Training & Skills

In House Training

In house training is one way to make sure you are delivering exactly the training your employees need.

Whether you are training on a specific routine, such as how to handle your customers in a particular situation, or whether you are providing broader information on systems, pricing or policy, the key to a successful in-house training programme is structure.

Providing structure

Sit down and think the procedure through, preferably with other staff members who do the job on a day to day basis. Ask yourself these questions:

• what background information do you need (company approach, ethos, culture, etc)
• how does the basic procedure go
• what are the steps, and in what order, to successfully completing the task
• what are the common problems encountered
• what are the 'extras' that can be brought to the procedure
• what needs to be written down/recorded on the system
• what do you do if you encounter a problem
• how do you know you've completed the task successfully

You'll need to write each of these steps down and have a clear idea of how you are going to 'walk' employees through the process.

Be interactive

Remember that few people respond to just being talked to. Getting staff members to interact - asking them questions, multiple choice, using role play, getting them to use a system or suggest improvements to a procedure - is far better than a 'flat' presentation.

Provide written materials

Don't just rely on the session itself. Different people respond to different types of learning. Some do best by reading, some by listening, some by doing. Try to combine all three methods, but always make sure that you provide hand-outs or notes, even if they are just one page of key, bulleted points.

Take feedback

However well designed a training session is, it can usually be improved. Take feedback from learners. Ask them how much they understood, what was clear, how they rated different aspects of the session, what else they'd like to see in it, and so on.