When you’re managing a team, it can be difficult to know what to prioritise. You need to keep the work flowing on a day-to-day basis, while also making provisions for longer-term planning, and investing in growth and improvement. Naturally, the day-to-day workflow often takes priority and, if a manager is not careful, they may find themselves constantly dealing with the ‘now’ and failing to invest properly in the future.
Investing in the future of your company can include undertaking any activity or training that helps an employee or team to grow and develop, improving what they have to offer your business, as well as their personal skills and abilities. Providing training sessions is an effective way to invest in a team’s growth — both personally and professionally — in a way that will benefit them as individuals, as well as benefit the team and the business, too.
Reaping the benefits from regular training sessions
New managers may be hesitant to regularly set aside time for employee development. There is usually more than enough work to be getting on with, so taking time away from that may lead to backlogs and delays. However, with careful planning, regular training sessions can be managed in a way that does not cause problems with ongoing, daily tasks.
The benefits:
The benefits to providing training for your staff are tenfold. For example, through providing your employees with the opportunity to go on training courses, you are investing in them. In turn, you are showing them that you value their place within the company. Employees that feel valued will return the investment in their quality of work and dedication to the company. As well as this, the better trained a team is, the more efficiently its members will carry out their workload.
Better for everyone in the office?
One of the more obvious benefits of a highly-trained team is that they will require a lower level of supervision and input from management. This means their individual output will be improved in quality. They will be more likely to take on challenging projects without the need for external input. This could lead to an environment where employees can progress to managerial positions, even providing training to other colleagues themselves, without having to hire external management positions. By hiring managers from within your existing team, you know that you are taking on committed and determined members of staff who understand your company and want it to succeed. So, in giving your employees the skills they need to progress to higher-level positions, you will encourage this kind of ambition.
How will this attract new members?
Pride yourself on the fact that you provide training sessions for your internal team. This will attract ambitious new members of staff. These people want to work somewhere where they can progress throughout the organisation.
Another option…
Some small businesses even offer training courses beyond that which is specifically required for the role. For instance, you may consider offering some personal development training. Or some skills training that does not relate directly to their role.
A happy work environment
This may not incur such a direct benefit to the organisation. However, it does help to create an atmosphere where employees feel supported. It helps to attract new staff as well as to retain the existing team, and creates a positive working environment.
In contrast, failing to provide training opportunities can lead to employees who do not feel valued. The levels of staff satisfaction and performance may be subdued, while chances to improve team cohesion may be reduced.
How to provide training options for your staff
Depending on the size of your organisation, the options available to you will vary. In very large companies, a team of training staff may be employed to carry out all internal training. Whereas small startups may need to sign up to external training options, or bring in staff from other organisations.
Why not experiment with different ways of providing training?
This way you could see what works best for you and your team. It may be that getting existing employees to train their colleagues is more successful than getting external trainers to come in and provide training for your staff. Or you could perhaps consider sending your staff elsewhere to be trained by experts?
Do the benefits outweigh the concerns?
However you decide to go about providing training, you will likely find that the benefits far outweigh any concerns about the time that training takes up and the investment that is required. The benefits for employees individually, as well as for the company as a whole, are unparalleled.