Develop A Training Plan Based On Skill Gaps
Since training is an expensive proposition, it is critical that training dollars be spent wisely. We find that far too many companies allow their employees to select the training they will participate in or they put everyone through the same training.
It is a fact that very few employees are a perfect fit for the jobs they hold. This means that they will need to be coached and trained to help strengthen skills they might lack or be deficient in. Understanding where each employee’s “skill gaps” are is important to developing a training plan that helps enhance overall company performance. Putting employees through training they don’t need is a waste of money. There needs to be a very targeted approach to training employees. A shotgun approach is wasteful and frustrating for all involved.
For each employee develop a good understanding of what skills they lack to perform the jobs they hold. This can take some time to develop and are often uncovered over a period of time. A coaching assessment tool can be of great assistance inspeeding up this process by identifying the deficiencies of the employee against job requirements. The Prevue Assessment is an excellent tool for creating a training plan for new and current employees by uncovering areas where the employee lacks sufficient skills or tendencies.
A training plan will help focus training on skills that are critical to employee and company success. And it will be based on specific and individual needs rather than generalized ideas about what training is needed. The training plan should take the form of a matrix that shows each employee and the specific type of coaching or training required. Once this is determined, the task is to find training programs that meet your needs in terms of delivering excellent quality at a reasonable cost.
We are firm believers that sending someone off to a public seminar or workshop is rarely as effective as individualized coaching, mentoring and training. An employee must be mentored and coached to higher levels of performance and a one or two time exposure to concepts and theories is usually not retained and, therefore, not very effective.
Look for training providers that offer individualized and group training with follow-up and mentoring. Mentoring helps isolate the specific needs of the employee and allows the mentor/trainer to instill specific skills over a period of time. This approach helps immensely in getting the skills to “stick” with the employee.
Remember that training should be focused, individualized and carefully planned for. A haphazard approach to training will only frustrate you a