As a small business owner, you know it’s important to train new employees and provide regular skills and product updates to current workers. But, sometimes time and budget get in the way of these goals. Fortunately, employee training doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. Here are six tips for training success.
1. Budget – There are many resources available to help you educate employees. If you aren’t sure how much to budget for employee training, talk with other small business owners. It’s OK to start small and gradually increase your investment.
2. Plan – Identify your goals for training new and current employees. Next, determine the type of training materials that best fit your employees. Younger employees now comprise about 35% of the workforce. Studies show they spend several hours each week watching instructional videos on YouTube to increase their knowledge and develop new skills. So make sure your training will help them fulfill work responsibilities and prepare them for future growth opportunities. For tips on creating a training plan, read this blog.
3. Personalize – Small business trainers often use online instructional and product videos available on YouTube and other business websites for employee training. However, the content is generic and doesn’t always fit their business.
Many small businesses have switched to using a learning management system (LMS), so they can personalize employee training for their products and business. LMS is an interactive online training software, such as Traineaze, that is easy to use to develop teaching modules for employees. Trainers can include a variety of communication tools, such as PowerPoint, video, pictures, and infographics to communicate training information. And, the material can be updated at any time. Review tips to help you find the right online training software.
Employees today want the flexibility of online training. They can watch training modules anywhere, at any time, and from any digital device, which helps them be more productive.
Many small business trainers use LMS to create microlearning modules. They can develop short teaching sessions on specific topics that employees need at exactly the right time. By making training easily digestible and applicable to the learner’s task, workers can immediately put the knowledge to use. Click here to find out more about microlearning.
4. Enhance – Some elements of your products and services may be used only by specific customers. It’s easy for employees to forget details of these special features. The solution is to create microlearning modules on these topics. When employees receive questions about these features, they can quickly review the information. Not only will employees feel more confident in talking about your products and services, but customers also will be pleased with the sales experience.
5. Share – Younger employees appreciate coaching and training. Create opportunities for employees of all ages to work together to learn new skills and knowledge. If you have seasoned 
employees who connect well with co-workers, ask them to teach specific tasks to younger team members. And, if an employee attends an outside training program, ask them to teach employees what they learn. These experiences engage employees and allow you to develop internal experts who can assist other workers.
6. Verify – With online training software, it’s easy to create short quizzes to verify employee understanding of the material or to document learning for compliance regulations. If employees miss important questions or can’t remember the details, they can review modules to relearn the material.
