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Why
train and develop my staff
The need for training and staff development should be at the heart
of the development of your business. If you neglect it you
will be caught out in the end either by staff leaving due to low
moral; your company will not perform at its peak because staff so
not know how to use equipment properly or are not sure what the
correct procedure is or your business falls behind because either
you or your staff have not been given the opportunity to update
their skills or knowledge within your company. If your
business goal is to be the best, to grow and be profitable, you
will not be able to do this if you have not considered training
and developing your staff to help you to work towards your goal.
What is training and
development?
Training and development is a way of tuning and priming your
workforce to enable them to work at their very best. An
employee needs to know how your company operates, what your plans
are for the future and where they might fit in and how you intend
to develop them to enable them to develop with your company.
If you intend to stay alive in a competitive environment then you
need to prime your staff so that they can help you to develop,
remain competitive and profitable.
Training wears many hats and can
take as little as an hour to several years to achieve depending on
the complexity of what is to be achieved and the hopeful
outcome. For example, if you want your credit control staff
to handle aggressive or abusive phone calls, you might suggest
they embark on a weeks assertiveness training or company policy of
dealing with aggressive behaviour. As an employer you must
gauge specific training and development need through careful consultation
with your employees. Perhaps you might consider drawing up a plan
which would outline existing and future training needs depending
on the progression of your company - if you intend to break into
another market will your staff be prepared for the impact? If you
intend to bring in new equipment, will your staff be able to use
it and appreciate the need for this new equipment? If you intend
to reduce or expand your workforce will your employee be ready to
take on more work or change their working role? Employees are not
seers, they will only be as good as you allow them to be in the confines
of your company.
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What training is right for your staff?
There are many paths you can take in order to train your staff, which
one you choose will depend on your ultimate aim. For example, if you
would like a staff member to be able to develop a database to track
your customers and their buying habits, this cannot be achieve in a week.
Similarly if you want to develop your accounts clerk to learn how to mail
merge and print customer labels you wouldn't send them on a degree course
in computer studies.
Therefore, what you need to do is decide
what skills or knowledge needs to be developed and identify which training
route would be the best to achieve your employees educational objectives.
Types of Training
Here are just a few examples of the types
of courses you might consider:
- Commercial Training courses or
seminars
Sending your employees to a centre. Courses could last a days or
weeks depending on the activity.
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- In house "on-the-job"
training
Often referred to as
"sitting with Nelly". This allows an experienced member
of staff to train an inexperienced member of staff.
< advantages/disadvantages
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