Training and professional development are investments in the future success of an individual employee and the business as a whole. Equipping employees with better skills and knowledge will make them more skilled and productive.
However, training is only worth as much as its concepts are used. If you, as a leader, don’t follow up and reinforce the learning that happens during training, your investment is likely to be in vain.
Ensuring retention of employee training
During the training process, employees and trainers are often engaged with one another. In the days and weeks following training, leaders may see these concepts meaningfully applied in day-to-day operations.
Over time, however, training information often goes in one of two directions: it can become a permanent part of the routine or fade out in importance. Thankfully, there are several strategies leaders can use to follow up and encourage retention to ensure training is put to good use.
Engagement is one of the most critical factors in successfully retaining information. German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghauss found that humans forget around 50 percent of new information an hour after learning it and 70 percent within 24 hours.
Although employee training — especially onboarding — inherently requires delivering a large amount of information to employees quickly, it is possible to break up this information to make it more digestible. For instance, if you conduct in-person training, take frequent breaks and integrate activities to reinforce learning. Or, if you use e-learning tools, break the material down into modules with “quizzes” to aid comprehension and retention.
It is also necessary to ensure that any training materials and activities meet an employee’s level. Although there is much discussion of how different learning styles impact education in the classroom, the same concept applies when learning new skills in a workplace setting. Some may learn perfectly well from verbal instruction, akin to a lecture, while others may be more apt to learn through hands-on activities.
As a leader, do your best to incorporate various educational tools and adjust your training strategy based on your employees’ unique needs.
Strategies for follow-up and follow-through in employee training
While training might seem like a process that merely involves giving information, successful training should be a collaborative process where active listening is also involved. Of course, you expect active listening from your employees, but you should model this active listening yourself. After all, how can you know whether someone genuinely engages with your training content if you don’t listen to or incorporate their feedback? Create an environment where trainees feel comfortable speaking up to voice concerns or questions, and ask questions yourself to stimulate a conversation.
One of the most effective strategies for ensuring that information is retained throughout the training process is to teach from the top down. Leaders should have the best knowledge and understanding of concepts relevant to their employees’ jobs, be equipped with tools and resources that help them help their employees thrive, and be encouraged to give feedback on what is working and what needs attention. They should also be expected to do the same for their reports.
These leaders should also be held accountable for reinforcing this information. Regular one-on-one meetings provide managers with the perfect opportunity to check in on their employees after a recent training. Topics discussed in a post-training meeting could include: “How are you applying what you learned in your day-to-day operations?” or “What have you found does and does not work about the strategies you were trained on?” By asking these questions, you ensure that employees continue the conversation around and remain engaged in the training materials.
Mentorship can also be a valuable method of following up on information learned. A mentor-mentee relationship should be one of constant learning, in which the mentor constantly passes information and wisdom to the mentee, who then absorbs it. In an established, robust mentorship, questions and open dialogue are encouraged. Mentees should feel comfortable asking questions about things they don’t understand, and mentors should feel a desire to ensure their mentees apply their teachings.
Employers should also not underestimate the value of continuing professional development. If an employee expresses interest in growth in a particular area, find opportunities to expand their knowledge and experience. This helps reinforce their existing skills and training and provides them with new skills and perspectives they could share with the rest of the organization.
Although training can be a valuable tool that prepares employees to thrive in their roles, it can be wasted without adequate follow-up. By starting a conversation around the material employees are trained on and maintaining this conversation through one-on-one meetings, mentorship, and continued professional development, business leaders can ensure their investment in training is put to good use.
