In the words of poet John Donne, “No man is an island.” If you’ve ever worked as part of a team or had a job, period, these words should ring true as it is a rare moment that your work doesn’t have another person as a touchpoint. In this post, we’ll look at the five top benefits of corporate team training.
The scenarios that bring a person here are fairly obvious: inefficiency, declining or poor quality work, new software or systems that nobody knows, or arguments about the right way to do something. But somehow, some people struggle to see the value or need to invest in instruction.
Whether you’re a single, frustrated employee or a company leader, we want to give you the information you need to champion the benefits of training your team.
If you’re not on board yet, a metaphor. It’s rare the group that works as a well-oiled machine, barreling down the road at maximum capacity, every piece in its place and performing its role in perfect synchronicity with the others. Rather, groups tend to work as a machine that’s missing a few gears and always has one tire about to fly off.
And what about that one piece that keeps being replaced? On top of having to stop progress to install it, the newer employee, er, “piece,” never seems to fit quite right at first. This car is going nowhere fast. It’s no wonder that, on average, 15% of projects fail altogether, with even more going over budget or not meeting the original goals.
Upskill
verb: to provide (someone, such as an employee) with more advanced skills through additional education and training. “This is an opportunity to upskill staff and expand their capabilities.”
Reskill
verb: to learn new skills so that you can do a different job. “The data entry clerk took a class on the new software, so now the system can be implemented.”
1. Greater work efficiency
Employees who undergo training tend to comprehend the subject matter better, feel empowered, and perform at a higher level. By attending dedicated classes, employees can fully absorb concepts and unlock their potential, which they might not have known earlier.
Knowing industry best practices and factors that help achieve goals enables workers to understand their roles and significance in the organization. Moreover, training helps eliminate boredom and idleness at the workplace by developing higher skills.
Corporate team training boosts employees’ confidence, enabling them to work efficiently and with minimal supervision. In fact, 90% of employees agree that job performance is improved by training and development. Just as software is frequently updated, so should workers!
2. Less confusion and headaches
Another benefit of corporate team training that resonates with workers is the reduction of confusion and frustration within the team. While individual team members may have their unique skills, training as a team levels the knowledge base, eliminating any gaps in understanding.
Constantly fielding questions and clarifications disrupts the workflow and decreases productivity. This can lead to stress during project delivery and create time constraints, making it crucial for each team member to perform their role effectively.
Effective communication is another critical factor that can make or break a team. It is not only essential to communicate on time, but it is also vital to understand each other’s jargon and terminology, which accelerates comprehension.
Even when working on the same team, team members may not necessarily speak the same “slanguage.” Therefore, familiarity with industry terms and jargon is essential for effective communication and better team performance.
3. Better team cohesion
Often, the biggest pain of being on a team is doing your part yet having weak points that don’t fulfill your responsibilities. Unfortunately, a failure to deliver on the work as a whole doesn’t just reflect poorly on the one person who didn’t do their job; everyone is affected.
And often, it’s not just one person who’s the hold-up. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2022 report found that 65% of the U.S. Workforce isn’t engaged.
Luckily, corporate team training is an effective way to increase employee engagement. Talent development makes employees feel recognized by their superiors. Employees are meant to feel as if they’re more than resources to be scheduled.
Investing in humans shows them that they’re valued, creating job satisfaction and the desire to do good work. According to studies, in organizations with engaged employees, absenteeism is 41% lower, and productivity is 17% higher.
Team cohesion is a major factor in getting work done, and it’s no easy feat when people of different backgrounds and skill sets come together. Technically, if you look at high-performing teams, ten main tenents are enhanced or developed by coming together and training as a team:
- Team member goals align with project goals.
- The Team focuses on interdependent actions.
- Team members participate in planning and monitoring work.
- Decisions are made mostly by consensus.
- Team members take ownership of the project plan and its execution.
- Team members are empowered with defined roles and responsibilities. Avoiding micromanaging, the focus is on deliverables, not the way you get there.
- Conflicts are resolved collaboratively.
- People on the team feel understood, heard, and supported.
- Individual style differences are honored.
- Individual needs are of concern to the team.
4. Lower turnover rates
If you’ve ever onboarded a coworker, trained a new hire, or been a new hire yourself, you know how long it takes to get up to speed. By the numbers, a Work Institute report found that voluntary employee turnover costs businesses in the US over $630 billion a year! The bottom line doesn’t lie: corporations lose time, money, and momentum when dissatisfied employees leave. It’s a far smarter move to retain talent.
By implementing an effective training program, employee motivation is uplifted, and star performers see opportunities for career advancement within their organization. It’s a no-brainer that workers tend to stay longer with an employer that invests in their learning. With nearly unanimous agreement, 94% of survey respondents in LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report concur with this statement.
5. Building the company’s future
No company stays stagnant, and with an ever-aging workforce, there is always a call for fresh talent to fill positions.
Instead of hiring from outside, taping skilled professionals from inside the organization can often be beneficial. This method shortens the learning curve and eliminates valuable time spent getting an outside source up-to-speed.
Organizations notoriously struggle with change management. So, it’s worth picking and choosing where you want your change efforts to be focused. Knowledge of the company and its quirks, strengths, and weaknesses is invaluable regarding leadership roles.
While an outside eye can be extremely useful, outsourcing that task to a consultant often makes more financial sense than rolling the dice with a full-time employee. By training a team, skills are added, and workers become more accomplished.
Through professional development, talent is identified, and the next generation of leaders may be easily defined. Seeing the future of a company is incredibly powerful. Moving from a reactive to a proactive mindset allows the implementation of succession plans and mentoring programs.
The goal is to get the right people in the right place and allow them the time to learn the roles and responsibilities they will one day be called to undertake.
An employee who can actively plan for advancement rather than wait for the wind to blow their way is more engaged and invested in the company’s future. An organization of educated, empowered leaders is a force to be reckoned with.
The real question: is it really worth it?
There was once a time when employees would stay with a company for their entire career, but that time passed. These days, in a move some call “The Great Resignation,” Americans would rather quit unsatisfactory jobs than slog through daily disappointment. It’s up to employers to make their employees happy. And training is one of the most effective ways to do this.
Some may read this article and still say, “Great, but it’s still too costly to set up an in-house training program.” And they just might be right. Strongly consider outsourcing training.
Cost reduction is the number one goal for any type of outsourcing, along with flexibility and speed to market. You’ll save time and money by eliminating the need to develop your own program with course materials, exercises, and dedicated resources.
Also, you gain access to outside specialists who train in niche skills and are experts in delivering knowledge to adult learners. Partnering with a learning provider that can fulfill your time, pace, delivery method, and location needs requires fewer resources than setting up your own internal training.
While there are many training programs, this is where Advisicon shines. We excel at meeting organizations where they’re at in knowledge, specializing in a holistic approach to work management. A teaching company at heart, we take pride in delivering knowledge to all levels of adult learners with our various corporate team training options.
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