With the job market still recovering from the economic collapse of 2008 and 2009, companies and organizations are investing more money into training current team members in place of hiring new employees. Training employees can include one on one coaching, behavioral assessments, or simply helping them become proficient in their job duties. Why is training so important? What are some of the reasons you would want to invest money and time into training your employees?
Employees will enjoy their work
A well-trained employee who is great, not just good, at their job will excel at what they do and actually enjoy their work. When someone loves the work that they do, in more cases than not, it is because they are great at it!
When employees are poorly trained they tend to make mistakes, feel less confident about their work, and are easily frustrated. You can imagine an employee who feels this way for any extended amount of time will not last.
Take a minute and think about a position you held in the past. Maybe it was in customer service, food service or perhaps a supervisor position. How much training did you receive? If you had more training would you have felt more prepared and able to handle situations differently? Perhaps the frustration and anxiety you felt that caused you to quit and look elsewhere was due to a lack of proper training.
Look at former UCLA Coach John Wooden, who was one of the most all-time winning basketball coaches. Coach Wooden so accurately put it by saying,
“You can’t have confidence
unless you are prepared.
Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”
Preparation is practice and training. Is your team prepared? Are they properly trained and excellent at what they do? If not, take a close look at your training curriculum. There may be some adjustments to be made.
Builds a sense of team
Training and growing together builds camaraderie and a sense of team. John Maxwell, legendary Pastor and arguably one of the most famous authors on leadership says,
“The team who grows together
stays together.”
When practice and training become part of the culture in an organization, it helps to solidify the member’s relationships with one another. In a real sense, they are embarking on a journey together. They can watch each other grow and achieve greater success. Being part of a winning, growing team breeds passion towards a common goal. As each individual grows, the team grows, and a new level of performance can be obtained.
More prepared more profit
Last, but certainly not least, properly trained employees create more opportunities and more profit for the company they work for. They are more productive and generate more activity then those who are not well trained and lack confidence in what they do. It seems obvious that if a team member is well prepared when a potential customer calls they will be better prepared to help them.
Extraordinary athlete and World Champion boxer Muhammad Ali said,
“I hated every minute of training, but I said, Don’t quit.
Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a Champion.”
Companies who fail to invest money or time in training often experience high turnover, low company loyalty, and struggling performance. Their bottom line and longevity are true testaments to this. Training isn’t always the most enjoyable thing to do and it can be repetitious. Companies that find a way to beat this monotony and dedicate time and energy to training go on to become great while the competition looks on from the sidelines wondering why!
