What is the connection between employee training and expectation management?
The importance of employee training to your organization is a no-brainer. It is your primary opportunity to upgrade the knowledge level of all your employees. The cost may be expensive, but the overall benefit to the individual and the company is worthwhile.
However, managers and team members have different perceptions of the benefits they should be getting out of employee training most of the time. Sometimes, these expectations even contradict each other.
How can we bridge the gap and reconcile these expectations? First, we have to define what the expectations of both parties are and how to manage them.
Expectation Management – Employees
Employees are looking for various benefits to be satisfied with their jobs, but one of the most vital in terms of their development in the workplace is training. In addition, employees feel more motivated if they feel that their managers care about their growth in the company.
By now, most of them have an idea of what successful employee training is. At the very least, pieces of training are expected to have the following aspects:
The training is easily accessible
Since work-from-home set-ups are becoming a norm, it has become apparent that training can be done outside of the workstation. Ideally, training should allow flexibility and can adapt to the individual employee’s goals and schedules. Therefore, companies are now expected to utilize eLearning tools that employees can access anytime, anywhere, whatever the layout of the device they are using.
The training is personalized and relevant
Employees expect that the training provided to them is aligned with their roles, tasks, and responsibilities. No one wants to sit through training that is not relevant to their job.
Employees will normally look into whether the training modules can be modified as desired. As such, managers can take advantage of learning management systems that provide pre-assessment to determine personal benchmarks and allow employees flexibility and customization, letting them choose their learning pathway.
The training is continuous
When training gets completed, employees will normally ask - “What’s next?”
Employees will normally expect a follow-through. Ensure that training will be supplemented by either one-on-one coaching, online FAQs, or group discussions.
Continuous training can help organizations keep their talent and inspire them to be more productive. Lack of knowledge with no follow-up on the latest tools, trends, or resources will make employees feel stagnant and that their current knowledge is outdated and diminishing.
Note that this is also important for training new hires as they onboard — organizations must ensure that they go beyond onboarding and provide refresher courses regularly.
In general, employees want training to be rewarding - a source of empowerment and growth opportunities.
On the other hand, what do managers expect from employees with employee training?
Expectation Management – Employers
The benefit of training programs to develop individual employee’s skills ultimately helps the entire organization - employers know that. It is an act that reflects an organization’s commitment to its workforce. In return, bosses are expecting good returns with the grooming of their employees.
The training results in superior employee performance
One of the reasons why employers provide employee training is to increase performance. Managers give team members opportunities to tackle issues in a simulated environment, bridging any soft or hard skill gaps discovered in the process. In patching and upgrading employee abilities, managers hope to lessen errors and breaks, ultimately translating to more profit. Also, pieces of training are expected to be useful once an employee is ready to take on bigger roles in the future, hopefully within the same team or company.
Training programs improve job retention rates
In addition to increased performance expectations, managers have job retention expectations as well. Because of this, managers utilize training programs as goodwill to keep employees from taking their talents somewhere else. Indeed, individuals tend to choose a manager who shows concern for their growth and professional development.
How to make the expectations meet
Human Resources provides a job description to a prospective employee. In the same vein, learning and development managers should also provide training descriptions at the start of a course, along with a brief of what is expected from a learner upon completion. Setting expectations this way is an effective method to inform each employee of their learning path personally.
Employees must always be provided with a way to submit their feedback, and this can be achieved by adding a section for feedback to each training. Numerical scores and feedback boxes are best practice examples of providing employees a safe space to send their feedback.
Having two-way communication ensures post-training satisfaction and resolves any issue brought about by unmet expectations. To help facilitate this, implement the proper learning management tools for employee training and feedback, such as the Edubrite LMS. You can learn more by booking a demo with us.