Training can be defined as a performance improvement tool. Providing employees with proper training is the backbone of the growth of any organization and it bridges any gap between the expected and the actual job performance level. Employees who are adequately trained are productive, efficient and satisfied with their workplace. More efficient employees mean a more efficient company.
But where do you start? Should you provide an overall basic training to every employee or should you have role specific training programs? Should you put equal emphasis on every sector? Should you bring in something completely new? The answers to these questions lie within your first step of training employees- Training Needs Analysis. This helps you to identify how, where and whom to train. Companies often skip this initial crucial step, and may later find their training to be ineffective in some ways.
Things that top corporate training companies in India consider for training needs analysis:
- Look at the details rather than the bigger picture. Examine every sector of your organization and identify which areas are performing below your expected standard. Your training program should definitely have plans for every sector, but this analysis will give you an idea about where to put emphasis. Trainings for the weaker sectors must be more intensive while lighter training may suffice for sectors which are already performing well.
- Figure out what your employees already know. You may have identified the weaker sector and designed a training program. But the program may not necessarily need to focus on everything they do. Identify what your employees already know and what they don’t. Ask them to fill out questionnaires or surveys and observe their daily performance. You may leave out or just brush upon the areas they already know.
- Perform individual assessments. This comes as a sequel to the previous point. Some smaller organizations may have very few or even a single individual designated to do one work. Hence, you need to carry out individual assessments of the employees to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Your training programs may need to be tailored to very specific areas someone is lacking in. This may also mean designing more number of programs, but only then will productivity increase. A one-size-fits-all approach may leave our information relevant to certain people, while burden others with unnecessary information. Top corporate training companies keep this in mind when developing their training programs.
- Your industry, your goals. Employees may have undergone some basic training before joining your organization. Some of it may have even been a prerequisite for acquiring the job. But those trainings are usually generalized. Are your employees specifically aware of the trends and requirements of your industry? Do they know your goals and targets as an organization, instead of just concentrating on their own target? It’s time to give them an idea of the bigger picture, and accommodating this is training programs can be an effective method.
- Compare yourself to other similar organizations. As a consequence of providing the bigger industry picture to the employees, you may want to delve deeper into the work of your competitor organizations. If some of them are showing some remarkable improvement by adopting new technology or ideas, you will certainly not want to be lagging behind them in the market. As you obviously keep an eye on the changing market trends, keep your employees updated as well. This may even mean postponing or overriding your original plans for something new. Implementing new ideas or technology will require everyone to have a training update.
- Even basic works may require training. Because obviously, no work is small work! Keep this in mind that it is most probably a good idea to train your employees even in something as basic as using a software, monitoring anti-virus programs or entering data. The tools and software they use are essential parts of their bigger job responsibilities. While these may seem expected to know, there is no use in increasing complications by expecting them to figure out something if they are not fully aware of it. This is especially true in case of IT and security related areas. Take no risk and train them in even the basics.
- Talk to your employees. Ask them if they understand how things work, what they need to do their job better or simply, whether they are happy with their work. Ask for feedback and keep the discussion open. This may help you to identify deficiencies in certain sectors you had not even thought of checking. Ask individuals where they need assistance. This will allow you to provide them with specific trainings they have identified the need for. This is important to prevent misunderstandings and negative consequences from your employees.