We tend to associate pursuing qualifications and training certificates with students, people first entering the job market and those who are retraining to enter a different field of specialism or expertise. While these are all common groups to undertake training and courses, it doesn’t have to be the case that they are the only groups engaging with these activities. If you’re running your own business, you should seriously consider placing your own staff on training or educational programmes, even though they’re already working for you. There are countless benefits that can come hand in hand with this, both for you and your team members. Here’s some more information on the subject.
Why Enroll Staff on Training Courses
There are so many reasons that you should place your staff on training courses. Here are a few that you should take into consideration.
- Staying up to date – Keeping up to date with developments in your chosen field is absolutely essential to stay at the top of your game. We’re living in a period where change and advancement is rapid in general, so you may need to provide your staff with ongoing training to stay competitive.
- Staff satisfaction – You want to keep your staff happy and on board. Good staff satisfaction rates can reduce the chances of your staff leaving, as they’ll feel a sense of purpose and progression in their job. Not only can this foster a healthier and happier working environment, but it can also maintain better rates of staff retention, reducing recruitment costs and training costs for new staff.
- Quality of staff – The more your staff members know and the better qualified they are, the more they will be able to contribute to your business and benefit you going forward.
Types of Training Courses to Consider
There are so many different types of training courses out there, and only you can know which will best suit your staff, as you’re familiar with your industry, what you’re selling and what extra knowledge your business needs to progress or maintain a positive working environment. Here are a few popular forms of training courses that can advance your employees and benefit your business.
1. Role Specific Qualifications
Consider role-specific qualifications for your staff. You may want to offer your marketing team SEO training, training in PPC marketing or general marketing qualifications, for example. You should make sure that you choose options that can be completed online with an online assessment platform so that your staff don’t have to spend unnecessary time commuting to and from classes and assessments.
2. Cybersecurity Training
We’re living in a digital age and, chances are, your staff use a lot of technology in their day to day roles. Whether they work from computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones or other common pieces of tech, you need to make sure that they are cybersecurity aware to protect your business, its data and its reputation. Cybersecurity breaches can cause financial loss and can make customers, clients and partners more reluctant to shop or work with you. Cybersecurity training courses can alert your staff to potential threats and ensure that they are operating in a safe and sensible manner from your devices.
3. Cultural Awareness Training
It’s important that your team not only get on well with each other but also get on well with members of the public and others while they are representing your company. This often means having cultural awareness so as not to cause offense to others. We are living in an increasingly diverse world and cultural awareness training – which might also be referred to as intercultural, cross-cultural and cultural competency training – can provide your team members with the necessary skills they need to communicate respectfully and well with cultures other than their own.
4. Health and Safety Training
Health and safety is extremely important in any workplace and you need to make sure your team members are fully trained in everything highlighted under health and safety law. Depending on their roles, this will differ. People working in warehouses, for example, may need to learn how to safely lift and move heavy items. People working from laptops may need training on how to prepare their chair and desk space for proper support. The list goes on. Make sure to provide relevant training to people based on their position, roles and responsibilities.
As you can see, training really can cover a wide variety of areas for your staff, but it’s important that no single area goes neglected. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to manage your staff well and ensure that they are receiving the right ongoing support for their needs. This will benefit them and, in turn, will benefit your company, so it’s more than worth investing in.
