Learn and put into practice – as a team!
It isn’t a secret that for a business to remain competitive, it must focus on developing employee expertise. Curious teams who have access to tools to train themselves become more efficient. Beyond increased productivity, training programs also help retain talent in your company. So why are so many companies making the process of accessing training considerably more complex? Why don’t all employees have immediate easy access to training?
In fact, many companies associate “employee training” with a “productivity loss” issue. Also, some employers live in fear of losing newly-trained employees without being able to benefit from the expertise they have funded themselves. In this context, looking at training from another perspective is essential.
At Shift, we rely on treats to reap the benefits of our training program !
Self-Training : a beautiful concept with an uncertain outcome
Often, we see companies deal with training issues as individual-level projects. These programs, that support employee professional development, do not take into account the professional ecosystem of the company. This often results in each employee training in isolation. It then becomes difficult to integrate this new knowledge into a teamwork context. Consequently, employees eventually leave the nest after acquiring new skills, as they are unable to use their new skills in the context of their current job description. The frustration drives them to look elsewhere, somewhere their newly gained development will be considered.
A training program that works well uses team projects and not individual projects. This is where the rewards come into play!
The best training is based around a “reward” project
Now, let’s talk about what we do here at Shift. As a startup, we can not afford to lose a member of the team for training. Every aptitude or skill is indispensable in every project we do, from beginning to end. In order to integrate the training, we plan an internal project that we call our “reward project”.
During a team meeting we create a motivating and interesting project for all. This project is then split according to each team member’s responsibilities. The training program takes into account what each individual can learn while remaining in synergy with the team. Collaboration on the “reward project” is central.
The advantages of such a method are undeniable:
- Put new knowledge into practice quickly in a concrete situation.
- Advise others drawing on one’s own expertise and motivations.
- Enjoy learning from other team members.
- Improve everyone’s knowledge thanks to techniques learned by everyone.
Learn while knowing your limits and referring to experts
Training programs that do not include new employees into the team often creates tension; the person motivated to implement their new assets tries to do so in a context that is not optimal. Working with a “reward project”, the notion of “knowing your limits and referring to experts” is directly related to the learning process. Concepts are quickly tied to a real project. In this way, the working methods adjust in real time. When these new methods are implemented in a real project for a client, the team is effective from the start of the project’s development schedule.
Evolving without bitterness
As you can see, the project-based training programs allows new employees to satisfy their curiosity and their desire to evolve without having to run up against colleagues who might become bitter about these new ways of working.
For the company, this makes it possible to set up « reward projects » which are very useful. The projects can be integrated in a production calendar taking into account the company’s workload. As a result, customers are not penalized and the training program will eventually become a development program, which in turn can end up generating new profit.
