How to Choose an Effective Employee Training Program

A whopping 70 percent of employees don’t feel like they’ve mastered the skills they need to do their jobs well. You want to prevent your employees from falling into this category, right?

Of course, you do! It’s time to implement effective learning and development programs’ best practices and invest in top training programs for employees.

Not sure what the most important elements of the best corporate training programs are?

Keep reading to learn all about the benefits and features of employee training. Plus, what to look for in comprehensive employee training programs.

Why Invest in Comprehensive Employee Training Programs?

Before exploring the key elements of training and development programs or what makes a good training course, you need to understand why training programs are valuable.

One of the best training practices of successful companies is the use of professionally made corporate training programs. Here are some of the bottom-line benefits you can expect from investing in successful training programs:

• Increased job satisfaction
• Higher rates of employee engagement
• Increased efficiency and productivity
• Higher rates of employee retention
• More company-wide innovation
• Elevated coaching culture

When you take the time to train employees intentionally, you'll also improve your company's reputation. A reputation that shows an investment in your employees’ growth gives you a competitive advantage when recruiting highly skilled employees.

Now that we’ve established the benefits of investing in employee training programs, here’s how to choose the right one.

What Makes a Good Training Program?

As you start searching for an effective employee training program, you may feel overwhelmed. You might even experience that looming sense of FOBO (fear of better options), especially when every company claims to have the “best corporate training programs.”

Here are seven elements to look for in a great training program to help you narrow your search.

Program Customization

The best employee training program will be customizable. You shouldn't settle for a generic training program if you want your company and employees to experience the benefits listed above. Choose a program that you can tailor to your company's goals, culture, and learners—a custom employee training program.

Remember, the strategic investments you make today will provide you with significant returns in the future!

Reporting and Analytics

How will you know if the program and best practices in training and development that you invest in are paying off? By measuring KPIs. You need to be able to track your employee training program. Set learner goals, monitor program progress, and measure employee engagement. Reporting on KPIs provides managers with the data they need to determine the training’s ROI.

Find a program that provides you with built-in insights and reporting capabilities, like the Assessment Builder in Spoke LMS. A program where you can administer assessments helps you identify potential knowledge gaps and address them with learners ASAP.

Quality User Experience

Choose a training program that provides learners with a quality user experience. An easy-to-use platform probably isn’t top-of-mind, but it saves learners valuable time during the workday. Don’t make your employees guess their way through a poorly designed program or platform.

If you want to reap the benefits that comprehensive employee training programs offer, think, “learner-first.” Request a demo and give a few key employees a chance to interact with the potential training program. After all, employees are going to be the ones using it the most.

Virtual Training Content

In the new normal of virtual work, every training program should be accessible outside of the office. A mobile-accessible program ensures that learners can access their training anywhere, anytime. A virtual training program enables employees to learn in a way that's most comfortable for them.

High-quality training programs deliver fast, relevant learning solutions to employees. The program you decide on shouldn’t be hindered or restricted by e-Learning, but support your employees—whether they’re brand new or seasoned professionals.

Various Modalities

In addition to being virtual, your corporate training curriculum should be versatile. The training delivery method needs to include various modalities, which will provide the most value to your learners. When you compare different corporate training programs, look for one that uses different training approaches: virtual instructor-led training, microlearning, games, etc.

Content variability allows you to cater to a broader range of learning needs. It also ensures that all employees, regardless of their preferred learning style, are accommodated to a certain degree during the training process.

Collaborative Communication

Training programs should allow for direct communication and collaboration between learners, managers, and coaches. Employees need to have an easy way to ask questions and get answers during their learning journey. A healthy, built-in communication system also fosters teamwork between learners. As a result, employees will be more engaged in their training programs.

Trustworthy Endorsements

Aside from the bells and whistles, is the comprehensive training program tried and true? Are there any well-known brands or organizations that use the employee training program(s) you're considering? If so, this might indicate that the company’s training solutions are legitimate and worth the investment.

Always read reviews to get an idea of what people think about the programs and whether they would use that particular training company again. Consider reaching out to the training company and ask if they have case studies or client referrals you can speak with about their experience.

High-Quality Training for High-Quality People

Finding the right comprehensive employee training program doesn’t have to be hard.

You may get off-track by shiny-new-object syndrome, but stay the course and remember to think about your learners first! The most successful training programs are the ones that empower people through technology.

Do you want your employees to feel more confident in their jobs?

Do you need to improve your retention rates?

It’s time to invest in high-quality training!

Our team at Unboxed Training & Technology knows what it takes to create an effective corporate training curriculum. Whether you need training for onboarding, sales, customer service, or anything in between, we have a training solution for your team. Request a demo of our employee programs today to learn more.