Effective Employee Training Strategies for New Technologies

Employee Training Strategies – It’s no secret that every industry has its own new technological inventions or system advancements. And some technology comes with new features that require operational skills. Because of that, companies must take time and adequately train their employees before they can start enjoying the benefits of their new technologies. 

But, there’s always one major challenge; integrating new technologies. In most cases, new technologies wouldn’t thrive because of the poor training offered to employees. So, every organization should always provide impactful employee training strategies to ensure easy, efficient, and productive work. 

So, how can you ensure your employees get the best out of the new technologies? Here are some strategies for training success:

Deploy Instructor-Led Training Methods

This is a type of training that occurs in training rooms, classrooms, and conference rooms. They can have more training instructors that teach different skills through presentations, lectures, discussions, and presentations. 

The technique is effective in delivering group training as well as one-on-one teachings.  Such activities are usually led by a qualified trainer (s) who can take days or hours depending on the intensity and the content of what is to be covered. 

Instructor-led training can be achieved through the following mechanisms:

Whiteboard or blackboard. This is one of the oldest fashion ways of training. However, it would still be effective, especially if you want to show and invite trainees to demonstrate their skills on the board. 

Overhead projector. As much as the mechanism is being replaced with PowerPoint presentations, it would allow you to customize your presentations easily.

Video portions. You can break the new technology into video portions explaining sections or parts of the training topic or software at hand. You can also use PowerPoint, one of the most popular training methods that effortlessly combines handouts and other interactive techniques. 

What Are Some Of The Advantages Of Using Instructor-Led Training Methods?

• It’s cost-effective, especially in cases where there are many employees to be trained.
• It’s an efficient method of presenting a massive volume of material of technical information.
• It’s personal and ensures employees get a face-to-face connection with their trainers.

Use interactive methods of training.

You don’t want to have disconnected trainees. So break up the training programs into more engaging and involving sessions. 

To get engaged employees who are receptive to the new technology, you can:

Use Small Group Discussions

Working groups are one of the best ways to link together different understanding. So, divide the employees into small groups and give them a problem to solve. This way, the knowledgeable employees get to share and pass experience to newer or green employees. 

Offer Periodical Quizzes and Q & A Sessions

In case of long and complicated training, ensure you periodically stop and administer brief quizzes on the content covered up to that point. Even better, start your sessions with a pre-quiz to give your trainees a hint into what you’d be covering. 

Also, have informal questions sessions and allow trainers to ask questions on areas they haven’t understood. Further, motivate your participants by providing awards to the most improved persons or higher scorers. 

You can as well motivate your employee training and engagement through:

• Role-playing- help employees understand best how to handle various technologies before facing them in a real job
• Question cards

Use Experiential or Hands-On Training

Experiential is one of the top ways of training employees how to operate or run different technologies. It’s a learning by doing, where trainers show employees exactly what is needed of them. 

It’s most appropriate in training, new software applications, and process and equipment procedures. Through these strategies, you can know if employees have understood a process or not. 

You can achieve this strategy through:

• Demonstrations combined with the chance for questions and answers
• Cross-training to give employees the advantage to do various jobs

Make Good Use of Online Training Materials

Online learning is one of the most effective ways you can use to grow the skills of your employees. And since there are numerous vendors online, search for the most effective technological sites related to your organizations’ needs. And let your employees learn through the videos, guides, and walk-throughs. 

This kind of training is even more convenient for employees who are in different regions. So, share the resources through a suitable platform for easy access by any employee working with a similar application. 

Conclusion

It’s never easy to convince employees to adopt new technology. However, you can always support and guide them through effective training strategies.