5 Reasons Managers Should Improve Employee Engagement and Training
Employees don’t leave a bad company – they leave a bad manager. Why? Because the everyday interaction managers have with employees can influence their level of engagement in the workplace.
Ideally, the close relationship between employee and manager should also extend to training. But too often, a manager’s role in training and development is overlooked because managers are not training experts. Given that managers understand the job, the business requirements, and most importantly, their employees, shouldn’t they be more active in training?
5 Ways Managers Can Improve Employee Training
Given managers’ influence on employee engagement, it’s important that they feel empowered to improve employee training. Let’s take a closer look at five practical ways for managers to support employee development, and ultimately improve employee engagement.
1. Set the example and foster a learning culture
A manager’s role in training and development is essential because they spend so much time with employees. Managers can use simple daily interactions to show employees that training is a priority.
This constant interaction between manager and employee can be leveraged to improve training by consciously fostering a learning culture within the organization. An effective learning culture starts from the top, and is cascaded throughout all levels – no exceptions!
A successful learning culture promises:
● Increased productivity (and increased profit!)
● Improved employee satisfaction levels
● Decreased employee turnover
● A culture of knowledge sharing (rather than knowledge-hoarding)
● Improved learning agility
Training programs can also take advantage of managers’ daily interaction with employees by incorporating managers into structured post-training activities. These can range from on-the-job assessments to encouragement when employees find changes challenging to implement and maintain.
2. Offer a deeper insight into employees
When designing a training program, many start by consulting subject matter experts. Why not include managers in the process too? One of the managers’ responsibilities towards employees is to ensure that they’re able to meet the requirements of their current job, and are prepared for upcoming changes.
Most employees require frequent upskilling in order to meet the changes in their industry. Yet, only 61% of Americans feel that their employer provides sufficient opportunities for developing their technical and soft skills to keep up with advances.
3. Communicate the value of employee development
What are the two major reasons why employees become disengaged and eventually quit? Because they feel stuck in a rut or like there is no clear path to progress.
Even if your organization has a strong learning culture, it’s still important to make it absolutely clear that employee training and development is a top priority. A manager’s role in training and development includes communicating (both through words and action) that the company values their employees’ growth.
The first step to valuing employee development is simply to make enough time for it. So when you train employees, give them the time they need to fully participate in training activities and complete assessments.
Managers should also take care to recognize employee improvement both during training and on-the-job. This will help employees feel appreciated and motivated to keep growing.
4. Create opportunities for on-the-job practice
New skills and knowledge gained during training simply won’t stick if learners don’t get a chance to apply them in the workplace. In other words, companies run the risk of wasting a significant portion of their training investment if employees aren’t given the opportunity to practice.
Managers should collaborate with trainers to provide employees with opportunities to practice what they’ve learned in “safe to fail” spaces, like role-plays with colleagues, or eLearning scenarios and serious games.
Finally, managers can provide hands-on supervision when employees apply trickier new skills in the workplace, or allow employees to complete a new task with them.
5. Set training and performance goals
Author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey, said “Stop setting goals. Goals are pure fantasy unless you have a specific plan to achieve them.” A key part of a manager’s role in training and development is to support their team in setting meaningful and achievable goals and plotting out the road to achieve them.
Training goals should relate to job-specific skills. But they should also relate to broader professional development activities that help employees advance within the organization and realize their career ambitions. Managers have the privilege of working closely with employees to identify the knowledge and skills they’ll need for these goals in the short term and in the long run.
References:
https://www.efrontlearning.com/blog/2018/05/why-managers-improve-employee-engagement-training.html