Sales and training are linked (check out sales kick off themes for more information). That’s why today, we’re going to look at tips for better staff training outcomes. Because you could think you’re doing everything right but your efforts may not be reflected in sales.
Don’t train the masses (at least, not all at once)
Mass training is meant to be a time and money saver. But here’s what really happens…
Training will not have the time to cover anything more than a scattered collection of basic, intermediate, and advanced issues if you try to train multiple departments at once. Some staff will have to sit through training on things they already know, and most staff will have to put up with taking notes on things they don’t need for their roles.
It’s a giant waste of time. Always personalise your training sessions to suit individuals or departments.
Don’t collate feedback into rounded up generalised opinions
This is one of the worst things you can do. And the truly upsetting thing is that you will think you are using the data to provide valid answers. But let’s rewind a second.
Have you ever heard of proportional representation as a voting system? It’s where people are given a list of choices and they get to choose their favourite option, and their second favourite, and maybe even a third favourite.
The data is then collated and graphs can be drawn, etc.
The issue is that people typically have major concerns regarding their first choice but their second choice may not affect them nearly as much. Now, imagine a workforce split in two. One half is desperately affected by one issue, and the other half needs immediate help in another area. But those first choices will get 50% of the primary vote each.
Let’s look at the second favourite vote. Perhaps 100% of the workforce choose this lesser option as their second most important issue. With 100% of the vote under proportional representation, an issue nobody really cares about now gets resources thrown at it.
Collated data from training feedback sessions can be misleading. Tread carefully.
Finally, let your staff chat…
This is a bitterly overlooked part of what it takes to run a high-functioning workplace. Sometimes, you forget how to do something simple on Google Docs. Or you might need a password for Photoshop. Maybe you’ve completed your work but you can’t for the life of you remember who it was decided (in the meeting two weeks ago) you should email it to.
All of these things create tiny stops in the day, where the employee has to stand and move around to speak to someone or disturb the office by shouting across the room. You can eliminate these frequent disruptions by allowing your staff to chat via software such as Slack. Yes, there will be some inane chatter on there, too. But that boosts morale and, ultimately, productivity along with it.
Get on board with online chat and give your staff quick access to in-house answers. Otherwise, the training you provide will hit those frequent stops throughout the day.
Interesting related article: “What is Training?”