Talking about training at companies can be a complex subject given the sheer number of competencies and skills that different roles require.
To start, keep in mind that a company's training needs can be virtually endless. This means that when it comes time to decide what to train on, when, and how, we often end up overwhelmed, unsure which of the skills our teams need should actually be prioritized.
Training needs diagnosis
To solve this problem, there are diagnostics and evaluations that can help determine which topics a company should focus on for training — though this isn't always straightforward. In fact, training needs assessments are necessary, but they should be run by someone experienced in the field.
Still, some companies just getting started with training often ask: "Are there topics or skills I can begin training people on that are common denominators across the working world?" There are, in fact — but you have to be careful about the specifics of your own organization.
The goal of this article is to walk through training topics that tend to be frequent or common across companies — topics you can already start working on.
That said, you'll still need to look more closely at the particulars and specific needs of your own company to fine-tune training for your workforce.
Which topics should I start training my staff on?
As mentioned, these topics are varied, but the goal here is to cover six areas where you can start training your team — ones that will undoubtedly have a positive impact on workforce productivity and on the competencies employees bring to their roles:
1. Time management
It's important to train people on how to manage their time, how to distribute workloads, and how to stay disciplined and organized when handling their work processes. There are two circumstances worth considering when it comes to time management:
- When processes are rigid
- Some companies have work processes that are fixed, standardized, and require estimated timeframes — these companies have even more reason to train employees around those specific processes.
- When processes are flexible
- Other companies rely more on employee autonomy and results. In other words, their processes are more flexible and depend heavily on how each person organizes their own work.
When employees don't know how to manage or organize their time, or how to distribute their workloads, it can create delays or the risk that results aren't delivered the way or within the timeframe expected.
This doesn't mean employees are incompetent; often it simply means different employees use different techniques or work-management models that can be highly effective on their own but incompatible with one another.
This type of training helps standardize how people distribute their work, so that it flows harmoniously and teams can synchronize timing, effort, and align processes within a working group. This makes it possible to:
- Optimize and control time
- Improve the quality of results
- Make what's being done visible
- Standardize processes
- Prevent risks
When done well, this type of training has a positive impact on company productivity, organizational climate, and the quality of results, while also mitigating stress and burnout.
2. Effective communication
When we talk about effective communication, we mean precisely how effectively a message is understood relative to what was meant to be conveyed.
This isn't just about how a person should deliver a message orally or in writing — although that matters a great deal — but also about mastering the channels used to communicate it.
Communication processes also help ensure messages are understood clearly, exactly as the sender intended. This is essential in both vertical and horizontal leadership structures when it comes to following instructions, understanding quality standards, or grasping the scope of a service or the features of a product.
Most organizational conflicts at companies are caused by a lack of communication or communication breakdowns. According to Peter Drucker, 60% of business problems stem from poor communication. That's why it's important to know how to:
Formalize communication processes — how to write an email, how to schedule a meeting.
Exercise judgment and the ability to determine how to deliver a message, at what moment, through which channel, and to make sure it's understood the way you intend.
Master the different communication channels, such as writing emails, reports, and announcements, or using different platforms.
Follow the company's guidelines and policies, and above all, protect its information.
3. Customer service
When we talk about customer service, we're talking about a very important and often underrated competency: service itself.
Service should be a priority competency in recruitment and training processes. Customer service matters at every company, no matter whether a given role has contact with external customers — everyone, to some degree, provides service to other members of the company or team.
Given the existence of both internal and external customers, it's important to establish processes to properly attend to them and satisfy their needs, so employees can focus on results and on the satisfaction of the people they serve, creating much smoother workflows.
If internal customer needs go unmet, it's very likely the objective will be hindered by employees having to find their own solutions to issues they may not specialize in or shouldn't be spending time and effort on — generating unnecessary costs, conflicts, and risks when it comes to meeting goals.
That's why it's important for companies to start planning training for employees in both internal and external customer service.
