We’ve all experienced a year and more of upheaval and uncertainty, in our personal lives and the business world alike, and it’s not quite over yet, either. Most enterprises shifted to remote work almost overnight; many had to lay off employees; and a significant number of businesses had to pivot their value offers to remain relevant to their customers in the new economic environment.
Supply chains, logistics threads, and access to working capital were all severely disrupted during 2020, and the disruption hasn’t fully healed yet. The markets are still unsettled, and consumers and businesses alike are still wary about increasing their spending. A PWC study found that 36% of consumers plan to spend less than usual in the next 12 months, compared with just 19% who gave that answer pre-COVID.
Against this backdrop, executives are seeking ways to restore stability in their enterprise and confidence throughout their organization. It’s understandable that employee training programs might be the least important item on their agendas right now, but it’s time to bump it up the list of priorities.
Employee training can be the path you seek back to business stability.
Hold on to your workforce
The last thing you need right now is to hemorrhage experienced workers who know your business inside out to your competition. Employee training programs are one of the best ways to retain your top talent.
When your enterprise enables employees to increase their skills and advance their careers, it builds employee loyalty and improves talent retention. People appreciate employers who show that they care about employees’ professional and personal development.
Research by Deloitte found that only 47% of workers feel their company is investing in their professional development, which matches the number who would leave if offered a buyout or severance package. Even more alarming, fewer than 40% of executives are satisfied with the professional development opportunities they’re offered.
Increase new tech adoption
Between the switch to remote work and the speedy, pandemic-driven digital transformation, many organizations acquired new tech tools. Unfortunately, this happened just when most employees were working from home, away from tech support and without any friendly colleagues on hand to help them if they get stuck.
Handing employees unfamiliar tools and expecting them to master them alone is a recipe for failure. Your workers will probably quietly avoid using them, which drags down RoI. Even worse, they might find their own workarounds using low-cost or free cloud tools, potentially creating a dark web of business apps that have access to your company’s data and documents, but that your security teams know nothing about.
It’s vital to provide the necessary training that brings all your employees up to speed on new remote work tools and gives them ample opportunity to ask questions and request assistance. .
Boost company morale
The stress and anxiety of COVID-19 impacted on everyone’s enthusiasm for work, but it’s especially noticeable among employees who made a hasty switch to working from home. People who aren’t used to remote work are likely to feel lonely, isolated, and cut off from the larger organization, which inevitably affects their motivation and productivity.
It’s worth remembering that employee training isn’t just about teaching workers how to do their job. It’s also, and very importantly, about promoting corporate culture and communicating business values in a way that makes your employees feel part of something bigger than themselves. When your employees are engaged with the company, they feel a personal responsibility for its success and more ready to bring their all to their job.
Bolster business security
The chaos of a global pandemic was a gift to hackers, who were quick to take advantage of people’s COVID-related fears. Phishing emails rose 68% during the pandemic and malware attacks grew 1,902% in the last 4 quarters.
Cybersecurity risks are high enough when everyone is in the office, with security teams on hand to respond quickly to potential threats and employees reminding each other to change default passwords and log out of cloud tools. But when employees are working from home, those risks are amplified. 20% of companies say they’ve experienced a data breach due to remote work.
You need employee training to reinforce your security protocols and make sure that everyone knows how to recognize phishing scams. It’s not enough to run a single annual security program; you need regular refresher courses that keep employees alert and aware of attempted attacks.
Strengthen team connections
Working from home has many benefits, but it can also undermine team connections and weaken communication. It’s tough for employees to work together effectively when they’re not in the same office, or possibly even in the same time zone.
Slack channels and video chats play their part, but they can’t be the whole story. You need employee training activities and bonding events to help employees feel connected even when they’re physically remote. It’s especially important if you’re hiring new talent, because you need them to feel part of the team and the organization quickly despite not coming to the office or meeting anyone face to face.
Employee training can bring you the stability you need
As we slowly emerge from the pandemic, all enterprises are grappling with the need to stabilize their business swiftly in order to take advantage of new growth opportunities. By helping to improve cybersecurity, employee engagement, and a sense of connection, increasing employee retention and assisting workers to master new tech tools, employee training programs go way beyond onboarding to help return a sense of steadiness and dependability to your organization.
