Ensuring you offer training for employees is vital to achieving your business goals. Not only does it help employees learn and do their jobs effectively, but it also boosts employee retention, employee engagement and overall morale.
There are 11 types of employee training programs a company can use, each of which aims to upskill a different type of employee or area of their company.
Types of employee training programs
1. Orientation training
Perhaps one of the most basic training types, orientation training should help new employees understand and settle into their new job.
They should get to know things like:
- Who their co-workers and managers are
- Overall reporting structure
- Where they and their team work
- The types of software they'll be using (and how to use it if they're unfamiliar)
There should also be people ready to answer any looming questions your new hires may have about their job role, daily tasks and or even just a particular task.
2. Employee onboarding
Sometimes confused with orientation training, onboarding training is similar but distinct. Where orientation typically lasts the first few days, the onboarding process can last a month or more and is far more in-depth.
Whilst they may have met some, or all, of their co-workers and managers during employee orientation, onboarding sees them really get to know their co-workers and a more accurate idea of what managers expect from them.
This is also the period where employees typically get to see the "bigger picture". To that end, overarching company and department-specific goals should be shared with them to ensure everyone is on the same page.
They should also be given a better understanding of the company's structure (including an introduction to the executive team), the specifics of the goods or services the company provides and who exactly their customers or clients are.
3. Technical training
Regardless of the industry you're in, chances are it's constantly changing. Whether it's a change in your customer/client demographics, technological advancements or something else entirely, your employees need to know how to stay ahead of the curve.
Technical training is designed to improve the technical skills your employees already have by providing a third-party perspective, typically through subject matter expert (SME) or instructor-led training, or by teaching them how to take advantage of the advancements in technology.
4. Sales training
Principally aimed at your sales team and/or client-facing employees, sales training isn't just about teaching them new ways to sell your product or services - though sales training can be exactly that sometimes.
Instead, it often focuses on the technology side of things: how new software(s) can be used to simplify or streamline the sales process, how to address client concerns or questions quicker and clearer, and how to put their mind at ease and turn a potential purchase into a realised one.
5. Team training
Probably something you've only really thought about during or after a merger or another sort of leadership change, team training is one of those types of training programs that's always beneficial.
Whilst team training often aims to boost intra-team employee morale through things like teambuilding exercises and icebreakers, it can also be used to forge bonds between teams and team members in your company, particularly if those two teams work in similar or overlapping areas.
Indeed, numerous Australian and non-Australian studies show that companies with better team training also have higher customer satisfaction and lower cross-team unit costs.
6. Leadership training
Also sometimes known as management training, as middle management are the ones who often receive this kind of training, leadership training aims to both teach, and then further improve leadership skills.
Typically, this involves teaching managers the how (and more importantly, the when) to motivate employees, how to set effective targets that employees will meet without hurting morale and how to improve teamwork within the group they manage.
As middle management often has minor, albeit important, decisions to make, management training also aims to teach better decision-making skills, both in terms of making the right one and making it at the right time.
7. Executive training
While all forms of management require some basic foundational management skills, senior executives require a little more thorough training, particularly in regard to the "big picture".
Instead of focusing on things like team building, executive training sessions focus primarily on strategy and innovation, while exploring how they can use their experience in the C-suite area (eg. finance, marketing etc.) to come up with a better strategy or a new way of doing things in the company.
8. Soft skills training
Somewhat linked to the above three employee training methods, soft skills are things most employers tend to forget about, like body language, personality, communication etc.
This can influence how you answer the phone, your general demeanour during conversations, and plays a huge part in gaining new clients, client retention and employee motivation.
Soft skills training aims to make subtle alterations to employee behaviour to improve all three and build a more emotionally intelligent workforce.
9. Health & safety training
Arguably the most overlooked type of employee training program, health and safety training is quite possibly the most important. It could even save a life.
Health and safety training covers everything from what to do during fire drills to basic first aid and how your employees can protect themselves from getting seriously injured at work.
As an employer, Australian law says that you are responsible for ensuring your employees' safety and that they are trained to do their work safely. This is the same no matter if you're a small business or one of the largest companies in Australia.
Failure to provide adequate health and safety training is typically punishable by a fine (such as the record $700,000 paid by meatpacking giant JBS) and even prison time in some rare cases.
10. Compliance training
Today, almost every industry in Australia faces some sort of regulation. The regulations applicable to each industry vary wildly, even within sub-niches in the same industry.
Compliance training ensures that employees know exactly what they can (and more importantly, can't) do, from both a legal and moral perspective.
In many industries, such as many aspects of financial services, compliance training is mandatory and everyone working in that industry requires some form of certification or qualification.
However, even if your industry does not legally require such training, it's always best to do so, as failing to comply with laws and regulations can land you with a serious fine or even get your company shut down, so it's best not to risk it.
11. Quality assurance training
Particularly important in production or distribution-based industries, quality assurance training (sometimes simply known as just "quality training") is there to maintain only the highest production standard.
Quality assurance training should act very much like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it should help employees to spot defects before the final product is delivered to the customer or client, whilst also giving your employees skills to prevent those defects in the first place.
Conclusion
There are literally dozens of training methods you can use to upskill your employees of all levels, yourself included.
There are also dozens of ways you can deliver workplace training too.
You might choose to offer on-the-job training where there is more practical, hands-on training, or you may choose to take advantage of the internet and enrol your employees in online courses (such as those provided by Plus UTS).
Regardless of the types of training you choose to employ, the training method should improve employee skills, increase productivity and ultimately, employee performance to help you reach your business goals.
Looking to upskill your employees? Plus UTS provides university-level education for all types of employee training programs and specialisations.