When the customer is external, the stakes are even higher, because poor service to an external customer can translate into bad publicity, a damaged reputation, and, ultimately, lower sales that directly affect the company's profitability.
4. Workplace safety
Workplace safety is a mandatory topic at every company. Although not every company has the same needs in this area, it generally involves complying with regulations around health and safety, and it also has a direct impact on employee wellbeing.
- In industrial settings:
- In industrial environments, this type of training is necessary and should be delivered by an expert certified in the relevant safety standards for each case. Facilities, machinery, and other risk areas also need to be taken into account.
- In corporate settings
- Even in corporate environments, it's very important to train people on workplace safety — how to react to certain events and emergencies, and what to do in case of an accident, which can happen regardless of whether there's machinery involved or just office desks.
Training on workplace safety addresses the need to prevent harm to people and mitigate the risk of physical, and even psychological, incidents.
Ultimately, ensuring safety in a work environment removes one more worry from employees so they can focus on what they actually need to do.
5. Office suite and computer skills
Today it's hard to find an industry or company that doesn't rely, to some degree, on digital processes, software, or the internet. One of the first topics I recommend training people on is how to use office productivity software.
Why is office software so essential?
Office software is fundamental to the day-to-day operations of many companies. While Microsoft's suite is the most common, other options exist, like Open Office or Google Docs. Even so, using these tools at an advanced level isn't as common as one might hope.
Office software: a basic level of knowledge
A common finding when evaluating the use of these tools at companies is that many people only have a very basic level of knowledge. During interviews and on resumes, it's common to see candidates claim to have an advanced level, but reality often tells a different story.
This matters a great deal because once employees master this software, the positive impact shows up almost immediately:
- Better turnaround times
- Properly using these tools can have a direct impact on the time and quality of work. For example, tasks that normally take days can shrink to hours when handled correctly.
- Quality of deliverables
- Competent use of office software doesn't just improve efficiency — it also improves the presentation of the work. When people know how to properly build slide decks or documents, deliverables come out at a much higher quality, which also benefits the company's image with external clients.
- Training as an investment
- Investing in training people on how to properly use software has a positive impact on delivery times and project quality. It's crucial to make sure employees don't just have the knowledge, but also the confidence to put what they've learned into practice.
As surprising as it may sound, proficient use of office software is a hard competency to find. Making sure employees develop these skills can make a big difference in a company's efficiency and effectiveness.
6. Technology and digital tools: Artificial Intelligence
The next training topic has to do with the use of technology and digital tools.
Today, many jobs are directly tied to how digital tools are used, and that dependency grows as company needs grow. Needs such as:
- Managing and safeguarding data through the cloud
- Synchronizing processes remotely
- Better coordination and tracking of objectives
- Process monitoring and evaluation
- Task automation
- More objective analysis and research
To meet these needs, mastering these tools and implementing Artificial Intelligence is essential, since platforms now exist that make it possible to manage work and processes in a way that gives visibility into what stage a process is at and how well an objective is being met.
In research processes, these tools are powerful, since they help us gather the information we need to make decisions, estimate risks, study the market, or generate sales leads.
The big challenge with artificial intelligence lies in understanding its scope and setting the ethical boundaries of its use. Once that challenge is overcome, companies can open themselves up to a world of possibilities for making their processes more efficient — but it will depend on how proficient their people are and how well they understand those boundaries and limits.
Food for thought
Training on these six topics — from time management to the use of artificial intelligence — not only improves efficiency and productivity at companies, but also fosters a more harmonious and safer work environment. Implementing these training programs is an investment in the future of the company and in the wellbeing of its employees.
That said, these topics aren't the only ones out there, and we'll cover other useful ones in future articles.
We invite you to reflect on your organization's specific training needs and to consider how these topics can be adapted to meet them.
We also encourage you to explore other articles and resources we've prepared to dive deeper into each of these areas and help you implement effective, enriching training programs.
