Training and development are fundamental for both your employees and organisation as they impact performance and growth. It is one of the most effective and practical ways of investing in your employees; and if done correctly, it leads to employee empowerment, employee engagement, and high employee retention to name a few.
Training refers to the process designed to acquire knowledge, enhance skills and improve performance. It can be done in numerous ways such as the traditional classroom style or in a more experimental form and virtually.
Development is described by Allen Comm as more expansive and focuses on employee growth and future performance, rather than an immediate job role.
It is crucial for your training and development to have context, and be aligned with where your employees are lacking, or where they need to upgrade their skill set. It should either address a performance gap or expand their knowledge and better their skills.
Effective Skills Training & Development Methods
To improve effectiveness in your employees and your organization, always remember that how you execute training and development matters. Let us take a look at training and development methods to learn how to use them effectively.
Experimentational Learning
Experimenting as a form of learning allows for mistakes and improvement without affecting performance. For example, if you are a technology company, experimenting, and testing products before they’re released into the job market is an experimental learning exercise, and can be used to better understand how your product works, whether it’s user-centric or not and how to improve it.
A research report about millennials in the workplace by ROAM Jobs consisting of BrighterMonday (East Africa) and Jobberman (West Africa) portals, found that most millennials prefer experimentational learning as a medium of training.
Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning is a medium that involves more than one individual in the process of acquiring knowledge. It is effective as it enables your employees to be more engaged and interactive as they share ideas and maximise on each other’s skills.
Mentoring
Mentoring is a process where employees with more experience and knowledge share their expertise and guidance with less experienced employees in the form of structured advice. It involves advising, guiding, supporting and teaching. An effective mentoring program is invaluable as it allows employees to share knowledge and skills which helps foster career growth. For example, you can use mentorship programs within your organization where you pair experienced employees with junior staff on a continuous basis like monthly or bi-monthly.
Coaching
Employee coaching is a scheduled process that comprises of on-going sessions with a focus on your employees’ strengths and performance. Coaching plays a pivotal role in maximizing employee potential because it empowers them to be the best performers they can be through transparent feedback mechanisms that inform employees’ of their contribution to the company. This in turn helps to inspire and motivate them to acquire knowledge, polish their skills and improve their performance.
Final Thoughts On Effective Training & Development
Training and development should not be a mere buzz phrase in your organization but an on-going process hence how you execute it is crucial. A comprehensive skills development plan as part of your strategy is imperative in ensuring that effective methods are used to empower your employees with new knowledge, skills, and overall development.
What effective ways is your organisation using to manage training and development? Tell us in the comment section below.