Training New Employees

When employees report to work, they always have a lot of things to learn. Most of the things taught in school may not be so directly linked to the job description. Moreover, some people may go to entirely new fields which are different from what they studied in school. It goes without saying that, good training and orientation of workers, not only harmonizes the skills and knowledge of the employee to the work that he has but also increases the workers’ general efficiency in dispensing their duties. There are three main methods of training that are usually adapted in training employees. These include online training, on the job training as well as classroom training (Jack &Sharon, 1987).

This essay seeks to look at how these methods can be used for the betterment new workforce in the company. Classroom training of workers is one of the methods used in training new workers. When we compare adults and children, it is easily noticeable that they have different needs. When in school, pupils/students are made to believe that all things learnt in a lesson are essential for their survival in the later life. They, therefore, approach learning and the instruction found in the class with some tolerance of mind. They patiently think of the ways of applying their knowledge later in life. Adults, on the other hand, choose and pick only the elements in the lessons which they really need (John, 2003).

When it comes to adults, there ought to be a difference between training and education. Education, as we know is more about the knowledge and the process of giving this knowledge to the person who is learning. Training, on the other hand, is realized when knowledge and skills gained are applied for the purpose of performance improvement. For this reason, trainings should be as interactive as possible. It should ensure that the learner is engaged in practicing skills and knowledge which are bound to the improvement of performance as he does his job (Jack, et al, 1987).

The needs of the adult learners should be taken into consideration as the training is being carried out. It is imperative to know they are interested in learning because they have specific areas on which they would to apply the skills learnt. For the employees being trained to fully utilize what they are learning, they need to harmonize the new skills which they learn with what they already have. As much as possible, let the topics of training are as relevant as possible. An employee will readily get involved in a learning process in which he or she knows there is bound to be much benefit. The learning process should be able to help them improve their performance. Opportunities should be availed to the learners to apply the newly learned skills. This is bound to increase the effectiveness of the application of the skills and knowledge gained by the learner in the learning process (Jack, et al, 1987).

Different adults have different learning styles which should be understood in carrying out an effective training of employees. We have the kinetic-tactile learner, the auditory learner and the visual learner. A kinetic learner gains knowledge and skills by engaging actively in the learning process. They love to do things, are always in motion. They enjoy engaging in as many activities as possible. Such kind of learners is very outgoing. They cannot be able to learn for long using audio visual aids, for they soon become bored. Additionally, they become very sensitive to changes in the environment and this leads to distraction. For them to put things in memory, they have to engage in doing them. Auditory learners, on the other hand, gain knowledge by simply giving an ear. Such people are very sensitive to noise. They get distracted pretty fast in noisy environments. They are able to recall things when they hear about them. Additionally, they enjoy listening to things like music and can be able to repeat a given pitch. The visual learners as their names suggest learn by watching. They are able to put knowledge into their memory by observation. They are very good at spelling and remembering faces. It is very easy to distract then by movement and they are not very patient when it comes to listening (Jack, et al, 1987).

In classroom training, it is very important to note that information is retained at different rates. There are many factors that affect the rate of retention. Learners are able to retain up to 90% of what is said and done. When something is just said, there is an average retention of about 70%. About 50% of information can be retained by hearing and seeing. By just seeing alone, one can be able to retain just about 30% of the information gathered. When someone hears alone, the person is bound to retain about 20% of what he hears. Reading alone has been found to be the least way of getting information, as it only assures a paltry 10% retention (John, 2003).

In training employees, it is essential that you keep the training as real as possible. Avoid far-fetched topics and tasks which borders on fiction. Adult learners appreciate activities which are as real as possible. It should also be known that worker in most cases have lots of tasks to perform. When you allow a new worker to assist the worker in doing the tasks, the trainee worker is bound to appreciate the significance of the training which is geared towards fulfilling particular expectations of the job. The new worker is also able to have the feeling of getting engaged in the delivery of service early enough. This will prepare the worker for his own tasks when his time comes (Jack, et al, 1987).

In training the new employees, there are many factors which should be taken into consideration. The training should very interactive. When the worker is well engaged, he is bound to practice new skills which he can employ in his work. Assigning different tasks to the learning employees who allow them to interact with the experienced workers would be very much in handy in enabling them to learn more and more. The training should have well-articulated explanations on how the employee will be able to employ the knowledge they gain in their new stations of work. It should be clear to them how their competence is bound to improve as a result of such training. Moreover, it should be clear to them how the training will help them in mastering how to go about their tasks efficiently. The training tasks which are given to the trainees should be given by someone who has vast experience in that particular field. This person should clearly and concisely give an explanation of the tasks. The new worker should thereafter be allowed to do something which that can demonstrate the completion of a task. This includes interviewing or even jotting down the observations. The tasks for training should be contributed as much as possible to the duties of the teams. New workers should be assigned jobs which demand to be completed. In planning and creating tasks, it is important to think of how eager the trainees are eager to begin their new assignments (Karen, 2012).

In on job training, there is a group referred to as the training buddies. A training buddy is simply a worker, well-seasoned in his work. These are assigned parts of the training schedule to a trainee. They are responsible for offering any explanation of any task that needs to be completed. They also undertake the supervision of the task to ensure that it is carried out as appropriately following the laid down guidelines. They don’t have to well vast in all aspects. The experienced staff may work with the staff for a range of time, up to a day (Karen, 2012).

The other method of training that can be adopted is online training for those employees who are off his job. There is the great need to begin adopting this method of training. I would like to highlight some of the reasons for this. The workforce is becoming encouragingly mobile. This makes training more and more costly and inefficient. Additionally, there are many dynamics in business; many companies are changing their tactics very fast. This makes it very hard to keep up with the pace when one on one method of relaying of information is stuck with. Online training is known to be able to make sharing of knowledge possible. This enables the trainees to work and not just to sit in the conference. Online training enables social sharing. In addition, it provides very many which have helped people in sharing their information (John, 2003).

The online training still takes into consideration all the factors considered in on the job training as well as classroom training as outlined above. It, however, needs some knowledge of technology from the workers who are being trained. One must be computer literate to be able to be trained online. It can train very many workers at the same time. It limits the chance of real life interaction even though online interaction can be enhanced by among other things developing a platform which includes options for chatting and the likes (Karen, 2012).

Even though many successful companies have stuck to the traditional live training it is clearly evident that there has been a major shift to online training. Most of the very good companies have increased in the past few years embraced this kind of training. It is therefore imperative that the company explores this method of training. It has proven to be more efficient in very many ways. Workers can continue with their work even as they are trained. The cost of sometimes hiring venues for training becomes a thing of the past (Karen, 2012).