Why Employee Training is Critical to your Company’s Success
Cathie Leimbach • October 26, 2021
Do you think your employees don’t do what they are supposed to do? If so, you aren’t alone. Wondering why? A research project with 29,000 managers uncovered that one of the primary reasons is they don’t know how to do their job.
Do you think you already have a training program in place? It may be ineffective - here are several reasons employees still don’t know what to do:
- The people training them don’t know how to train or how employees learn best.
- There is a lack of any evaluation to see if learning has occurred.
- Experienced employees are often assigned to train new employees without having the skills to teach effectively.
- Employees don’t have an opportunity to practice what they have learned before having to perform the new skill in real time.
Your employees are your most important asset. Investing in training leads to greater business growth and success. A recent Gallup study showed that workgroups that engaged in employee development, including training, saw a sales increase and profits double compared with workgroups that didn’t engage in training
A consistent and effective training program has the following additional benefits:
- Higher employee engagement
- Lower turnover
- Higher productivity and profitability
- Better task management because of improved skills
- Increased confidence in performing their responsibilities
- Standardized processes and procedures leading to less wasted time and effort
- Improved company culture by building on each employee’s strengths and providing opportunities for growth and promotion
- Reduction of the need for constant supervision because each employee is equipped with the skills to succeed
Managers are key in the development of training approaches and programs. Here are the steps to make certain that the employees you supervise receive the training they need:
- Identify the skills and knowledge needed to competently perform each job in your work group. During this evaluation, elicit input and information from each employee doing the job.
- Identify available training programs for each of your employees.
- Assess each employee’s performance and identify gaps in skills and/or information.
- Ask each employee what skills they would like to develop to do their jobs better.
- Create and communicate an action plan for each employee outlining the training and desired outcomes.
One approach does not fit all employees. Best practices include:
- Targeting soft skills - soft skills help employees fully utilize their hard skills. Skills such as conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, time management, and working well under pressure are critical in the workplace. Employees with soft skills make for good team players and efficient managers.
- Personalizing the training – analyze what skills each employee needs to learn, acknowledge their current abilities, build on strengths, and identify their best approach to learning.
- Making training easy – remove obstacles by making sure employees are given time and support for learning. Use multiple platforms, including online and mobile, that make it easy to access the training.
- Allowing learning at their own pace – most employees prefer to learn when the need arises, making independent online learning a good choice for your workforce.
An investment in training will transform your workforce from “employees that don’t know what to do” to a well-honed team working efficiently and effectively to meet goals and business objectives.
Most leaders don’t struggle because they lack knowledge. They struggle because leadership opportunities show up in daily conversations —and those moments are easy to miss. The difference between average and high-performing teams often comes down to four leadership behaviors: 1. Build Trust Through Everyday Conversations Trust is built in small moments. Listen to concerns Ask thoughtful questions Follow through Address issues quickly and respectfully 🤝 Trust grows through consistent, everyday conversations. 2. Reinforce What Good Looks Like People repeat what gets recognized. Be specific: “I appreciated how you handled that client issue quickly—that made a difference.” 🔒 Clarity + recognition = stronger performance. 3. Address Problems Early—Kindly and Clearly Avoiding issues creates bigger ones. Keep it simple: What was expected? What happened? What needs to change? 👥 Clear, timely conversations reduce drama and improve results. 4. Support People So They Can Succeed Your role is to help your team succeed. Clarify priorities Remove obstacles Provide resources Coach progress 🔍 When people have clarity and support, performance follows. The Real Lever: Conversations None of this requires new systems. It happens in everyday interactions— 1:1s, quick check-ins, and follow-ups. Better conversations → better results. Quick Reflection Which one would make the biggest difference for you right now? Build trust Reinforce performance Address problems early Support success 👉 Join our next 60-minute Leadership Conversation – Inspiring Employee Performance on Monday, April 6, at 3:00 pm ET. Not a webinar. A working session with other leaders looking at what’s actually happening on their teams—and how small shifts in daily conversations change performance fast. If you're curious what even a 10% shift in consistency could look like for your team… this is a good place to start.
You don’t need to make big changes in your leadership practices to get better results. Often, it’s small shifts in everyday leadership conversations that quietly change how work gets done. Here are three that work: 1. Make priorities clear Start meetings by stating current priorities. That creates focus right away and helps conversations stay on topic. 2. Ask instead of solve Instead of answering an employee’s questions, ask, “What are your suggestions?” Such questions encourage employee thinking and stronger follow-through. 3. Hold short monthly one-on-one check-ins Meeting with each employee one-on-one allows the regular review of goals, progress, and obstacles. These short conversations surface issues early and keep everyone aligned. These small habits keep teams steady and focused. Your challenge this month: Pick one shift and try it. Notice what changes in clarity, buy-in, or accountability. Sometimes the difference between teams that struggle and teams that move smoothly comes down to a few simple leadership conversations happening consistently. 👉 Join our 60-minute Leadership Conversation on March 30th at 3:00 PM to see how small shifts in everyday leadership conversations can quickly improve clarity, ownership, and results.