There are tons of programs you can bring into an office, from self-defense workshops to teamwork training. There are seminars and day camps and retreats, all purportedly designed to bring teams together, increasing synergy, hopefully creating an environment your employees are comfortable working in.
At ConnectedHR, our experts work with small to midsize businesses in training sessions for their employees and HR teams. It’s important to consider the trainee, what will help them not only learn but sustain and grow their training every day.
In this article, we will cover why HR training is essential for your business and how to make your HR training sessions stick with your employees.
When does a company need HR training?
HR training is more serious. It’s a something every HR department needs, and, while industrial psychology has shown that teamwork training has benefits, HR training prepares your staff to handle existing and future problems the company will be faced with.
The only question is whether the company understands the value of the training and how it’s implemented.
If you’re a small business, and you’re growing your department, you need a plan. There needs to be a design in place. Examine the policies and processes you want to implement, improve or remove, and then the context within which they’ll be evaluated. Some questions you may ask include:
- Are you removing a specific problem?
- Looking to improve specific people?
- Are there productivity metrics you want to implement?
- Why are you looking for HR training?
Once you answer those questions, you can identify what barriers will prevent you from moving forward. With this information in hand, we can tailor HR programs for small, growing and large companies.
When does HR training NOT work?
Many employers don’t think about the vision they have for their HR department, but they know what it looks like when it doesn’t work. They believe training will fix problems. It does, but, companies often don’t see a return on their investment because they’re not addressing the deeper problems within the walls of their organization. They don’t know what to look for.
Anyone can read off of a Powerpoint and have you sign a slip. You don’t hire a professional for that. You’re not looking for a feel-good seminar, or a quirky game, or a one-off pep talk and a pamphlet. The actual training isn’t a short process, and to treat it like one will leave the department under-equipped to manage your needs.
These are important positions; the staff must have the right tools to succeed, and that’s often not what employers see. They see people revert to their old ways after training ends. Don’t spend time on a great idea that has no legs. Once the presenter leaves, this idea goes nowhere.
What makes HR training work?
Training has to offer real solutions that can be implemented easily. ”Easily” means that, by the time the consultant leaves, the methods taught are already the default setting for your employees, and can be communicated to the rest of the workforce. For example, you remove the question of harassment when every employee understands what behavior constitutes harassment in the first place. There is no gray area in their minds.
A good program should be engaging and interactive. A great program uses adult learning methods to keep your attention and encourage learning. A successful program will improve you, the employer, and your ability to lead your HR team.
Having a vision for what the company’s culture needs to be, and the commitment to make it happen is necessary for long-term change, and a good program understands that.
Training without commitment in a disorganized work environment will fail. It’s challenging to design on-target policies or establish effective HR protocols- that’s why training exists. It takes leadership, and a culture of improvement for training to work. Poor leadership and unwillingness to address problems mean training will not work.
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