Training Employees In-house Has Powerful Advantages

Training Employees In-house Has Powerful AdvantagesTraining Employees In-house Has Powerful AdvantagesInternal training offers employers and employees advantages that are not found when you send an employee to an external training program or seminar. Training transfer occurs more naturally and employees cement learning through training other employees. On-the-job training that enhances an employees skills and ensures her readiness for the next promotion, or eligibility for internal transfers, is generally far superior to a public seminar. Why Internal Training and Development Is a Superior Way to Train Employees Thiscore article about training lists the various ways that organizations can provide training to employees. While some of the methods involve external attendance at training programs and seminars, the power of the training and development activities that employees do internally are normally far superior for these reasons. Internal training and development leap the huge b arriers that encumber external training. Internal training reflects a solid knowledge of the organizations culture. The internal training uses real-life examples, problems, and challenges that participants encounter every day at work. Successful internal training identifies the exact skills and knowledge that participants need to succeed in their jobs. It also prepares employees for success in their next job. Internal training is presented in the language and terminology that participants understand and can relate to. Internal training develops the skills of employees and cements their own knowledge of the topic. You are likely familiar with the old adage that the best way to make sure that an employee thoroughly understands a topic is to have the employee train others. Tips About Internal Training for Employees These tips will help you provide effective internal training and development for employees. On-the-Job Training Use the Performance Development Planning Process to lay o ut a plan for the internal development of an employee. This is specific job-related training that results in a successful, developing employee. Internal, on-the-job training includes such activities as Invite the employee to contribute to the department or company-wide decisions and planning.Provide the employee with access to a higher level, more strategic, planning meetings.Provide more information by including the employee on specific mailing lists, in company briefings, and in your confidence.Enable the employee to establish goals, priorities, and measurements.Assign the responsibility of teaching machine operation, quality standards, production standards, and safety practices to employees who train new employees or employees who are new to the work area. Assign supervisory or team leader responsibilities, or function as an assistant lead while learning.Assign the employee to head up projects or teams, or function as an assistant lead while learning.Enable the employee to spend more time with his or her boss in a coaching / untersttzung relationship. Set goals for employee development as a team.Provide the opportunity for the employee to cross-train in other roles and responsibilities. Mentoring and Coaching Mentoring, coaching, and field trips, both inside and outside the company, help employees develop their skills and knowledge. Employees who teach others most effectively incorporate the knowledge and skills themselves. Assign the employee a formal mentor from within his or her work group. The more experienced employee has the responsibility to help the employee learn the skills necessary to succeed in their job.Sponsor a take a coworker to work day, as one of my clients did. Employees applied to participate and spent the day learning about another job function within the company. As an example, a developer spent the day learning about public relations. Human Resources sponsored a debriefing lunch to gather the employees takeaways, explore their learnin g, and improve the experience for the future. Encourage employees to seek out informal mentors on their own in areas of needed development and interest. Internal Training Sessions Internal training sessions and methods are effective. Especially if they offer employees new skills and ideas, internal training, reading, and meeting can replace much external training in organizations. Internal training is also cost effective and the training facilitator or resource remains available daily to participants following the training session. Offer an internal training session. The facilitator can be an employee or a trainer or consultant with whom the organization has developed a relationship over time. This ensures that the trainer is cognizant of the organizations culture and needs.Require employees to train other employees when they attend an external training seminar or conference they can share the information learned at a seminar or training session. Offer the time at a department meeti ng, a brown bag lunch, or a scheduled training session to discuss the information or present the information learned externally to others. Purchase relevant business books for employees. To compound the impact of reading, sponsor an employee book club during which employees discuss a current book and apply its concepts to your company.Offer commonly-needed training and information on an Intranet, an internal company website. This works effectively for new employee orientation and gives new employees a source to check following the orientation, too.Provide training by either knowledgeable employees or an outside expert in a brown bag lunch format. Employees eat lunch and gain knowledge about a valuable topic. Survey employees to determine interest or ask Human Resources staff to consolidate training needs from employee performance development plans (PDPs). Sponsor an internal conference at which employees can learn new ideas and skills. You can mimic an external conference with lunch and all of the trappings of an external conference at a local conference center. Offer conference sessions taught by internal staff on topics of interest to their internal audience.Picture a real day-long conference and youll see the opportunity to cross-train across departments, utilize the skills of internal employees, and tap the knowledge of informed resources such as your health insurance provider or your 401(k) source. Internal Training Summary Internal training is a cost-effective, encouraged, effective method for training employees. Whether the training is provided on the job, from informal or formal coaches and mentors, or in internal seminars, brown bag lunches, or conferences, internal training has the potential to positively impact employee learning and development. Give internal employee training a try. You will quickly recognize the power of internal training as a tool for employee development.