Your employees are your most valuable asset. Providing employees with training and development activities can help you to meet your business goals while increasing their job satisfaction. Show On this page
Investing in training and development can:
Remember to keep a record of any training and development activities your employees complete. To implement the right training for your business, you need to identify your business and employee training needs. You can do this yourself, or you can recruit a human resources (HR) consultant or training organisation to help you.
Your training and development program should be described in your business plan. You need to know:
If you decide to exit your business or hand it over to a family member, training may be an important part of your succession planning. As part of your business plan review:
Consider any upcoming changes in your business that will require training for any of your employees.
Review your budget and resources before offering training and development opportunities to your employees. The training and development budget should be part of your business plan. If you don't have a training and development budget, creating one will help you work out what you can offer your employees. Make sure to include all training and development costs in your budget. These costs can include:
Your employees and your business may be eligible for government funding and assistance programs that support training and upskilling of specific types of employees. Consider speaking to a human resources (HR) professional to find out what assistance your business and employees may be eligible for or find out more about training assistance for Queensland employers.
Discussing training and development needs with your employees can:
You can talk to your employees in group meetings or one-on-one about their training needs. Employee performance reviews is an ideal opportunity for a one-on-one discussion. They may, for example:
Consider doing individual skills assessments to work out exactly what training the individual needs. Record this employee feedback, making note of all training needs or requests.
Consider the training and development options you have available to address the needs you've identified. Common training activities include:
Consider the benefits of different training and development options, rather than simply choosing the most convenient or least expensive. For example, blended learning activities that combine face-to-face instructor led and technology-based methods or online/computer-based and on-the-job learning activities. These options can be more cost effective cutting down travel and instructor costs and they can also be more beneficial to your employees. Outsourcing trainingExternal training courses should be offered if:
These external training courses should be run through a registered training organisation (RTO). You can also hire external training providers to conduct in-house training at your business which can be efficient if you have a number of employees needing the same activity. Decide on, and document:
When deciding on training, remember... A common formula used in the training industry when planning training, is that most employees get:
Communicate training and development options and activities to all employees so they are aware of what is available and happening in your business. Make sure you offer all employees in your business equal opportunities for training and development.
As an employer, you:
WHS trainingWHS training could include:
Read more about: Industry-specific trainingCertain industries and job roles will require specific training. For example, if your employee needs to drive a truck or forklift, you must make sure they have the right licences. Some key examples of industry and job-specific training are: Developing employees through mentoring, coaching and shadowingAs a business owner, you can use mentoring, coaching and shadowing to develop employees' skills at little or no cost to your business. Investing time into developing employees can help you make the most of an employee's skills and abilities and avoid expensive and time-consuming recruitment processes, and ensure that valuable knowledge stays within your business. Mentoring, coaching and shadowing can also help your business:
By pairing a more experienced individual with a less experienced one, you can use mentoring, coaching and shadowing:
MentoringMentoring is based on a relationship between the mentor and mentee. The mentor provides:
Through this relationship, the mentor and mentee can benefit from a range of personal and professional development opportunities. Regardless of whether the arrangement is informal or formal:
If you are a small business, you may find it difficult to find mentors internally. In this case, you could encourage your employees to look externally for a mentor, either through similar businesses, industry associations, or mentoring programs. Mentoring can:
A mentor-mentee relationship may be informal or formal. The type you choose for your business will depend on your employees, business requirements and resources. In an informal arrangement:
A formal mentoring arrangement is usually more structured, with regular meetings and formal reviews of the mentee's progress. Together, the mentor and mentee should meet regularly and track the mentee's progress.
Mentoring is ideal for enthusiastic staff who are keen to progress their career and grow personally and professionally. To get the most out of a mentoring relationship, a mentee should:
A good mentor must:
A mentor should:
CoachingCoaching is a development tool to unlock employee potential and improve performance. Workplace coaching can focus on:
A coach can help an employee:
Coaching can be:
ShadowingShadowing refers to one employee following and observing another employee for a specific period. This allows the employee to learn the ins and outs of the job while watching someone perform it. Job shadowing is a very effective on-the-job learning method. Job shadowing can be beneficial for:
Job shadowing may occur over a few days, weeks or months. This will depend on the specific job, the complexities and the individual employee. It could also be extended into a job-swap, where employees trade roles to get experience of working in another role or another part of the business. Potential benefits of job shadowing:
A good job shadowing program can bring many benefits to your employees and your business. Make sure to continuously communicate these benefits and available opportunities to your employees.
If you're developing a mentoring, coaching or job shadowing program, consider talking to a human resources (HR) professional. They'll be able to talk you through the key things to consider and work with you to develop a program that meets the needs of your employees and your business. Also consider...
|