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When to Train Staff

By ACS Distance Education on September 29, 2014 in Education & Psychology | comments

Some questions that managers and supervisors can use to help decide whether an individual has any gaps in their skills or abilities are as follows:

  • Do they have the ability to achieve work objectives successfully?
  • Does the person have the necessary qualifications?
  • Do they have qualifications needed for future roles?
  • Do they have the relevant knowledge needed for the role?
  • Do they have the necessary experience?
  • Do they have appropriate skills for the role?
  • Are there any skills they are lacking?
  • Are they someone who has the potential for promotion?
  • Do they have the right attitude for the work role?
  • Do they show the energy need for the role?
  • Are they able to work under stress?
  • Are they able to work flexibly?
  • Do they show the maturity needed?
  • Do they have appropriate people management skills?
  • Do they have a suitable level of productivity?
  • Are they a team player?

Training needs are not static - they change over time. Many are those which are anticipated but others which were not foreseen may arise in the future. Others can be identified through monitoring.

There are some pitfalls which should be avoided. For example, it is not a good idea for managers or supervisors to make hasty decisions about problems with performance. These should be analysed in depth and monitored closely. Also, training should not be implemented without conducting a training needs analysis to establish if there really is a need in the first place. As mentioned previously, there may be other more appropriate solutions. Furthermore, training needs to be individually tailored. Just because one employee benefits from a particular training package, it does not mean that someone else will unless they have been identified as lacking the same skill set. Finally, it can be detrimental to employee and company development to only consider the obvious training needs. Other needs may only be revealed through ongoing monitoring and assessment.