5 Indicators It’s Time to Revamp Your Employee Training Program (And What to Do About It)
Training should serve your employees with the knowledge and resources they need to thrive in their careers. Over the last two years, employee needs have changed significantly, and many companies have adopted remote or hybrid workstyles that offer employees more flexibility. While these changes have created better employee experiences, they have also presented unique challenges.
At the beginning of the pandemic, many companies realized that they didn’t have the technology needed to support remote and hybrid work. Their project management tools were outdated, communication online was siloed, and teams struggled.
In short, employees’ needs have changed considerably, and companies must adapt. They need to provide their teams with tools and resources to thrive in this new era of work.
A corporate digital learning strategy is one of the best ways companies can prioritize employee experiences and ensure that their teams are provided with the information they need. Unfortunately, many companies rely on years-old employee training strategies that are no longer impactful in the digital age.
What are Employee Training Programs?
An employee training program is a structured approach to teaching employees new skills or providing them with knowledge that is necessary for their current or future job roles. These programs can be delivered in a variety of formats, such as classroom-based training, online training, or on-the-job training. They can also be designed to target specific audiences, such as new hires, experienced employees, or those in management roles.
The objective of an employee training program is to improve the employee’s performance, productivity, and overall job satisfaction, and to align the skill sets of the employees with the goals and objectives of the organization. It is designed to equip the employees with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform their duties more effectively and efficiently.
The employee training programs can cover a wide range of topics, including but not limited to technical skills, soft skills, industry-specific knowledge, health and safety, compliance and legal requirements, company-specific policies and procedures, leadership, and management.
Training programs can be delivered in a variety of ways such as instructor-led classes, webinars, workshops, e-learning, self-paced training, on-the-job training, mentoring, and coaching. They are often developed and delivered by an internal training department or by external trainers, depending on the organization’s resources and needs.
If you’re looking to leverage your employee training programs but aren’t sure whether your enterprise LMS needs a complete overhaul, check out these five indicators to determine where your employee training strategy stands and how it can be improved upon.
Five Signs Your Employee Training Program Needs Updating
1. You haven’t updated your training tech stack in more than three years
First things first: When was the last time you updated your training tech stack? A few years ago? Five years ago? A decade ago? Many companies purchase training technology tools in hopes that they can use them for many years. The problem is that many legacy training systems have not adapted to the new needs of corporate employees and are, therefore, are less effective.
If it’s been more than three years since you’ve updated your training tech stack, it’s time to look for a new platform. Hybrid and remote work were likely not a consideration at the time that you chose your existing tech tools. Employee needs have changed. Now, no matter the industry, employees expect flexibility in their jobs. Even if most of your team is back to working in an office, the flexibility to work from home or on a hybrid schedule is one of the key benefits that new hires are looking for today—and your LMS software needs to support this new work environment.
You need a functional tech stack if you want an impactful employee training strategy. Look for a digital LMS platform that is accessible online and offline, as well as available on mobile and desktop devices.
2. Your team isn’t taking training or retaining information
Are you reevaluating your employee training strategy because your existing plan is falling short? Perhaps your teams are struggling with information retention, or they’re not even taking assigned training. These are indicators that it’s time for a new training strategy.
You need to adjust to make sure that you are reaching your employees in a functional and impactful way. Technology can support this and should be included in your new training plan. With the ExpertusONE digital LMS platform, you can leverage personalization and LMS gamification features that make training more enticing and interesting for your employees.
One reason team members avoid training is that they think it is too general or not relevant to their work needs. Companies should leverage personalized learning experiences to keep employees engaged and attentive. The ExpertusONE platform uses artificial intelligence to provide personalized course recommendations based on each learner’s needs, job descriptions, interests, and assignments. Your team is more likely to engage when you add personalized experiences.
Another way to boost engagement and knowledge retention is to create interactive courses and incentivize them with games. The ExpertusONE platform makes it easy to incorporate polls, quizzes, videos, audio content, and more in each course. Leaderboards and badge systems incentivize employees to engage in training and compete with their team members.
3. You have experienced rapid growth and need to manage more team members and compliance regulations
If your company has grown since you created your employee training strategy, it’s probably time to adjust. Training strategies should support you as you grow, but this requires modifications along the way. If you’re still operating with an employee training program designed for your business when it was in the startup phase, you’re missing out on the benefits of a large-scale training strategy.
One critical way this may affect your workflow and workforce is in the area of compliance. If your team has grown considerably, but you’re still tracking compliance as though you have a small team, your processes are likely to be inefficient. Many companies use homegrown compliance tracking and reporting methods to ensure that their team members are on track and adhering to industry regulations. When your team expands, these homegrown methods become too complex—you’ll find training managers under mounds of paperwork.
Invest in a training platform that makes it easy to track compliance both across your organization and at the individual employee level. A compliance training LMS platform tracks compliance automatically so that you can run reports with ease. ExpertusONE has LMS features like e-signature verification, CMEs and CEUs, date management, and audit trails so that your company can ensure your entire team is adhering to industry regulations.
4. You only use your training technology for onboarding, but you want to expand your offerings
This one’s simple and straightforward but so important. If you’re only using training to onboard new hires, you’re missing out. Training is useful to your employees across their tenure at your organization, from when they sign on to work for you to the day they leave or retire. Providing ongoing training shows your organization’s investment and commitment to your staff, and with the right tools, it can be incredibly flexible so that staff members can access courses at their own discretion or as part of a structured upskilling process.
Consider a new strategy if you’re looking to expand onboarding training from the small-scale onboarding resources you have now. Determine your training needs and build a strategy from there. You’ll see how quickly a training strategy can improve staff morale and the quality of work being performed.
5. Employees are leaving your team, and you want to implement a proactive employee retention strategy
Finally, it’s time to revamp your employee training strategy if you’re seeing an increase in employees leaving your organization. This is a huge fear for companies during this industry-wide talent shortage. Many companies are taking proactive steps to boost employee retention by creating new programs, adding benefits, and allowing for more flexibility. Training is one way that you can support your employees and boost retention. When you invest in the employee’s training experience, you’re showing employees that your company is invested in their growth. This is an important factor in employees’ minds, as they want the freedom to grow, upskill, and explore other avenues in their careers.
If one or all of these indicators resonate with you, it’s time to revamp your training strategy. A personalized, digital training experience can help your company boost retention, create better employee experiences, and encourage growth. Training is one of the best ways to proactively invest in your employees and encourage a competitive edge for your company.
Not sure how to start? Download our interactive workbook. We designed this workbook to help you determine the first steps your company should take toward a better, more impactful training strategy.
If you’re ready for a new training platform, contact us today for a demo.
