If there's no clear outcome or result that you're after, there's no point going through the motions of training

8 Training Mistakes

 

If you think your team doesn't need training, you might want to reconsider. A survey by recruitment firm Talent2 found that 30% of workers surveyed changed jobs because their employer didn't provide training. If you've got Gen Y employees, training becomes even more important for employee retention. The Talent 2 survey found that 90% of the 2,413 respondents valued the chance to develop skills and saw it as a fundamental part of career development (Training Australia, Vol 8, No 4).

If you're in the advertising or marketing business, you've probably noticed that internet media is still growing by double digits, so it's only a matter of time before your staff will need to add digital knowledge to their skill set. If you're thinking about launching a training program, here are some common mistakes to avoid:

1) Doing one-off training - spending an immersive day and ticking the box that training is done and we know everything about digital. With no follow up, people go right back to their old habits.

2) Looking for the cheapest option - your decision should be based around outcomes, not short term cost. A quick search on the web will show you some of the "used car salesman" options out there! You really do get what you pay for.

3) Saving money by running training "in house" - running digital training by internal staff within your digital department generally devolves into "brown bags" for an hour here and there by people "presenting" what they do. Some of our best assignments are when the digital teams enlist us to come in as a credible third party to help them empower the rest of the company with digital knowledge.

4) Training on site - not always possible, but a different environment puts people in a new mindset and gets them away from distractions like phones, being pulled out "just for a minute," or not coming back after breaks!

5) No involvement by management - one of the biggest factors we've seen in terms of the perceived value of training is whether or not "the boss" takes part in the program, showing that the training is of value to the organisation.

6) No clear objectives for the training - what do you want your people to be able to do after the training? If there's no clear outcome or result that you're shooting for, there's no point in going through the motions of training.

7) No follow up process - assign a champion to make sure learnings are transferred into the workplace, with a clear action plan.

8) Not linking training results to measurable numbers - did you have a plan in place to demonstrate that because staff is now able to do X, then we increased digital billings by Y? Or that we're now consistently making budget?

As the market loosens up this year, and people start to revisit their options in terms of employment, providing them with new skills (and therefore new things to sell) will be one way to ensure you keep them.

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