10 Signs Your Employee Training Program Isn’t Working

Having a good employee training program is paramount to running a successful business, regardless of industry, size, or scope. Whether your employees are dealing with the general public or they are fairly contained to themselves, training is imperative. Even though it may seem expensive and time consuming, it is always going to pay off when it is done correctly.

It can be frustrating when your employees aren’t doing the work that they need to do, and too often we think that is because they are too lazy or unmotivated to do the work. In actuality, it is often because they aren’t trained properly. We expect them to be able to do things that they just can’t do. So we need to invest in training programs. Once invested, we think that just because they always worked, they will always work.

Not the case. 

You need to be able to read the warning signs that your training program isn’t going to work out and that you need to find another way to train. For the most innovative training programs that utilize remote learning, multimedia features, and content libraries, you can click here to schedule a demo for Trakstar Learn. 

10 Signs Your Training Program Isn’t Working

Training programs are a big investment for most companies, so we don’t want to admit when they just aren’t working out. However, there comes a time when we need to look at the ROI of your training program and understand whether now is the time to make a change – before you devote even more time and money to it.

Your Staff Isn’t Retaining Anything

Do you complete training only to have to reteach the material on the job? In order for training to be effective, your staff needs to understand what they are learning and why they are learning it. You have to be able to measure the effectiveness of the training and determine whether or not it made an impact on the job at hand.

For example, let’s say that you have a new system to order materials for your construction site. You train your project managers on how to use the system, but they are getting their orders wrong and having to order even more materials – this is costing you money, time, and effort. 

Could the problem be with the system itself? It’s possible – but it could also be that the training material was hard to understand. Make it simpler and more straightforward.

It’s Too Formal

Being too formal in your training can cause workers to disengage. Most people, particularly workers born after 1985, are used to learning things in just a few short minutes. They can Google something and find out the information right away.

Where you can, make training less formal. This might mean allowing people to do training on their own time, making it something they can do on their phones, or just reducing all of the “extra” information down to just the facts.

No One Is Asking Questions

If you have finished your training session and no one has asked you any questions about it, you might have a problem. However, sometimes people are nervous about asking questions. If you go a few days or more than a week without any questions at all about the training, then you have a bigger problem.

Too often, people think that if no one asks questions, then the training has been great and clear, when in reality, it is a sign that people aren’t processing the information they hear. 

You Get Feedback That The Training Material Is Too Boring

Training isn’t going to be the most exciting thing people do at their jobs. You need to find a way to deliver information clearly and in a way that is interesting, no matter what the topic is. If you can physically see people going through training, try to look at their body language for signs of boredom. Things like nodding off, fidgeting, yawning, and checking their phones could all be signs that you need to mix it up.

If you can’t see your staff training, like you are holding remote training that isn’t on camera, try to pay attention to the average time it takes someone to complete your training. If they stop and start, it is because they weren’t engaged enough.

Mix Up The Training Materials

So if your training program isn’t working and you think it is because of boring materials, the easiest fix is to simply mix up training materials and options. The first thing you should do is think about making your training mobile-optimized-something people can do on their phones feels like a treat and people will stay engaged.

You also want to make things more interesting visually, by combining audio files, screen shares, videos, quizzes, and more. You obviously can’t replace all of your written materials with multimedia, but you can change small sections over so that people who don’t want to read slides will stay engaged.

You Can’t Tie Your Training Back To Company Culture

What happens when you can’t tie your training back to company culture? You are going to have a bunch of people who aren’t engaged in what they have to learn. Not only that, they are going to be hesitant to implement anything they learn because they know it goes against what they already do.

For example, if you have a process of getting a second opinion on something but the training tells them to be more autonomous, you are going to have people doing two different things and causing mistakes.

You Don’t Follow Up On Your Training

After your training is done, what do you do next? If you are just moving onto the next thing, how can you know what your staff learned and perhaps even more importantly, what they retained? Check in regularly with your employees to find out if they remember their training.

If you notice that people aren’t living up to their goals after training, don’t use the training, or there is inconsistency in it, then you need to start deep diving into the reasons why. Perhaps it was a certain group of people, maybe it was the time of day, or maybe the training was just ineffective.

Your Training Has No Call To Action

What do you want your employees to take away from your training? What should they do next? Getting information in a vacuum is one of the leading reasons why we don’t see training working. One way you can give a call to action is to put a pop-up or slide in the middle of your training that shows exactly how someone would use it in their job. Another option is to have them write down exactly how they’ll use the training as soon as it is done. If you have people who can’t tell you how they’ll use it, then you know that you need to follow up with everyone on what the call to action should be.

You Are Trying To Convey Too Much Information

If you find that your employee training program isn’t working, another problem could be that you are trying to convey too much information at one time. Try not to overwhelm your employees with information. Instead, focus on what they absolutely need to know and do a good job of explaining that.

Sure, it can look better to have a lot of information, but what looks better and what performs better are two very different things.

Your Employees Don’t Understand Why They Need To Improve

If you are trying to train employees who have been at the company for a long time, or those who have been in the workforce for decades, you might have a hard time convincing them that they need to improve. It is important to show them that adaptability and growth are part of their jobs – career development is something we all need.

Try to explain to them why we need to grow and change in our careers and see if they start to take training more seriously. Building training for your employees is difficult. If you want to find a way to encourage employee participation in training – not just employee attendance – schedule a free demo of Trakstar Learn today. We can help you build better modules, automate training, and ensure all of your employees get what they need.

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