers as a consequence.

People learn best when they have to learn. Deliver the training that’s needed – when it’s needed – and the learning will be focused and relevant.

Give employees short, bite-sized learning opportunities, which can take the form of digestible, hour-long courses on topics relevant to an employee’s immediate challenges and opportunities.

5. Test training effectiveness

Training is worthless if it isn’t effective, so it’s essential to measure outcomes. The best measures are simple ones that are incorporated into the program so that everyone knows what’s expected.

This way you can look for certain behaviors on the job that can be measured to determine if employees learned how to perform appropriately; in other words – that training was effective.

6. Address competency gaps

Employee roles are constantly evolving, so competency gaps almost always exist. Employees must learn new, targeted skills.

Survey employee performance to identify skills and competency gaps. Employees know best where the gaps are.

How training management software can help

Training management software helps implement training in many ways. Training management software…

saves time and money
delivers consistent training
simplifies compliance
improves employee engagement
protects your organization from liability.

How isoTracker can help you get better results from company training

isoTracker’s training software module helps you plan and implement training sessions for employees, users and suppliers.

The survey functions help you understand what training is needed and by whom. Built-in corrective action features allow for easy resolution of any training or survey issues.

This software can stand alone, or it can be integrated with other isoTracker quality management modules including document control, CAPA, complaints management and audit management software.