| Coaching |
By talking through a problem or task with a coach/manager, employees can arrive at a solution or better method of working |
- Cost-effective if done in-house
- Specific to your business's needs
|
- Coach or manager needs to be coached initially
- Can be time-consuming
|
| E-learning |
Employees follow courses online |
- Employees teach themselves at their convenience
- Low cost
|
- Courses tend to be general rather than specific to your business's needs
|
| Evening classes |
Training through classes held in the evenings |
- No disruption to employees during working hours
|
- May disrupt the work-life balance for staff
- Employees may resent having to attend classes in the evening and may not turn up
|
| Workshops |
A group of employees trains together under the supervision of a trainer - typically involves explanation, examples, trying out the skill or method, reviewing what happens, and considering developments and alternatives |
- Employees practice solving problems
|
- Time-consuming - typically takes at least half a day, if not more
- May be disruptive to your business if many employees attend at the same time
- Can be expensive if you send numerous employees to workshops
|
| Study leave |
Employees are given paid leave to attend courses and attain a recognised qualification
|
- Both the business and employee benefit
- Can be a good recruitment incentive
- Tax relief may be available on the cost, of course,
|
- May be difficult to decide who is eligible
|
| Induction |
Formal or informal way of helping a new employee to settle down quickly in the job by introducing them to people, the business, processes, etc |
- Great way to help a new employee to get started and understand key organisational processes
- Can be formal or informal
- Low cost
- Focused on new employees and those starting new roles
|
- May take up a large part of a manager's time if many new people start at the same time
|
| Job shadowing |
One employee observes another employee going about their job |
- Low cost
- Specific to your business/their role
|
- There isn't a chance for hands-on practical experience to be gained
- This may give a false perspective of the job role depending on the person being shadowed and when the job shadowing is taking place.
|
| Mentoring |
A more senior person typically supports an executive or manager or director by providing advice, support, and a forum for discussing problems |
- Provides personal development
- Low-cost
|
- Limited to more senior employees
- For mentoring to be effective, the personalities and experiences of the mentor and employee need to be complementary
|
Networking / seminars
|
Employees attend a seminar on a specific topic - this can be in-house, at an industry event, or organised by a training specialist |
- Useful way of getting a lot of information over to a large audience
- At industry events and at seminars organised by training specialists, employees can talk to their peers as competitors/partners
|
- Employees may be unable to discuss specific problems in front of rivals
- Retention of information may be low if there is a lot of information to convey to employees
|
| Distance learning |
Employees train through courses devised by educational institutions (eg Open University) but are not required to attend traditional classes |
- Increasingly web-based
- Employees can learn at their convenience
|
- Courses tend to be general rather than specific to your business's needs
|
| Simulation / role-playing |
Typically employees in a particular department (eg sales) come together to take on roles to help work through possible scenarios (eg customer complaint)
|
- Employees learn by doing and are prepared for possible situations at work
- Specific to your business
- Can be led by a manager
|
- Artificial situations remove the stress and complexities that may occur in a real-life situation
- There is always room for error when creating a situation in a training environment
|
