HR Strategy | By Tom Murphy,

It’s Time to Hop on the Employee Training Train

Ever wonder how much time and productivity is wasted because people don’t really know how to use the programs they need to do their jobs?

These days, it’s assumed that everyone has proficiency in basic office software programs. As a result, very little focus or training is invested in teaching staff how to use those programs efficiently and effectively.

While it’s easy to understand why this happens, it’s also important to consider the effects of not investing in basic employee skills training.

My employees know that stuff already

Yes, you’re probably right. To some extent, anyway. But when it comes to on the job tools, the reality is that most people are largely self-taught. In other words, most of your employees learned these programs out of necessity— and on their own.

This system might sound like the ideal situation, until you realize that most people are probably only learning basic functionality and on a need-to-know basis.

Unless you’ve got some really patient people on your team, most of them will figure out a way to do something and then repeat that behavior every time after. Until infinity. Even if the way they learned to do that thing may be the most inefficient way on the planet.

The danger here is that it could be taking these self-taught employees three times as long to complete their work.

Are you guilty?

Think about it. How many “creative” work-arounds have you developed over the years? Do you know if these processes are efficient?

Have you ever had a coworker watch you work and bluntly ask, “Dude. What are you doing?”

Maybe you’ve been the asker of that question, bearing witness to a colleague’s use of unusually cumbersome processes to do relatively simple things.  

Or maybe you couldn’t say anything, because the person in question was well above your pay grade.

It happens

There are business owners who are still doing things the way they did when the business first started. There are CEOs who refuse to learn new technologies and platforms. There are supervisors who have never done the jobs they supervise.

Higher level managers often have the luxury of delegating tasks to others in lieu of improving their own skills or learning new processes and technologies. This may be tolerated for a while, but eventually it’s going to become a point of contention for the team.

Even in our firm, we have purchased various tools that are promised to “make us more efficient” only to find out our team ultimately goes back to what they know.

No matter who is struggling with day to day processes, one thing is for certain: Investing in training your team is money well spent.

It’s time to get onboard

Just imagine if everyone in your organization wasn’t just competent with your operating systems, but using them to their fullest potential and power! Think about how much time and energy you could save! Not to mention cold, hard cash.

Increasing staff training is a surefire way increase skills and productivity. And professional development can work wonders for employee engagement.

Why not do your business a favor? Train yourself (and everyone else!) to be the best they can be.

 

Is your benefits broker also a compliance consultant? How about a trusted business partner? Are you confident your policies and processes are doing what they need to ensure that your company—and your employees— are healthy and productive? At Sonus Benefits, this is what we do for St. Louis employers every single day.

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