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It’s that time of year again.  The Seattle Seahawks are at training camp, busy preparing for another winning season.  While the Seahawks are receiving the best training available, why shouldn’t the same be offered to your employees?  Use these pointers to ensure that your team has a winning record.

 

Assess the starting point:  Before beginning the training session, assess each employee’s skill level.  The best way to gage their skill level is to review previous performance and discuss observations made by managers that work directly with them.  By having these conversations with fellow managers before training begins, you will gain insight into what information you need to focus on throughout the session.

Understand your team’s learning style:  Just like athletes, your employees need individualized training to succeed.  For this reason, it is crucial that you get to know the members of your team by assessing their learning style.  The best way to do this is through conducting a VAK (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) assessment.  Once you have performed this assessment and are aware of the type of learners you will be training, you can decide whether your approach will involve visual aids, hands on experiences, handouts, primarily lectures, or activities that combine all of the learning styles.  By basing the way that the training is conducted on the learning styles of your employees, you are giving them the best opportunity to learn and succeed in their roles or responsibilities.

Make resources available:  As an employer, your goal should be that your employees don’t have to look very far for additional help.  You should always stay one step ahead by constantly surrounding them with training opportunities and resources.  These resources should range from contact information of experts within your company to literature focusing on various training areas, as well as websites for employees to reference.

Don’t forget to evaluate:  It is necessary that you evaluate the progress of your employees following the completion of their training.  Although a quick way to evaluate is through a written test, that only shows you that they know the information, not that they know how to use it on the job.  As a result, the best way to evaluate your employees is to observe them, take note of their performance and discuss with fellow managers (similar to your assessment prior to training).

Conduct continuous training:  Although a large part of training occurs during the onboarding process, it is important to continue training throughout an employee’s tenure with your company.  Training should be conducted any time an employee gains new responsibilities or moves to a new position within the company.  Not only does this ensure the success of that team member, but it creates a culture in which training and education are a priority.

 

The Seahawks shouldn’t be the only ones with a winning record.  As members of your team, your employees should get the support and training that they need to succeed in your company.