Key facts about training
Training equips employees with job-specific skills.
It includes induction, adapting to changes, and improving competitiveness.
Methods include both on-the-job and off-the-job training.
What is staff training?
Anne from Starling Bank discusses training and human resources
Hi, I'm Anne and I'm the CEO and founder of Starling Bank. The individuals that sit on our board are directors, and then we have an executive committee. These are the people who lead the various departments in the organization, and then we have team leaders and specialists. Our executives who sit on the executive committee would be controlling something like marketing, and then the people in the marketing team would actually work on the marketing products.
We started as a start-up four years ago. But now we have a finance department, we have a risk department, we have customer service, and we have the engineers, and the engineers build all of our software. At the very beginning, it was just me. It was me that did all the jobs, whether it was email or talking to investors or figuring out what the product was going to be. In the early days, it was very different. The more senior you are in the organization, the more responsibility you have for delivering initiatives. But we all lead. At the senior level, we lead our teams, and at a more junior level, you lead yourself.
It is very important that we maintain our culture here at Starling, and therefore we put a lot of effort into hiring the right people. All our roles are advertised internally and externally. Externally on our website, our careers page, and also on some well-known job boards. Perhaps you'll have to do a test online or send in a video interview, and then you come into the office and meet a couple of people. After meeting, say, two to three people in an interview setting, you may be offered a job.
It's very important to hire a diverse group of people. Interesting skills, interesting backgrounds, coming together to solve customer problems. Those people can give us huge value and stay a long time. The first day here would involve probably sitting in a classroom, learning all about our product. After a couple of days, you'll come to sit with somebody and learn about how they support our customers. And then during the next couple of years, there will be various formal processes where you would have opportunities to learn more about how we do things and perhaps train to be a lawyer, an accountant, or an engineer.
It's important to know how you are doing, so you can improve, and we encourage regular feedback. A little bit of feedback at the right time can help your performance. We also try to tap into what individuals want from the organization. It's a relationship between the employer and the employee, both giving and both taking. As people grow and get more responsibility, they will start leading people and perhaps have an increased salary. This business changes all the time, we are growing very, very fast, and therefore everybody has to be able to keep up to speed. I keep up to speed, and I read a huge amount, so I understand what is going on, and I encourage everybody else to participate in lots of ways of gathering that information.
Bye, I hope that helped.
What is training?
Developing an employee’s skill level through on the job, off the job or induction training. is defined as “the acquisition of knowledge and skills which can be applied to a particular job.
What are the reasons for training?
There are three main reasons for training to be provided in a business:
1. Induction training
This is the training of new employees. It is needed to:
help them settle in
help them to understand the ethos of the business
help them to play their part more efficiently
The content of an induction programme will vary from firm to firm. It usually contains:
a guided tour
introduction to colleagues and managers
video/talk on the firm's aims
explanation of Health and Safety procedures
2. Change in procedures
Perhaps new technology has been introduced or the firm has introduced a new product and staff need to become familiar with the new procedures.
3. To become more competitive
Well-trained workers are able to do the job in a shorter time, with less mistakes and produce better quality products/services.
Try the reasons for training quiz
What are the advantages and disadvantages of staff training?
For the employer:
| Advantages of staff training to the employer | Disadvantage of staff training to the employer |
|---|---|
| When proper induction training is provided, employees are productive more quickly | Training programmes are expensive for the firm |
| A highly trained workforce is more effective and efficient | Employees have to be given time off work to undertake the training – affects production |
| More effective employees improves the quality of the firm’s products/service which will lead to increased sales and profits for the firm | There is a risk that well trained workers will leave to work with a competitor – sometimes they are actively head-hunted! |
| Training helps the business to keep ahead of competition | Highly trained employees can demand higher pay levels |
| Well trained workers need less supervision which can reduce costs for the business | |
| With highly trained staff and up to date methods a firm earns a good reputation as an employer and as a competitor in the marketplace |
For the employee:
| Advantages of staff training to the employee | Disadvantages of staff training to the employee |
|---|---|
| When proper induction training is provided, employees feel ‘at home’ more quickly | Training might not benefit employee if the quality of training is poor or not relevant to their place of work |
| Workers are equipped to cope with changes in technology | |
| Well trained employees are more flexible and can undertake different jobs in the firm | |
| Training is motivational for employees | |
| Less likely to have an accident | |
| Less likely to be made redundant |
What type of training methods are there?
There are two main ways of providing training for staff: on-the-job training and off-the-job training.
On-the-job training
On-the-job training takes place in the workplace while an employee is doing their usual job. It is usually delivered by colleagues and is often informal. For example, in a supermarket, informal training might take place to teach an employee how to use a till or stack a shelf.
On-the-job training can be very effective as it is often delivered on a one-to-one basis and in the employee’s usual place of work, in familiar surroundings. It is also usually cost-effective, since there are no travel or accommodation costs involved and the employee is still completing their usual work. However, the quality of on-the-job training can vary enormously depending on the person who delivers it.
Off-the-job training
Off-the-job training is structured training that may be job specific or related to gaining a qualification. It is called this because it involves employees taking time away from their day-to-day activities. For example, it might involve an employee going on a training course outside the business, undertaking training at college, or completing a course held at their workplace.
Off-the-job training should be of a high quality, as it is delivered by specialists. However, it is often expensive as courses must be paid for, it may require travel and accommodation costs, and the worker is not completing their normal work while they are being trained.
Try the training quiz
Final check
What is one disadvantage for an employer when providing off-the-job training to employees?
Off-the-job training is often expensive as courses must be paid for, and employees are not completing their normal work during the training.
