The seven steps to highly effective employee training was explained in detail in my last article and video.
To help you plan your next employee training or coaching session using the seven steps, I created a worksheet. You can download it from the forms and worksheets section of my website.
You can download my forms and worksheets through this link.
The Seven Steps for Training & Coaching Employees
Follow these seven steps for training and coaching employees and dramatically improve the effectiveness of your training and coaching, and ultimately the performance of employees.
More than ever, ongoing training and development and coaching of employees is essential for organizational and business growth and success.
It’s the responsibility of the manager or supervisor to ensure that employees are being trained properly. If the task of training is being delegated to an employee, then that employee needs to be taught the seven steps.
I’ve created a worksheet that you can use to plan out the seven steps. It helps when you write things down rather than trying to think it through. Writing it down makes it a commitment and clarifies what needs to be done.
Here are the seven steps:
In our training program Style of Leadership & Team Development we teach the participants how to tie a fire underwriters knot. If this is done incorrectly on a construction site it could result in a fire and it would undermine the insurance policy. Thus, explaining the objective and importance of the task puts it in the proper perspective.
You can use written instructions as an aid and the reference for after the training. When we teach how to tie the knot we handout instruction sheet, but most people can’t figure it out just from reading and following the instructions. We also handout a diagram and still people have difficulty succeeding in tying the knot correctly.
Demonstrating correctly how to perform the task is an essential step in having the employee then perform it themselves.
Have the person perform the task and observe them.
Reinforce what the person is doing well and recognize success. Continue coaching until the person gets it right.
People have varied levels of confidence when learning a new task. Express your confidence according to the needs of each person.
Follow-up essential to ensure that the task or skill is being applied properly on the job. You can go through all the previous steps and fail in the training follow-up is not done.
Anyone can follow these steps and map out a training plan whether it be for a manual task, technical skill or even a behavioral training such as active listening.
It’s great to follow these steps when delegating a new task or responsibility to somebody. Delegation is different than simply assigning tasks to someone. Delegation involves new levels of responsibility or skill development and thus training should always be considered for successful delegation.
She was a task or skill that you want to train somebody on, download the worksheet and start planning your next training.
One of my clients asked me recently how to approach her boss for a pay raise. She said she was already at the high end of her pay scale.
I suggested she asked to be paid a bonus based on performance improvement. That way she could set and agree on specific goals that could be tracked and measured.
Sales people are typically paid on salary and commission, which is a version of pay for performance. This approach could be applied to all positions.
Employers could test this approach with one or two employees to make sure it works and can be duplicated. The important thing is to be able to set clear goals and define the pay for performance associated with the performance improvement.
There are many pay for performance (incentive pay) studies and theories in existence but the key is to keep it simple and to regularly discuss the progress being made so there are no surprises when it comes time for the compensation to be given.
Suggestion boxes have been used for years to have employees participate to improve performance of the organization. But this practice could have a negative effect on employee morale and cause a decrease in performance.
Employees want to participate if given the opportunity. It’s up to leadership to create the environment and the practice of engaging people in contributing their ideas for improvement.
If people are asked to contribute their ideas for improvement, then they need feedback to know if their ideas are being considered and used. They also need feedback on how the ideas are being implemented and the progress being made.
Suggestion boxes can work if management takes it seriously and provides feedback to employees. But the better approach is to have employees meet to discuss problems and ways to improve various aspects of their work and problems that affect them.
This approach requires leaders to adjust their style of leadership to be participative and to coach employees rather than control. Take our leadership style test to see if you are more of a leader or a manager that asserts control.
When employees are asked to participate in continuous improvement they have a feeling of influence and this leads to psychological ownership and commitment to the changes and improvements they propose.
Start getting employees to participate and get rid of the suggestion box.
