What are Common Training Mistakes to Avoid?

The quality of training both new and existing employees receive is key to staff retention. With 70% of high-retention-risk employees confessing to leaving their job in a bid to further their career, it’s essential that your company’s procedures are easy to understand and that your employee training is spot on. What are common training mistakes?

Are You Making These 4 Key Training Mistakes? 

Since June 2017, three million employees have left their job voluntarily, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. To keep your employees engaged, avoid these four common training mistakes.

On the Job Training (OJT)

Throwing your employees in at the deep end and allowing them to learn as they go is one of the biggest mistakes any employer can make. According to AccessPerks, 31% of employees weren’t given any form of professional training when they started their job. Yet, employees need to feel comfortable and confident in their new role and being thrown in at the deep end will not encourage these emotions.

In order to accurately do their job, they’ll need to ask questions, but most will be discouraged from asking their experienced co-workers for fear they will look incompetent. Thus, mistakes will be made and you risk losing your new staff member. To improve your OJT program, consider some of the new technologies that are influencing training.

Not Having a Dedicated Training Team

Getting a member of your existing team to train a new employee can be detrimental in many ways. Your existing employee’s work will be impaired as a result of having to step away from their duties. Employees who work on a commission basis may feel hindered by their new task and opt not to train to the best of their ability in order to carry on earning cash.

Laura MacLeod, creator of From The Inside Out Project, states that when she trained others when she was a server and bartender “it was labor-intensive to do it correctly and took time away from my usual work serving customers, so I lost money. Fewer customers, fewer tips.”

Too Much Training 

43% of employees who received training admit that they found it to be ineffective, so how can you make sure you’re getting it right? Too much training can cause employees to become stressed and fearful as the anticipation of getting out on the main floor builds up. You also run the risk of employees losing interest and becoming bored, which can lead to lower competence, awareness, and training.

Therefore, aim to keep your training time down by covering key factors and allowing your employees to participate in mock phone calls and scenarios which will gauge their interest. You should ensure you regularly call them back for training sessions to boast their skills and knowledge as they progress in your company.

Only Training New Team Members

It’s understandable that when a new employee joins your company or an existing one transfers from one department to another that they’ll require training, but what about existing members of the team? Willis Tower Watson reports that more than half of all global organizations struggle to retain their most marketable employees.

Yet, these are the employees that you know perform well and should want to keep. Therefore, ensure you keep them motivated at work, by offering them the opportunity to enhance their skills with high quality training.

Common Training Mistakes

All businesses have a duty to provide high-quality, effective, and good training to all of their employees. By doing this, you’ll encourage staff retention and ensure that your team are happy, motivated and keen to progress within your institution.

Article written by Jane Fenton, a freelance writer.