It’s clear that on-the-job training has changed significantly over the past several years: from an increase in blended workflow learning, to recognition of the importance of pre-training planning and post-training follow-up.
But what can be said about current trends in employee training?
ON24 – the global leader in webcasting and virtual communication solutions hosted an employee survey to find out what executives, managers and the workforce generally think and feel about training. Some of the findings of the ON24 survey confirmed what we already knew or suspected, but there were also several findings that deserve added consideration. For instance:
- Participants said 45% of executives and managers need the most training.
- The best-trained industries include medical, technology, education and accounting.
- 48% of participants in the survey said that training takes place too infrequently.
- A whopping 80% recognized that training helps them do their job better.
- And lastly, 67% said it improves company performance.
While a number of the report’s findings seem to confirm all-too-common wisdom, there’s still something to be learned from the survey results. If the benefits of training are recognized so broadly, then why are some companies still not hitting the training nail on the head?
We might find the answer to this question in a somewhat different arena of training.
If we were to believe late night personal fitness infomercials, it seems that we still haven’t figured out what it takes to increase our personal fitness levels. Of course, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Time and again, research proves that good old-fashioned diet and exercise are key. What we need to remember is that trends like hot yoga or aqua spin are just tools to accomplish one part of that equation.
The same goes for organizational training. While trends may change – the rise of blended learning, for instance – the fundamental principles remain constant:
- Be sure training is designed for the specifics of your organization
- Link training to your core business strategy
- And, make certain to plan training in advance, and follow up training after the fact.
In a future post, I’ll share information about AchieveGlobal’s Sustainment Model which helps organizations ensure these principles are considered for every training implementation to make learning initiatives more successful. Once an organization has internalized these fundamental principles, only then can the organization explore the deeper nuances of training tactics.
Sharon Daniels is CEO of AchieveGlobal in Tampa, Florida