Employees make the company. Without them there is no way to get work done, yet many companies struggle to retain their best talent. What’s the solution to this loss of such an experienced workforce?
The answer seems to be staff development and consistent retraining, which results in happier, highly qualified and loyal employees. One great way for businesses to offer consistent retraining is through technology. With an ever-changing workplace, webinar training is available on demand as well as prescheduled, from any device, anywhere. When employees get a chance to stay on top of their field as part of their everyday routine, they are more likely to contribute and stay long term.
One way to encourage your employees to participate in developmental training is to recognize them for their participation. Creating a company culture that rewards training will ultimately create a stronger workforce. Even mandatory training should be acknowledged.
Spend time developing a rewards system for your employees that incentivizes them for their participation. While they certainly don’t have to be monetary (though that wouldn’t hurt), feel free to tailor the rewards to the uniqueness of your company. Whatever rewards you choose, make sure that your employees understand that they are being recognized for their participation and desire to better themselves.
Even the best employee wonders if the grass is greener elsewhere. Many times employees leave because they feel like the opportunities that they currently have are limited, and they want to try their hand at something else. Cross-training is a great way to foster that exploration and retain your employee.
When employees have the opportunity to cross-train on something else, they feel like they are not being boxed into a specific task. It allows them to branch out into other areas of interest that may or may not be directly related to their current post. Cross-trained employees can move around the company seamlessly and fill in where they are needed.
Employee training in areas of safety, IT computer security, ethics and workplace behavior is fast becoming a moving target. Why not create a bi-weekly company meeting over breakfast or lunch which includes training?
There are plenty of web-based courses designed to expand your employees’ skillsets about a wide range of topics. While some of these are fee based, others are free and require little more than the bandwidth needed to download a video or attach to a seminar. Whatever method you choose to use to provide training, make sure to get feedback from your employees. You can develop a list of preferred training for your business.
Looking for a good source of training for your employees? U.S. Computer Connections offers free monthly employee training webinars covering Microsoft Office applications like Excel and PowerPoint, as well as Network Security training. Find out what webinars U.S Computer Connection has coming in the next few months, and you can even go ahead and register for some!