Help Your Employees Master the Needed Skills

According to McKinsey research, despite the increase of employee training programs and greater accessibility to different educational tools, about 70 % of employees don’t master skills needed to do their job properly.

So what can we do to change this trend in our company?

• Lean learning approach defends teaching the essence → immediate use of knowledge → feedback → repeat. Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, advocates that the majority of what you will achieve will come from very little actions throughout the day. Tim Ferriss, entrepreneur and author, suggests determination of the smallest unit one can learn – for instance, if someone wants to learn Japanese they have to focus on 20 % of words that are used in 80 % of time. Then, use these newly learned words in conversation with Japanese as often as possible to adopt the knowledge.
• Real life learning. Provide your employees the knowledge which can be used in real life situations and which will help them solve problems regarding their tasks. Let them expose the challenges they’re dealing with and help them get more “aha” moments.
• Learning content. Carefully determine topics of training according to challenges your employees are dealing with at the time. It is known that people have higher motivations and tend to learn faster when necessary. Technology can help us adjust the training in line with employees’ so far gained knowledge, their needs and ways of learning.
• Team learning. Encourage your employees to collaborate and share their knowledge with other colleagues. You would be surprised how much one can learn when teaching and helping others. Learning within the team provides fast learning for both sides – the teacher and trainee.
• Support system. Offer your colleagues constant support, even after the training is over. Let the learning process continue with reminders, chatting, micro challenges …
• Micro courses. Give your employees an opportunity to attend short but valuable courses to gain new knowledge. It can be in the form of 1-hour courses or webinars about different topics they find interesting.

As Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, says “The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.” This statement was never before more true and meaningful than it is today. Learn how Gecko HRM can help you with training your team.