Grow your business by investing in employee training and development

Create employee training and development opportunities

Nigel Paine, the author of Workplace Learning: How to Build a Culture of Continuous Employee Development, says in the video below that, “A learning culture is when an organization can take insight from outside, share it rapidly inside and turn it into action.” Sharing new information internally can take a variety of forms, such as lunch-and-learns or employee courses with formal curriculum.

One workplace education trend gaining traction is “microlearning.” Microlearning encompasses informative content delivered in the form of short videos, flashcards, infographics, and gamification, all of which can create a more robust and engaging internal education program. Beyond microlearning, organizations typically combine instructor-led workshops, e-learning modules, and on-the-job coaching into a blended employee training approach.

Many organizations now manage this through a learning management system (LMS) — employee training software that organizes courses, tracks completions, and issues certifications across the workforce, making it easier to scale programs as the business grows.

“We’re seeing an increase in organizations developing their own internal education programs, resulting in badging, certifications and endorsements,” says Preston D. Cameron, the managing director at Oculus Consulting Group. “These programs are being led by employees granted bootleg time to develop the educational programs and content exclusive to their organization.”

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Types of employee training programs

Effective employee training isn’t one-size-fits-all. The most common employee training programs include:

• Onboarding training introduces new hires to company culture, tools, and role expectations — setting the foundation for long-term performance.
• Compliance training ensures employees understand legal, regulatory, and safety requirements relevant to their roles.
• Skills and technical training builds job-specific competencies, from software proficiency to industry certifications and internal credentials like the badges and endorsements mentioned above.
• Soft skills and leadership development focuses on communication, collaboration, and management — increasingly essential in hybrid and remote work environments.

The right mix depends on your workforce and business goals, which is where a formal training needs assessment becomes essential.

Employee training programs should benefit workers and employers

Before launching any employee training initiative, a training needs assessment helps identify skill gaps and align programs with organizational goals. This means evaluating where employees currently are versus where the business needs them to be — ensuring that training investment goes to the highest-impact areas first. Carol Leaman, the CEO of Axonify — a microlearning platform — advises employers to take a considered approach to establishing these programs. “Employers need to create a path for employees to embark on that upskills them in meaningful ways,” she says. “Employees want exposure to — and programs around — the learning paths that result in better employment opportunities and bigger paychecks for them.”

Essentially, an employee is more likely to be invested in an employee training opportunity they have selected for themselves. And an employer will feel more comfortable footing the bill if there is a clear gap that will be filled by investing in employee development.

“Managers and employees need to work together to find the courses and resources that are going to help that employee grow to their strength and into the roles the business needs,” says Dawson Whitfield, co-founder and CEO at Looka, a platform for creating logos, websites and brands. “Not all education has the same ROI, but the right education can help employees and businesses grow together.”

One of the ways learning and development can help growth and employee retention is by building resilience, one of the keys to personal and professional success. According to How a Learning-Oriented Organizational Climate Is Linked to Different Proactive Behaviors: The Role of Employee Resilience, a study by Social Indicators Research, “A learning-oriented organizational climate will stimulate proactivity in employees via employee resilience.”

Resilient employees are more able to withstand failure, and that gives them greater capacity for innovation. And one of those innovations might propel your company toward meaningful growth.

Actively steer your team toward employee training and development

A sincere commitment to employee training and development communicates to your workers that you are invested in them, and want to give them every possible tool for success. It is important to ensure that you don’t just offer employees these opportunities, but actively encourage them to take you up on them.

Effective employee training communicates that you are invested in your people. “Employees learning new skills benefits everyone, and business owners know that,” says Reuben Yonatan, the founder and CEO of GetVoIP, which helps identify the best Voice over Internet Protocol phone system solutions. “But we may need to work on our compassion and understanding, and make sure to communicate better with our employees so that they feel welcome and supported in availing themselves of all opportunities for growth.” 

Measuring employee training effectiveness

Investing in employee training means little without a way to evaluate impact. The Kirkpatrick Model — one of the most widely used frameworks — measures training across four levels: learner reaction, knowledge gained, behavior change, and business results. Even simpler metrics, like pre/post skill assessments and year-over-year performance data, can tell you whether your employee training programs are generating a real return.

Employee training FAQs