Have you ever been sent on a training course by your employer and then wondered how to use your newly gained knowledge back in the workplace?
Sometimes it can be daunting to know where to even begin implementing your new skills and how to get other members of the team on board with your new ideas.
“Training is a continuous process that spans across the entire work period of the employees. When employees attend the training with dedication and carry with them the skills learnt and put into practice at their job, it produces excellent results” (Ganesh & Indradevi, Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2015).
Research shows that employee training and development has the following benefits:
- Improves employee morale and job satisfaction
- Increases productivity
- Less supervision needed
- Employees feel more confident and responsible
- Encourages empowerment to employees
- Allows discovery of new skills and talents
- Helps your organisation keep pace with changes in the industry
The disadvantages of not encouraging employee development can be devastating to your business. An article on HR Review tells us that “a recent survey revealed that 56% of workers would leave their current role if their employers stopped providing training, and nearly one-third (31%) have previously left a position because of this issue”
Our passion at Ouch is to continually develop, both in our job roles and as people. Recently, all the Ouch team have started new adventures on our own individual learning journeys.
Some of the courses our team have recently attended are:
- WordPress: Easy Web Development
- Introduction to Digital Marketing
- Level 2 Acting and Creating Theatre
- BSc Philosophy & Psychology
- Leadership Skills
- Communications Skills
- Coaching Skills
Attending any type of training is not merely a tick box exercise but is to gain or increase our knowledge, develop our skills and then implement any new ideas within your organisation for positive change.
This week we had a team meeting to do exactly that. Each team member shared what they have learned from their individual courses and how they believe it can benefit our organisation. It’s an opportunity to come together and share our newfound knowledge with other team members. Moreover, it allows us to look at where those new skills can impact the business and help us to work smarter rather than harder.
An example of this is how I recently learnt how there are so many barriers to effective communication within a workplace whether that be from myself, others, the environment or even cultural barriers. Sharing this with my colleagues has allowed us to look at ways in which we can remove those barriers to improve our communication both between ourselves and with our customers. This could be as simple as using a separate quiet place for a conversation rather than amongst the general office noise of phones ringing, other people talking, the door buzzing and, in our case, the office dogs barking!
Discussing what you’ve learnt with your team members can give a whole new perspective on the information you have just acquired and allows everybody to be involved with ideas on how to best use your knowledge.
Why not try it with your colleagues next time somebody attends a course and see how it’s relevant to your organisation.
Kim Fudge, Ouch training team