How Online Training Can Help Even Seasoned Employees

by Sean Gordon, CEO of Hirenami 

Employee training is usually associated with new hires. However, even the most seasoned employees can benefit from training. Many companies are seeing the value of training veteran employees and for good reasons. Sometimes a company has to change directions or how they sell their products. Other times company leaders notice a drop in productivity or accuracy or need employees to become more efficient in order to remain competitive.

Online training can make the difference between a quick pivot or turning around the Titanic.

Online training uses today’s technology to deliver high value instruction to workers fast and effectively. Whether your company uses desktop workstations, issues laptops and smartphones, or has a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) policy in place, today’s workforce is already online most of the day. Companies can leverage this reality to train or retrain experienced employees.

Here are some ways employers can see dramatic performance gains by engaging veteran employees through online training:

Introduce New Concepts.

Having tenured employees is an important part of running a successful company. Experienced employees provide your company with deep institutional knowledge and highly specialized skills. However, your veteran workers may need new skills in order to remain effective in a changing marketplace. Online training can be utilized to introduce new concepts to your existing workforce. These concepts may include learning how to use new software or equipment or how to implement new selling techniques.

Online training makes the learning process faster and easier by making instructional materials accessible in any format, at any time, from any location. Manuals, how-to guides, and presentations can all be uploaded in a fraction of the time it takes to print materials.

Trainers can also use to video demonstrate new concepts and collaborative tools to facilitate discussions with and between employees in a class.  Trainers can also use online collaboration tools to pair veteran employees with new hires to discuss topics and practice skills. This allows experienced employees to share what they know even as they are acquiring new skills.

Refresh Old Concepts.

Over time, long term workers may have created shortcuts that may reduce the time it takes them to perform a task but increases the number of errors. These same employees may pass along bad practices to newer colleagues. When this is the case employers may see both productivity and accuracy drop. Online training software allows veteran employees to review and practice standard operating procedures that can be completed on a desktop, laptop, or smartphone. New trainers can create videos to give a fresh perspective on established methods for accomplishing work.

Once an employee completes an online training course employers can follow up with assessments and skill checks that measure their retention and proficiency. Managers can share the results of these assessments with company leaders to show the impact of the training program on performance and profitability.

Move Seasoned Employees Up Career Ladder.

Sometimes tenured employees lose their mojo. Their drive to succeed and motivation may decrease over time because their job has become routine. Online training can help pull seasoned employees out of the rut by helping them prepare for new roles in the company.

Managers can use online training software to provide personalized course suggestions to veteran employees that will help them acquire the new skills they need to move up the career ladder. Managers can also design modules that give employees an overview of available positions and prerequisites. Employees can then take the next step and complete rigorous coursework online while continuing in their present role at the company.  Online assessments can be given to ensure employees are ready to apply for and be successful in a new position.

It all starts with having the right learning management system. Hirenami’s online platform makes training seasoned workers easy for employers and engaging for employees.

CEO of Hirenami, Sean Gordon has a passion and an extensive track record recruiting, hiring, training, and unlocking the talent of people. Sean’s firsthand experience recruiting, hiring, training and building teams inspired him to found Hirenami to take these challenges from painful, inefficient, and time consuming to quick and effective, for employees and employers.