Should Business Leaders Be Involved in Employee Training?
As a business leader, you have a lot on your plate.
You’re responsible for things like motivating your team, planning future product releases, and even deciding what your next marketing campaign is going to look like.
It’s no wonder that when the time comes to set up some employee training sessions, you might decide to take a back seat.
While getting involved with employee training might not seem particularly high on your to-do list, it could be a worthwhile process if you’re looking to boost engagement, improve company culture, and even get to know your team a little more.
Getting Involved with Employee Training
There are various ways that managers and business leaders can get involved with employee training. In some cases, you might be able to collaborate with the person providing the training to bring more context to certain topics.
For instance, if you’re giving your team a course on how to deal with complicated customers, it pays to step in and share a story or two from your repertoire.
Offering your own personal experiences within training environments will help your team members to apply the skills they develop to realistic scenarios that they encounter in their day-to-day roles.
It’s also a chance for them to connect with you on a deeper level.
Alternatively, some business leaders might decide to take training sessions at the same time as their staff. After all, the best business leaders are often the ones that commit to constant learning and improvement.
The Benefits of Leaders in Employee Training
Although getting involved with training sessions in a more hands-on way will eat up more of your valuable time, it offers a lot of benefits in return.
Some of the biggest advantages include:
- Setting an example. Your team members look to you for insights into how they should act at work. If you show commitment to learning and improving your skills, you’re more likely to get the same dedication back from your team.
- If you want your team members to see learning and regular development as valuable, then you need to be willing to show that you feel that way yourself.
- It immediately makes an impact when a business leader steps into a lesson alongside their team.
- If you want your team members to see learning and regular development as valuable, then you need to be willing to show that you feel that way yourself.
- Improving company culture. The more meaningful time managers and business leaders spend with their employees, the more the people in that team will bond.
- Employees feel more comfortable at work when they’re confident going to their managers whenever they have questions or suggestions. It’s hard to develop that state of mind if you always sit out of group activity.
- Remember, retention studies often find that employees don’t leave bad workplaces, they leave poor management. The more effort you make to connect with your team, the better your company culture will become.
- Employees feel more comfortable at work when they’re confident going to their managers whenever they have questions or suggestions. It’s hard to develop that state of mind if you always sit out of group activity.
- You get more for your money. Most training providers and educators will offer the same high-quality level of education no matter what. However, if you’re sitting in on each session, you can also ensure that you’re getting the most you can out of the training experience.
- You’ll be able to step in and ask questions that your employees might not think of or suggest focusing more heavily on specific topics.
- What’s more, because your employees will know you’re going to be there, waiting to see themin those training sessions, they’re more likely to attend. No-one wants to stand out as the person who didn’t come to a training session that was overseen by the boss.
- You’ll be able to step in and ask questions that your employees might not think of or suggest focusing more heavily on specific topics.
- Leaders can learn too. There isn’t a point in your development as a professional when you’ll suddenly stop benefitting from insight and new skills.
- If you’ve gone through the effort of finding someone to come in and offer these lessons to your employees, then you already know they’re valuable. Why not gain some new skills yourself?
- Managers, just like their employees, can benefit from testing out new talents and exploring different ideas from time to time.
- Training along with your staff also gives you a better insight into how your team is going to work going forward.
- If you’ve gone through the effort of finding someone to come in and offer these lessons to your employees, then you already know they’re valuable. Why not gain some new skills yourself?
It’s Time To Get More Involved in Training
Finding the time to get actively involved in employee training sessions can be tough when you’re a business leader. With so many other things on your plate to consider, it’s important to be careful that you’re not overwhelming yourself with too much work.
However, if you can fit the occasional training experience into your schedule, you may find that the benefits are well worth the extra time.
Training alongside your employees and team members will help you to better understand their strengths and weaknesses, build a stronger company culture, and pave the way for more growth in the future.
