7 minute read
Talent
By Joe Kitterman, CEO, 180 Skills
Every company needs to adopt an employee training philosophy to thrive. See how skills training creates a win-win situation for employers and employees.
Imagine a manager who strives to do right by his or her employees and wants those employees to be properly compensated, regularly recognized and constantly developing new skills. But the manager’s hands are tied because the company doesn’t want to invest in employee training.
Whether a company realizes it or not, it loses a lot by failing to adopt an employee training philosophy – especially when there’s a labor shortage and companies are competing for talent.
Why invest in employee training?
Research shows the companies that provide training and development opportunities to their workforce tend to attract the best recruits. Prospective employees see these companies as having a good reputation and a forward-thinking organizational culture.
According to Glassdoor, more than 80% of employed professionals claimed they would leave their current position to work at a company with a positive reputation.1 For employers, these are ideal job seekers because they are people who want to better themselves. Furthermore, companies that don’t invest in employee training as part of their culture often experience high turnover. When companies operate under the belief that employees are replaceable, they have it all wrong. When a good employee walks out the door, a company could spend up to two times that individual’s annual salary on a replacement.
So, let’s go back to the manager scenario above. If the executive team doesn’t consider employee training a good return on investment, it’s on the manager to change the team’s mind. Ongoing skills training creates win-win situations for employers and employees for the following reasons:
1. Increases Employee Retention When a company makes skills development and career advancement part of its culture, employees have a vested interest in the organization, so they’re less likely to leave. As presented by Entrepreneur Middle East, Go2HR claims 40% of employees who don’t receive adequate training end up leaving their job within a year.2
2. Yields Consistent Performance Whether putting together a presentation or fabricating a part, consistency in performance yields quality, accurate work. By implementing a robust skills training platform into operations, companies can keep everyone on the same page in terms of onboarding and career growth.
3. Sparks Innovation and Drive When employees learn new things and develop new skills, they tend to approach their jobs in new ways. They feel empowered to make changes that will increase their productivity and performance. Plus, good employees deserve the opportunity to develop their skills and engage in new challenges or shift their career focus.
4. Creates Cohesion Among Teams Collaboration is key to the success of any organization. Training that focuses on team building and interpersonal communication breaks down the silo mentality and gets everyone working toward a common goal.
5. Develops a Leadership Pipeline Bringing in talent from the outside to fill leadership positions isn’t always the best option. Hiring an external person is typically more expensive and time-consuming than promoting from within. By providing in-house talent with skills training, companies quickly can fill leadership positions with people who know the business and are vested in the company.
6. Helps Close the Skills Gap When it comes to employee promotions, an individual might need additional skills to be effective in a new role. Let’s say, for example, an employee was promoted into management. This individual might be a good leader overall but struggles with resolving conflict among employees. With training, he or she can become experts in diffusing internal disputes.
Benefits of online training as a part of employee training philosophy
If companies want to sustain their employee training philosophy and long-term business growth, they need their employees to engage at work and perform to the best of their ability. One way to accomplish this is by providing employees with quality learning and development opportunities. And while there are a variety of options available, here are the benefits of online training for employees.
1. Saves Employers Money While in-person training can cost thousands per employee, e-learning costs dollars. After all, there are no employee travel expenses, venue rental fees or material printing costs. Plus, the on-demand nature of online learning makes it convenient and affordable to train employees regularly or whenever they need a new skill.
2. Maintains Employee Productivity Online skills training not only eliminates travel costs but also keeps employees productive. Instead of spending days in an instructor-led training session, employees can learn a new competency at work in less than an hour. And given that online skills training is flexible, employees can learn around their work priorities and pause whenever an emergency project arises.
3. Reduces Learning Time One of the biggest challenges for employees to participate in skills training is time. Studies show that online training can reduce an employee’s learning time by up to 60%. Yet, while online skills training requires a lot less time, employees still need to have space for it. Research shows that workers get interrupted every 11 minutes.3 With online training, hourlong sessions can be converted into shorter learning segments (also known as microlearning) to allow for interruptions.
180 Skills and ARPM Partner to Provide More Exclusive Training Opportunities to ARPM Workers
180 Skills has been delivering skills training to manufacturing workers for over a decade. 180 Skills has an extensive library for skills training and has curated courses exclusively to benefit ARPM members.
Through its partnership with ARPM, 180 Skills offers various training modules that are available exclusively to ARPM members, including Quality in Rubber Manufacturing, Material Mixing Operator Tasks and others. Registering for ARPM training through 180 Skills also grants members access to more than 800 online competency-based courses. Finally, 180 Skills’ partnership with ARPM extends a 50% discount on setup fees and a 10% user discount on its standard Skills Training System to ARPM members.
As the world becomes increasingly digital, online training is becoming more commonplace and more important in virtually every sector. As the skills gap grows in the manufacturing sectors, tapping into the many benefits of online skills training will help rubber manufacturing companies thrive and grow.
4. Covers More Competencies Online training platforms have the flexibility and scalability to teach more skills to more employees than in-person training. For example, 180 Skills subscribers have 24/7 access to nearly 800 online courses that teach skills related to rubber manufacturing, metalworking, Microsoft Office, project management, workplace communication and more.
5. Addresses All Skill Levels In-person training often teaches at a speed that accommodates the least knowledgeable person in the room. So, if there is a lower-skilled worker learning alongside a higherskilled worker, the latter often doesn’t receive the level of
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knowledge they had hoped for with the training. With online skills training, however, online learning can efficiently and effectively meet the specific learning needs of employees at every level of the organization.
6. Enhances Learning Retention For most employees, it’s tough to retain information from allday training sessions. Therefore, many companies use online courses to provide employees with just-in-time training.4 It’s an approach that allows employees to learn a new competency and immediately apply it on the job – all of which promotes knowledge retention.
Furthermore, online training promotes knowledge retention by addressing various learning styles and allowing employees to review course material as often as they want. It also helps when online skills courses feature knowledge checks and require employees to pass a final assessment.
7. Eliminates the Fear Factor In-person training sessions often are considered high-risk learning environments. Why? Because many employees won’t ask questions or seek clarification for fear of looking ‘dumb’ in front of their peers. As a result, they leave training none the wiser and lose interest in future development opportunities. Conversely, there’s no judgment with online skills training. u
Resources
1. https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/quiz-whydoes-your-companys-reputation-matter/ 2. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275842 3. https://www.hrdive.com/spons/6-ways-to-reduce-timeconsumption-in-employee-training/600536/ 4. https://www.hrdive.com/news/when-it-comes-totraining-timing-is-everything/506971/
Joe Kitterman is the CEO for 180 Skills, which provides a turnkey skills training system that empowers manufacturers to create, grow and retain their workforce. The organization’s library offers nearly 800 skills courses, including a variety of courses on rubber manufacturing processes that are exclusively available to ARPM members. Additionally, ARPM members receive a 50% discount on set-up fees and 10% user discount on the 180 Skills training system. For more information, please email Kaitlyn Krol at kkrol@arpminc.org.
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