Since the economic fallout of 2008, more employees have been picking up extra work since departments have been slashed; however, many of these employees are often left untrained for their new tasks, says Sharon Sellers, president of SLS Consulting in Summerville, S.C. Given the economic climate, many employers have been finding ways to cut costs, and training programs have been subjected to the reductions.
"At a time when employees needed to be trained the most, they weren't being trained because of the cost," Sellers says. "When we see economic downturns, the two things that go first are research and development and training, but, in my opinion, training is the one you're really going to need."
Though training programs can be costly, they can reduce an employer's bottom line, Sellers says. With better trained employees, productivity and competitiveness improve; thus, training could be viewed as an investment.
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"If you improve the performance of an employee, then you may be getting a better return," Sellers says. "You can actually do some calculations and crunch numbers to say it is a return on investment if your quality will be improving, and the training can pay for itself."
While having training programs is important, Sellers says, some employers jump into them too quickly. Before implementing a training program, the employer should identify what it wants to accomplish. For some employers, improving customer service might be the objective, but others might be in need for better communications. Desired training results vary, and these must be taken into account.
"After your training, do those same metrics again, and if you did your training right, you're going to see some improvement," Sellers says. "So many employers jump into training programs so fast that they aren't even really sure what they're trying to measure or improve."
Another problem some employers face with developing training programs is not properly educating the trainers, Sellers says. Often, the top employees are made responsible for training; however, being good at their jobs doesn't necessarily equate to having strong training skills. Learning to train takes its own education process, and developing that side requires training similar to that needed for individual positions.
"We really need to be sure that we train our trainers, so they have the proper training to know how to appropriately train others," Sellers says. "Just because John makes good widgets doesn't mean he has supervisory or training skills."
After the training program takes place, there should be an evaluation process, Sellers says. While many HR professionals think the evaluation process includes a simple survey following the training course, it takes much more than that to accurately gauge the program's success. Instead, the evaluation process should measure the long-term effects of the training.
"You really need to have something that not only determines whether they feel they learned something now but whether that sticks further down the road," Sellers says. "The evaluation should study whether they are showing the results that they've learned and developed through the training program and that they're actually bringing that knowledge to their job and are improving their performance."
Although it depends on what type of training takes place, Sellers recommends supervisor analyses, competency tests and before-and-after performance tests as possible long-term evaluation processes.
Continuing education is also an important part of the training process, Sellers says. Especially in today's economy, an employer needs a work force that is prepared for all potential business challenges and on top of its competition. Whether employees are being sent to outside education classes or the employer internalizes the process, they need to keep their skills strong.
"Everything in HR is evolving daily, and that's the same with all parts of business," Sellers says. "The global economy, legislation, how we deal with employees – that is always changing, and those companies that are constantly sharpening the saw, seeing what's on the horizon, preparing for what's next, those are the companies that are going to be much more competitive and last much longer than those companies that are just stagnant."
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