The Four Things You Need to Know When Developing a Job Training Program
3 min read
Most people are familiar with the concept of job training, but there’s more to it than simply investing in an employee’s skills or purchasing some software that can teach them the ropes. Before you even begin developing your program, you need to understand four things:
1) what does your company want from their employees?
2) what does your industry want from its employees?
3) what skills do you need from your employees?
4) how will you measure success?
Businesses are always trying to find new and better ways to train employees, especially if it means saving money in the long run on recruitment and development of new talent. A big part of this training comes from job training programs, but many companies fail to put their job training programs together in an effective way. If you’re trying to decide whether to implement a job training program at your business, consider these four things before you do so.
Train Existing Employees Than Hiring New Ones
One of the most important things that you can do is train your existing employees. In fact, experts estimate that it costs between 50-80% less to retrain an employee rather than hire a new one. This is one of those areas where early planning can save you money and time later on down the road. Talk with your training department about their onboarding and retraining strategies if things change with your business.
Figure Out What Kind of Skills Are Missing From the Workforce
The first thing you need to do is assess what skills are missing from your local job market. Use resources like LinkedIn and government-provided labour statistics to figure out what positions are in high demand and which ones are currently being filled by foreign workers or recent college graduates. Once you’ve identified these opportunities, think about how your training program can help fill them; for example, if a lot of nurses in an area are nearing retirement age, it might be wise to offer certification courses for paramedics and other medical professionals who will likely move into those jobs.
Provide In-Demand Training That’s Accessible To Everyone
A successful job training program doesn’t just provide access to skilled workers; it should be tailored so that those who need skills gain them—and those who don’t need skills move on. Create an environment where people are open and willing to learn, and you’ll create more opportunities for everyone.
How Do We Decide Which Jobs Can Be Trained Within One Year?
If you are going to train people for jobs, it is important that you start with jobs that people can be trained for in one year. Many of them will take longer than one year, but if all of them are expected to take more than one year, there will not be enough new openings per month for even half of your trainees. Using less-than-one-year trainable positions makes it possible for most (if not all) of your trainees to find an opening by their first or second anniversary.
If you need any more assistance with creating the perfect job training program, you can look at LBTC’s bespoke training option, which lets you customise the training program as per your specifications.
