Table of Contents
Page Updated on July 13, 2022
What Is Workplace Training?
Workplace training is designed to help employees learn the skills they need to be successful in their jobs.
It can cover a wide range of topics, from basic job-specific skills to more general workplace safety or management training.
Most workplace training is either mandatory or voluntary.
Mandatory training is typically required by law or company policy and may cover topics such as safety, harassment, or discrimination.
Voluntary training is typically offered by employers to help employees improve their skills or advance their careers.
Workplace training, in essence, is about investing in human capital in order to benefit both your organization and the individual who works for you.
Benefits of Workplace Training and Why It’s Important
Some of the benefits of workplace training for the employer include:
- Improved morale – Employees who feel that their employer is investing in their development are more likely to have higher morale and be more engaged in their work.
- Increased productivity – Training can lead to improved performance and increased productivity.
- Improved retention – Employees who receive training are more likely to stay with the company longer. This can save the employer money in recruitment and training costs.
- Enhanced reputation – Employers who offer workplace training can enhance their reputation as an employer of choice.
Some of the benefits of workplace training for the employee include:
- Improved skills – Employees who receive training can develop new skills that can make them more productive and valuable to the company.
- Enhanced career prospects – Employees who receive training can improve their career prospects, both within their current company and in the job market overall.
- Increased job satisfaction – Employees who feel that their employer is investing in their development are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs.
- Improved earnings potential – Employees who receive training can improve their earnings potential, both through increased productivity and through enhanced career prospects.
How to Create Course Materials for Workplace Training
When you’re running a business, it’s important to make sure that your employees have the skills and knowledge they need to do their jobs well.
So, in order to run workshops for workplace training, you will require training course materials.
The problem though can be that designing these materials can be time-consuming (although they are inexpensive to buy).
What you might want to include in the materials can include:
- The PowerPoint presentation slides (with trainer notes)
- Trainers workbook
- Participants workbook
- Certifications for course completion
We recently did a post on how to design training and teaching materials for PowerPoint so you might want to click the banner below and read the post.
Typically, you can easily spend anything between one and four weeks designing a full set of training materials for a one-day training workshop.
For this reason, many trainers and HR departments choose to buy pre-made materials and to save a tonne of time designing from scratch.
If this interests you, you can see an example of the types of materials that you can buy here!
Becoming a Corporate Trainer or Finding a Trainer
I have written a detailed post on how to become a corporate trainer so just click on the image or link below for some ideas for starting off as a new trainer.
Different Ways of Delivering Training
Workplace training can be delivered in a variety of ways, including via:
- on-the-job training
- as online courses
- classroom-based instruction
It is important to choose a delivery method that is best suited to the needs of the employees and the company.
The program should be designed to meet the specific goals of the company.
It should also be flexible enough to accommodate the changing needs of the workplace.
i) On-the-Job Training
On-the-job training is often the most effective way to learn job-specific skills.
It allows employees to learn in a real work environment, with real equipment and tools.
A classic example is to provide computer skills training to ensure that all staff have a certain level of expertise, especially when specific software is being used.
Or it might be training to teach something such as how to operate a mechanical machine.
ii) Online Courses
Online courses can be a good option for employees who need more flexible learning options.
As the title suggests, these are courses that are taught online and can usually be done at any time as long as the employee has an Internet connection and it can be done from anywhere geographically.
Online training can take place synchronously (in real-time with an online trainer i.e. with instructor-led training) and asynchronously (whereby the student self-studies online).
iii) Classroom-Based Training
Classroom-based instruction can be beneficial for employees who need more structure and guidance.
This type of training will usually be instructor-led training with the participants and trainer all there in person.
You can though have an online classroom if offering online courses and use virtual rooms.
iv) Blended Learning
Blended learning refers to using a mix of different training-delivery types to provide learning.
You might, for example, want to combine classroom-based training with some self-study online afterward.
Whatever works best to provide the best training is the way to go.
What Training Is Trending and Topical Right Now and Worth Teaching as a Trainer?
I wrote a post on the 7 learning and development trends and I update it every year so you might find this post useful if you are looking for the latest training topics that are popular.
In short, the following are particularly topical right now:
Workplace Training and Onboarding
As a freelance corporate trainer or human resources department, there are various types of workplace training that you might want to consider, and each serves a different purpose.
It is worth remembering onboarding and orientation workplace training as this is often overlooked.
Many companies neglect spending money and time on providing the right training for new employees.
Onboarding (called Induction training in the UK) can be absolutely vital for keeping employees beyond the first ninety days.
New employees who are not integrated properly into the company in the first ninety days, are the highest percentage group who leave a company statistically.
In other words, if you want to greatly reduce the number of staff who leave the company, then providing a good onboarding training program is vital.
Orientation training should be a part of the onboarding process, whereby new employees are introduced to their colleagues, the other departments, and where to find everything they need.
In Summary: Employee Development and Training
Workplace training is an important part of employee development.
It can help employees learn the skills they need to be successful in their jobs and advance their careers.
Furthermore, it can also help companies improve their bottom line by increasing productivity and reducing turnover.
Training helps to ensure that employees are able to perform their jobs effectively and efficiently, improving overall workplace productivity.
In addition, training can help reduce accidents and injuries, lower workers’ compensation costs, and improve morale.
Organizations that provide training for their employees also tend to experience lower turnover rates
Employees who feel like they are being invested in are more likely to stick around, saving the company the time and money that would be required to recruit and train new employees.
Valeria has been involved with education for over 16 years. She has taught in the UK at the University of Bath and Cardiff Metropolitan University (where she got her PhD), in addition to working as a researcher at Exeter University. Valeria additionally has several years of experience of also working with Ofsted and Cardiff University in management roles & is she is the founder of Symonds Training.
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