The Most Important Kinds Of Training Your Staff Need
It’s hugely important that you are keeping your staff well trained at all times, because this is a fundamental aspect to keeping things running smoothly and keeping everyone safe in their work too. As we are going to see in this post, there are all kinds of training that you need to think about as an employer and manager, and it can be all too easy to forget about or overlook some of them. So that is something that we are going to try and remedy here as best as we can.
Here are the main kinds of training you will generally need to ensure your staff is getting. Most of these are applicable in every workplace, or at least the majority, and are usually a legal requirement. Those which are not a legal requirement are still a very good idea, so they are all worth thinking about. Let’s take a look at what they are.
Orientation
This is the first training an employee will undergo, arguably the single most important of all. During the orientation training, you will be given a chance to inform your new colleagues of pretty much everything that you essentially want them to know about working for your company. This is your opportunity to inform them of the company’s main goals and ambitions, as well as its central philosophy and whatever else you might be keen on telling them about.
In essence, it’s a chance to make them feel welcome and part of the team. This has important knock-on effects, and it’s not the kind of thing you really want to ignore. In fact, making the most of this will turn out to be really important for both your company and them.
You can introduce the culture and policies of the company, give office tours, provide basic information about the roles they are entering, and carry out any administrative procedures you might need to. You can also help them set up their workspace and get settled in.
Onboarding
Although they tend to go hand-in-hand – and sometimes even at the same time, in the same session – onboarding and orientation are slightly different. Whereas orientation is normally about introducing the employees to the culture and vision of the company and carrying out administrative tasks, onboarding is where you actually start teaching your new staff members about how to do their new jobs.
Clearly, the better this is done, the more it is going to pay off down the line, so it’s something that you are going to need to get right. You should get them in touch with the basics of their job, what is expected of them, and generally what they are going to need to do. You should train them in the use of the essential tools they will use, whether those are physical machines or software, or anything else that might be necessary in the role. That is going to be essential to them performing their job well.
Beyond that, you should also use onboarding as an opportunity to get them to practice their job before they start doing it for real. This can often be a really useful and important way of letting them get used to things, so it’s something you don’t want to overlook if you can help it.
Health & Safety
There are many sub-categories within this, but essentially there is also the main header of health and safety – and this is something that you will need to make sure you are providing in the right way. This is one of those kinds of training that are a legal necessity, and you must be doing it appropriately. It is of course also important for the sake of everyone’s well-being, so that too is something that you are going to want to think about here.
So what is generally included in the main health and safety training that your employees need to have? This is all the basics about how to work in the workplace safely and without putting oneself or anyone else in harm’s way. That includes proper moving and lifting techniques, the proper placement of food and drink and especially hot liquids, and all those other elements we know from health and safety training.
You might find that your staff sometimes get a little restless with this kind of training, especially during refreshers, because they might feel that they already know it all. But in truth, it’s hugely important that they pay close attention, so you might want to think of a way to keep them engaged – such as turning it into a game. You can also outsource this if you want it to be even more effective.
As long as you carry out the appropriate health and safety training at the right regular intervals, you should find that you are going to have much safer workers and that the workplace as a whole is safer. That’s just better for everyone, and it’s also the kind of thing that will make for a more enjoyable workplace.
Training Your Staff: Fire Safety
Although it’s in one respect a part of the health and safety training above, it’s also something that you will need to think about in its own regard. For that reason, fire safety training is vital that you ensure you provide at the right regularity and with all the seriousness the issue demands.
The last thing you want is to find that your workplace is on fire, so as long as everyone knows about preventing and handling fire safety, this should be avoided. When fires do break out, they are devastating, so this is something you really need to keep on top of.
Good fire safety, like general health and safety, should be trained by professionals, so you might find that you want to outsource this too. That will ensure that it is being done properly, and while you’ll have to pay a fee, it’s a small price to pay compared to having fire damage or even someone being harmed by fire in the workplace. That is something that you are going to need to think about here to ensure that you are doing it as well as possible.
Again, there is the issue of how often to do this. You should ideally carry everyone through fire safety training once every six months if not more often. As long as you have done that, you should find that they are going to have a much better chance of knowing exactly what to do in case of a fire, as well as knowing how to prevent a fire in the first place. And when everyone knows that, that’s a good place to be as a business.
First Aid
You don’t technically need to train everyone in first aid, but there is nothing wrong with doing so, and it’s wise to have as many first aiders in the building at any one time. There is a legal minimum to consider here, which depends on the industry and other factors, but usually, that just means you need to have one first-aid-trained individual on shift at any time. However, having more is certainly going to help and be worthwhile, so that is something that you might want to think about here as well.
As with the above two kinds of training, this is something that can only be delivered by a professional. There are also all kinds of first aid courses, from one-day complete courses to CPR renewal courses for those who already have the basic training. You should offer these to everyone who wants to have it, and make sure that you as the company, pay for it on the employees’ behalf. That is a good sign of faith and something that they will really appreciate.
When you have a few first aiders in the building, you’ll find that your workplace is so much safer and that your staff feels more appreciated and valuable as well.
Training Your Staff: Team Training
Everyone needs to learn how to be part of a team. This is something that you can only really make sure of if you are explicitly training it, and that’s why every company in the world will occasionally have team-building days. While these events can sometimes be the source of ridicule, the truth is that they are incredibly useful and powerful opportunities for you to ensure your teams are working closely together.
As such, it’s something that you should try to do once a year at least. You should find that this is going to make a massive difference to how everyone feels working together, and that will help engender the kind of culture that you want in your business.
A good approach to take to this kind of training is to use Tuition Assistance Management, which will ensure that the end results are exactly as you would want them to be and that your employees learn all they need to. That is obviously hugely important in finding success here.
With all of those kinds of training taken care of, your employees are going to be so much more powerful in their work, and your company will benefit from that in turn too.
