Training and development is often neglected by organizations; seen as an expense, or an inconvenience that takes staff out of work for days or even weeks. In addition, many organizations find it hard to measure the effectiveness of training, and so tend to discount it.

The reality is that while training does cost money, failing to train almost always costs more. Whether it's training a machine operative to use a new tool correctly, or providing strategic coaching to a senior executive, failing to provide training always results in sub-optimal and sometimes dangerously error-prone performance.

Failing to train also tends to have a poor effect on employee morale, lowering productivity still further. Employees want to feel that they are making the best of their abilities, and sometimes this means training.

Be Proactive

Like everything, training is most effective when it has been carefully planned for. Companies rightfully expect a return on investment (ROI) from the training they provide, and this can best be accomplished through taking the correct approach to determining training requirements:

·        Analyze and record the skills requirements you have for your staff

·        Analyze their present skill levels, and identify discrepancies

·        Plan suitable training to address these discrepancies

Once these stages have been completed, it is important to ensure that your employees share your understanding of their training requirements. Good communication is essential – staff need to understand the purpose of their training:

·        What they are being trained for

·        Why they have been selected

·        What will be expected of them once the training is complete

It is surprising how many organizations, at all levels, select employees for training but neglect to tell them why they are doing it. This behavior is likely to prevent the company getting maximum value from the training – employees who do not understand why they are being trained will be less motivated and probably learn less.

Don't "Train and Forget"

Once an employer has provided training for their employees, they should not just tick the training box and move on. Companies should monitor the results of the training to determine its effectiveness. Employers should make sure that employees are required to use the skills they were trained with, and should map this against the skills deficiencies that were identified before the training started.

If no discernable improvement is detected, then find out why. The training may have been poorly delivered, or inappropriate. If improvement is shown, then provide encouragement to those showing the improvement, and encourage them to share their skills (where appropriate) with others in the organization.

Sharing Skills

The final piece of the training and development puzzle is coaching and mentoring. Everyone has benefited from this, formally or informally, at some point in their lives, and its value is hard to overestimate.

The pairing of more experienced team members with new recruits, and of employees with different but complementing skills is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to build skills and knowledge in an organization. Most people are naturally happy to share their knowledge with others, and simply need a little support or encouragement to do so.

Profiting From Training

Training plays a vital role in employee development and improving efficiency, and should not be neglected by any organization. Meeting the challenge of identifying training requirements and then measuring the success of training can be difficult, but it is extremely worthwhile. Managed correctly, training will provide a positive ROI – make sure your organization doesn't miss out.