Promoting professional development is one of the most important responsibilities of a manager. In order to increase motivation and productivity, your employees need to feel like they are going somewhere in your company. It’s also important to keep your staff engaged and to invest in their learning. The more time you spend training your staff, the more likely they are to feel valued. There are several different training options if you’re looking to boost staff development. Most of these are workable with social distancing or remote working in place, so there’s no excuse not to develop your staff. Here are ten training methods to boost staff development.
You could provide your own in-house training courses. These would normally be specific to your business of course. You could carry out group workshops, or opt for more specialized training for individuals. It’s also important to encourage employees to learn and work together on the job. This can also be done remotely, via the wonders of video conferencing. Hold regular training sessions and make sure there’s an exchange of feedback. This way, you’ll be able to ensure the most effective results.
If you’re looking to future proof your business you need to train your staff in everything online. Online courses are a great way to encourage private learning and boost IT skills. Webinars, for example, are also a popular tool for professional development. Keep an accessible library of information online for your employees at all times for their continual professional development including job training, company information, and all the standard protocols.
You might need to give your staff training in specialized areas such as first aid and employer drug testing. Any opportunity to develop your staff should be seen as positive. It’s important to keep your staff up to speed on potential risks to do with health and safety and cybersecurity. It’s also fundamental to ensure your staff is aware of any potential dangers to data security especially if they’re remote working. There might be particularly important aspects of your field that you need to hold specialized training courses on, it depends on your business. In any case, it’s essential to keep your staff up to date with any important issues.
If your staff are interested in furthering their careers or studies you should always encourage this. The more qualified they become the more value they will bring to your business. They’ll also feel a lot more motivated working towards something they care about. Communicate with your team on a regular basis and take a serious interest in their career goals and objectives. You could even offer them new projects in order to help achieve these. Don’t underestimate their talents and always keep your expectations high in order to motivate them.
Apart from individual and group training, you could also organize partnerships. A mentoring partnership benefits both people involved as there’s no better way to learn than training others. The mentor will also be going through professional development and learning leadership and teaching skills. The trainee, on the other hand, will gain valuable experience on the job. Here are some more tips for mentoring staff.
The concept of shadowing employees is usually designed for training brand new members of staff. It’s a great way to get a feel for the role and how the business works as a whole. Shadowing can also be used to learn about different roles from your own. It mostly involves observation, so it’s an effective way to get an understanding of various roles and their purpose in the company.
One-to-one coaching could be implemented prior to an employee starting a new role or promotion. This is a more job-specific intense training program with the desired outcome. The training will be tailored towards the needs of the employee so it’s usually very effective. Personal development training programs can also be set up if an employee needs to learn a new skill or help with a particular project.
If you would prefer to outsource your training or receive some business training yourself, you could try some of the best business coaching services. You can hire a business coach to challenge you to develop your strengths, identify and deal with weaknesses, and grow in your role. You can take regular sessions during which your business coach will provide you with valuable insights.
Another great way to gain more experience which would work for both yourself and your staff in a transfer. It’s also an excellent way to expand your career path. You could try temporarily transferring your employees to another department or a different unit so they can gain experience and learn new things in other areas. This is the perfect way to help them develop professionally, it will also increase their options for the future. Sometimes a transfer is even more appropriate than a promotion, as they’ll new skills in an entirely different role.
Similar to a transfer, sideways promotion can be very beneficial for staff development. A sideways promotion is essentially offering a member of staff a new position in a different department, for example, at the same level, usually with the same salary and benefits. These are very useful to the employee because they will get completely new skills and experience to add to their resume. Speak to your staff and find out what roles they would be interested in and any potential opportunities align with their future career goals.
In order to keep your staff engaged and motivated, you need to put a focus on training. This will prevent your employees from feeling stagnant in the same position and losing interest in your company over time. Whether you’re a small business owner or part of a larger company, staff development should always be a priority. Look for new and interesting ways to train your staff. This will help to boost morale and productivity.
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