According to a report by the
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in the UK, employees will often receive different types of training during the course of their employment. While training is delivered primarily in the safety and customer service brackets it is a lack of consistent training that could cause some problems down the line for your organisation. Firstly, we’ll look broadly at the trends in training in the UK, then we’ll examine the importance of properly instigating training consistency in your company.
Who Are the Companies Who Train the Most?
The main takeaway from the report is that the spread of training has increased among the surveyed companies, but that the length of training has decreased marginally. It is also significant that employees showed an increased satisfaction with their training, with up to 55% of respondents being Satisfied or Very Satisfied.
The Top 5 industries for the provision of training are:
- Manufacturing
- Utilities
- Construction
- Retail
- Hospitality
The study shows that safety and customer service are the predominant types of training offered by companies:
1) Health and safety 70%
2) Operating new equipment 42%
3) Customer service 40%
4) Communication 39%
5) Quality control 39%
The message contained in the report is that having a variety of trainers and managers delivering training can cause confusion in messaging and lead to workers misinterpreting manager’s instructions. Finding ways to deliver consistent training is a challenge for all companies.
The study also found that some workplaces (17%) cut the provision of training as a result of the recession. However, companies were far more likely to freeze pay, delay recruitment, change the work organisation and postpone expansion plans, than cut training expenditure. This shows the value companies derive from training, as a means to get a safer workforce, increase productivity, as well as the importance of being compliant with all health and safety regulations.
The danger of inconsistent training
As we said, there are dangers in offering inconsistent training to your employees. Firstly, your employee could lack important information about your organisation: your company policies or ways of dealing with customers for example. Workers should be made aware of your company culture when they are onboarded and consistent training can help emphasize this, improving the learning process for workers.
The percentage of workplaces that offered orientation training grew from 77% to 83%, showing the importance companies put on the onboarding process. If done incorrectly your employee could have a knowledge deficit regarding your health and safety approach, thereby putting themselves and others at risk of accident, and your company vulnerable to legal suits.
As well as a knowledge deficit, depending on how your training is conducted you could leave yourself open for a misinterpretation of training material; one manager could say x and the other could say y, for example. This can result in a loss of productivity and potential injuries to your employees.
So, where does this leave you? It means you could be left in a situation where your worker is not compliant with current legislation. You may be unsure if the training has been delivered effectively, thereby putting your company’s reputation at stake. Your workers should know everything they need to know about your company. They should be taught how to deal with machinery if that’s what is required, and they should be fully aware of your corporate mission
The advantages of consistent training
One of the major advantages of offering training consistency is that you can be sure your employees are compliant with any legislation relating to the training topic. They will understand your company’s policies and their own role within your company. Workers knowing where they stand, and more importantly what is asked of them, is especially important at the start of their employment.
In addition, you could offer online learning, which would mean your training material is delivered straight to your employees, allowing them the flexibility to complete it on their own time, in the comfort of their own home. Training materials, that are not subject to interpretation by a trainer, are more likely to result in training consistency. One major advantage of uniform training is that, if your employees know and understand everything there is to know about your company, procedures, safety and products, there is no reason why there has to be a halt in productivity. Consistent training is a feature of every company with high safety standards and there is no reason not to incorporate into your company.
