Are You Ready To Train the Right People?

As the economy begins to recover, we face something we haven't experienced in nearly half a decade-a depleting talent pool. When ideally qualified applicants are unavailable, are you prepared to train those with the potential to be successful, thriving employees?

Favorable Traits

Many employers are willing to train the right people-those with a winning attitude and the will to be successful. The challenge is determining the minimum skill-set required and the right intangible traits that will lead to finding the successful candidate who will be worth the investment.  

Although core job skills are critical, successful employees also possess character attributes that can't be taught:

Assertive track record (athletics, leadership roles, previous entrepreneurship);

Longevity in previous employment;

Strong personal character (typically validated through thorough reference checking);

Genuine interest and excitement about the line of work.

Tips for Training

Training is important for the development and retention of a healthy employee base. When you don't have time to train, the path of least resistance can be seen as a strategy to hire those who don't need training. It might be more expensive, but these people have all the skills and will do the job successfully. Right? Not so fast. Your company has its way of building things; processes for internal communications and operations; and ways of servicing clients. These differentiators entice clients to buy from you. No matter how skilled new employees may be on day one, they need to be trained on how their new workplace functions. When devising a training program, keep in mind:

Strategy: Consistent and effective training is a well thought-out, strategic plan born from having a detailed understanding of the desired outcome and knowledge base.

Realism: Successful companies are typically aggressive and like to push the envelope. But, people can only learn so much so fast. Carefully evaluate the rate of knowledge retention and make learning goals both aggressive and realistic.

Patience: Patience is a virtue (we've all heard this)-and it saves money. Cultivating the right people takes time. Resisting the temptation to throw an unprepared employee into production, especially with a backlog of client requests, is difficult but necessary for future success. The only thing more expensive than hiring and training an employee is having them quit, creating the need to hire and train for that role one year later-if not sooner.

Practical Training: This is the only way employees will really learn their new roles. Practical training (versus text book training) also increases the speed at which employees learn by increasing the relevance of the training materials. Examples of practical training include live cold-calls for sales people, and reviewing and testing live code for software engineers.

Evaluation and Recognition: Have you ever started a new job and wondered how you were doing? The employer must constantly evaluate and recognize successes and failures.  This will keep small problems small by identifying any issues early on.

Continuing Education: Avoid the trap of thinking that training is for new hires only. Refresher courses can reinforce and strengthen core skills and work habits while also re-energizing employees with a new perspective and updated information.

Onsite, Online or Outsource?

The Internet has expanded the reach and affordability of training programs-and complicated the job of choosing which is best.

Outsourcing a portion of your training is not synonymous with admitting defeat; it is actually the opposite. Incorporating third-party training can be a great way of educating new staff on universal industry knowledge and can be obtained through seminars, onsite training, or webinars.

This frees up a portion of your staff time and empowers you to focus your training programs on what makes you different.

The key to using outside training resources is the constant evaluation of the content's effectiveness and relevance to the current industry conditions and challenges that your company faces.  

It may also make sense to outsource or hire temporary labor to handle a portion of the workload while your employees are being trained. This may be more expensive in the short term, but the long-term rewards of a stable core staff will far outweigh the short-term costs. Effective businesses know their abilities and limits and proactively compensate to stay ahead.

Although the economy's recent improvements allow us to breathe a sigh of relief, this is hardly the time to slow down. Your training program will empower you to select the employees you want-and not just those that you need. Most importantly, training further defines and reinforces the purpose and scope of the employee's role, which in turn clarifies the criteria for success.

Jason Alexander is managing partner of staffing firms Alexander Technology Group, KBW Financial Staffing & Recruiting, and The Nagler Group located in Bedford, NH and Woburn, Mass. He can be reached at 603-637-1466 or jalexander@alexandertg.com.