Invest in Worker Training That Creates Lasting Gains

Yahoo! News (04/17/09) Settner, Morey
When business slows, training becomes more popular. Providing employees with tools to increase performance will allow the organization to better compete in good times and poor times. However, training programs should be customized, and not simply purchased. Customization can be done by first asking employees for their input. Managers should have workers break their jobs into parts and consider their skills and knowledge about each task. Any areas that need improvement should be noted, so that they can be fixed. Make sure to take their feedback and the manager's own observations to executives and top customers. It is important to create training programs that solve real problems as opposed to what are assumed to be the issues. Employees should also understand why the training is important, and the group should display their understanding of the learning points. Employees will not retain as much information if they are sitting and listening to a lecture. "Effective training involves a transference of skills," says Ron Karr, head of Karr Associates, a business development firm. "There needs to be lots of interaction so that people practice turning what they learn into action." Finally, benchmarks should be created so that results can be measured.