Most employees enjoy the opportunity to learn and are eager to participate in training to advance their careers. So why do some employees hate training and how can organizations prevent this from happening?
1. Training as Punishment – Employee training and development can help enhance performance but some organizations use training purely as a disciplinary action when employees underperform. This leads employees to view training as punishment.
How to Avoid: Support all employees with continuous training opportunities as part of your organizational development strategy. Employees are energized about training that is truly available to support them, not punish them.
2. Training as Purely Compliance – Training should be given for the sake of helping employees grow, not just to comply with regulations and company directives.
How to Avoid: Offer employee training that goes beyond what is merely required to help employees grow. Whereas required training may lead to compliance; training for the sake of employee growth leads to engaged staff, improved job satisfaction, and improved performance.
3. Training that is Irrelevant or of Poor Quality – Some organizations may decide to develop their own training or partner with a vendor. Often, organizations discover that development time can be more costly than partnering with a vendor. Additionally, because of a lack of know-how and/or resources, the quality of internally developed training can suffer. Additionally, some organizations may partner with a vendor based solely on price vs. value or quantity of offerings vs. quality. When these things happen, training becomes a cost vs. an investment designed to produce a return but more importantly, employees may view training as a waste of time or irrelevant.
How to Avoid: Analyze organizational development needs and consider seeking input from employees on the type of training they prefer. When developing training internally, analyze both financial and opportunity costs and be realistic about capabilities. Do you have the technology needed or the staff? Can you realistically sustain your training initiatives? When reviewing vendors, ask to see actual user feedback. Vendors who focus on quality should be able to provide data on user feedback since they should be using feedback for continuous improvement. Seek vendors with well-established reputations that offer training specifically relevant to the industry.
Although some employees will always dislike training, these tips can help make training a positive experience for most and can help organizations maximize their results.
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