7 Unusual Employee Training Ideas That’ll Boost Their Productivity at Work

If your employees are restlessly looking at their watches, yawning, or have gone back to their high school days of doodling, then your training sessions are probably not going the way you hoped they would. If employees continue making the same mistakes and they haven’t learned anything new, then for sure, the problem lies in the training they’re receiving. It only takes one employee to rock the boat, sending your credibility and reputation down the drain. But with the training program curated by The Ross Agile Consulting Group, every employee can excel in their work and become more productive. We invite you to read about 7 training ideas that work, and we encourage you to use them.

1. Pair work

Even the brightest of new employees will not give you what you want at work unless they have clearly understood what you want. The best people to clarify what is expected of them are the employees who have been around long enough and are of high performance. For each department of work you have, pair up a new employee with an experienced one who can show them the ropes. It’s also a smart way to slightly personalize things between employees. This can also help the new employers visualize how the actual work is being done.

2. E-learning

Make sure you’re using the latest tech to your advantage. The point of technology in learning is to simplify very complicated material and break it down to make learning less complex and convenient. Search for a learning site that has mastered this. With the right e-learning website,  finding resources in the skills you want employees to learn and enhance will be easy—these include presentation, public speaking or sales training, among many others. Lots of employees aren’t comfortable with on-site training or simply can’t attend it, and you can save time, money, and effort by opting for online presentation training. This blends conventional learning methods with independent studying. E-learning allows people to work at their own pace, hence taking some pressure off them.

3. Gamification

Holding employees’ attention during training sessions is one of the biggest challenges employers face. Gamification is incorporating game mechanics into something that already exists, such as a website, an online community, or even an application. Elements typical of gamification are scoring, rules, and competitions, among others. This method provides employees with a challenge and gives them the motivation to finish training courses within a healthy, competitive environment. An example gamification strategy would be having employees make mistakes, then having them find the solution to these mistakes. They would need to figure out strategies to solve issues in certain work-related tasks.

4. Case studies

Not every department deals directly with customers and clients—in fact, the majority of them probably don’t. However, there is a crucial need for all departments to understand and be exposed to customer satisfaction as well as dissatisfaction. There are plenty of case studies that create a rich learning experience, and show the importance of having a unified front and collaboration. Oftentimes, the best way to do that is to have everyone become aware of customers’ perceptions and work on that. Each department can present its own ways of dealing with customers, which makes room for new ideas.

5. Cross-training

Cross-training allows the employees of one department to know how another department works. This gives them a better understanding of how other departments function and helps them to visualize what other employees do. This, in turn, helps each department realize what is expected of them.

6. Taking the training outdoors

If there’s nothing holding you back from having training sessions away from the office, then try that. It’s another way for your employees to bond, but more importantly, when they’re learning in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, they’ll remember what they’ve learned. Training sessions could be held during camping trips and in other outdoor environments.

7. Teach-back and feedback

During a training session, you want to know how trainees are doing and if they’re actually achieving their goals. Feedback is important, but alongside the normal, assessment-based type of feedback, you’ll do better if employees are required to teach back what they’ve learned. If employees are able to teach back, it ensures they’ve understood the material.

When clients, customers, or other employees deal with employees who haven’t been trained well in what they do, it will make the entire experience of working with them simply unpleasant. In addition, many employees leave their jobs because they haven’t been given the necessary training. There are different ways to approach training, and the best method would be to offer your employees mixed, hybrid training that is interesting, beneficial, and fun.