Small businesses need to be careful and clever when it comes to training employees. Because small businesses rely on the productivity of their employees to sustain and grow, training can quickly eat away at the budget and impact profit margins. When training employees of all types, old or new, consider these four simple, inexpensive methods that will save your business time and money.
1. Make It Self Study
Contrary to popular belief, training does not have to be a one-to-one or even a one-to-many endeavor. In fact, training is one of those things that you can make an independent study. Create training manuals, quizzes, and audios lessons that go through all the basics new employees need to know. Do it in small sections so that they are easy to update. Then, have new employees go through these trainings as a part of the hiring process. This will allow them to do the training while you, or whoever is in charge of onboarding, do something else more valuable.
2. Utilize Online Training Courses
If you are training your employees on something then chances are there are other businesses out there doing exactly the same thing. This is where automated training course available online that you can purchase for a minimal fee and use to train your employees. These are particularly common for updates and advancements in your field. Chances are that there will be many different training options for the same topic and choosing one that is right for you is key to this being effective. When selecting a training program, pay close attention to exactly what it covers and how it will be delivered. Compare different options until you find one that fits your needs and your budget. If your small business is in video production, a course from a company like Color Grading Central may suit your needs. However, a small online marketing company will have different needs, and will need a different program to train their employees.
3. Create An Internship Program
Internship programs can be an amazing way to train new employees at a minimal cost. Create internship projects and programs in ways that expose interns to everything they need to know about your business. Structure the program in such a way that you can use your intern alumni as your main hiring pool. This way when you are ready to hire you will have a group of candidates who are ready to jump in and start working with minimal additional training from the outset. Hiring past interns has the added benefit of making your internship program more desirable to students looking for employment after college, and you will be able to select from a wider pool of talented individuals.
4. Delegate The Training
Many small business owners believe that they need to be the ones to train new employees. While this may give your business a personal touch, it may not be the most effective training method. Remember that your employees are supposed to take on roles and responsibilities that you cannot fulfill on your own. Have staff members train each other on their individual areas of expertise. This will help develop a culture of teamwork while also freeing up your time.
Proper training is crucial for a seasoned, productive staff. By utilizing these creative methods of training you can ensure that you have a team that is always up to speed without breaking your bottom line.
