How Long Should Employee Training Be?

Employee training is a crucial element in an individual’s professional growth and an organization’s success. Properly trained employees not only grasp the company’s culture, values, and goals but can also contribute meaningfully and improve retention rates. With the dynamic nature of industries and the evolving needs of businesses, consistent and effective training remains pivotal.

Why Employee Training Matters

According to an Indeed survey, 39% of employees who left their jobs within six months felt that effective onboarding and training would have retained them longer. Training instills confidence, familiarizes them with company policies, and provides specific insights into their roles.

Onboarding vs. Training

It’s essential to distinguish between onboarding and training. While both integrate new employees into the company, onboarding involves familiarizing them with the company culture and providing resources.

In contrast, training is more task-oriented and role-specific.

Effective Training Strategies

Are you ready to deploy an employee training program? These strategies will help you maximize efficiency and cost when training new and existing employees.

• Pre-plan the Training Procedures: Clarify the training objectives and the methodology, ensuring alignment with management.
• Engage Senior Employees as Mentors: Senior team members can guide new hires through specific tasks, fostering better morale for the company.
• Ensure Consistent Support: From office tours to introducing them to key personnel, help new hires settle in, and provide necessary resources.
• Regular Check-ins: Periodic evaluations ensure they’re progressing as desired and provide opportunities for realignment if necessary.
• Emphasize Company Culture: Beyond task-specific training, enlighten new hires about the company’s culture, mission, and values.
• Set Clear Goals: Establishing short-term, achievable goals based on their skill set can guide their initial weeks constructively.
• Offer Constructive Feedback: Positive, regular feedback ensures they’re on the right track and identifies areas of improvement early.
• Team-Building Exercises: Activities that promote teamwork can accelerate the integration of new hires into the company.
• Reward Progress: Recognizing and celebrating achievements can boost morale and motivation.

Pitfalls to Avoid in Training

Ensure your employees are getting the most information out of their training program and that you aren’t wasting time or resources by avoiding these pitfalls:

• Favoritism: Balance attention between training new hires and addressing the needs of existing employees.
• Information Overload: Breaking training into manageable chunks prevents overwhelming new hires.
• Unidirectional Conversations: Ensure training is interactive, allowing new hires to ask questions and offer feedback.

Continuous Training: The New Norm

Regular and continuous training opportunities are the bedrock of an employee’s consistent growth. Relying solely on annual training sessions isn’t adequate. After a singular training session, retention of information drastically diminishes over time if not regularly reinforced.

A survey by the University of Waterloo revealed that 86% of employees value learning opportunities, and 74% are open to learning beyond work hours. Continuous learning avenues not only benefit the employees but also the organization. Firms prioritizing employee training reportedly have significantly higher revenue per employee and better profit margins.

Determining the Duration of Training

The length of training sessions depends on multiple factors:

• Attention Span: With an average attention span of eight seconds, shorter, more engaging sessions, possibly in the form of microlearning, can be more effective.
• Employee Availability: On average, employees spent around 24 minutes a week in 2020 on learning. Designing courses with such time constraints in mind can be beneficial.
• Nature of the Topic: While complex topics may demand extended durations, repetitive and compliance-oriented topics might be suitable for microlearning.

The key to effective employee training lies in understanding the needs of the employees, offering continuous learning opportunities, and ensuring that the training provided is both relevant and engaging. Embracing modern tools, like online Learning Management Systems (LMS), can help streamline this process, making training accessible and convenient for all.

According to Statista, midsize companies spent the most time training, averaging about 71 hours per employee. Large companies have been investing more of their budgets in training, with hours spiking in 2020 at a little over 102 hours per employee. However, despite the investment, training time has decreased over the past years, amounting to about 46 hours per employee in 2022. Small companies averaged about 60 hours of training from 2017 to 2022. Overall, these trends impose that the larger companies grow, the more training is required in order for them to operate efficiently.

Regardless of time investment, proper and effective training transcends basic skill acquisition; it is a continuous process that aligns personal ambitions with corporate vision, fosters a deep sense of belonging, and elevates the entire operation. By integrating strategic training practices—characterized by clear goals, consistent support, engaging content, and intelligent use of technology—companies not only enrich their teams but also fortify their market position. The investment put into training, both in time and resources, is not just a hallmark of industry leaders but a foundational strategy for any business looking to navigate the complexities of today’s economic landscape with a competent, confident, and committed workforce.