Smart Employee Training Solutions on a Budget

By Karen Axelton

Retaining employees is going to get harder for your small business as the economy improves. Anyone who’s feeling stalled or frustrated at your business is likely to look for better opportunities at a company that offers more chance for advancement. One of the key advantages big companies have always had over small ones is their ability to offer employee training programs.

Today more than ever, employees are eager to learn new skills to keep them competitive in the job market. But the good news is, even small companies have more ways to offer training for their staffs without breaking the bank.

To start an employee training program, first do an inventory of the job skills your employees have now, those they need to develop to progress in your business, and those they’d like to learn (just ask).

Here are some low- or no-cost options for employee training:

Cross-training. Cross-training means employees teach others how to do aspects of their jobs. You can have employees cross-train workers within their department, or workers who do similar functions in a different department. This is a great way to provide backup for days when one employee is absent or sick.

Mentorship. In mentoring, you match employees with others who have something to teach them. This could mean matching a senior employee with an entry-level worker or matching employees at the same level but with different backgrounds. Look for employees who are willing to teach…and learn.

Outside education. You probably can’t afford to reimburse employees for expensive educational options like getting an MBA, but you may be able to pay for or share the cost of courses at a community college or ongoing adult education program. Also look for educational opportunities offered through industry associations, such as conferences and seminars. If employees do choose to pay for educational programs that will improve their job skills, be flexible with work hours during final exams or otherwise show your support.

Online education. A quick Web search will uncover lots of online seminars, webinars and online courses—many of which are free—in various fields. These can be great options for teaching employees new skills.

In-house education. Host weekly or monthly brown-bag lunches where you or an employee talks about a topic that’s relevant to your industry or business. Maybe everyone reads a business book you think is useful, and then discusses how it can apply to your business. Informal events like these are good ways to share expertise—without spending a cent.

The key to making any employee training program work is to show employees that you support their efforts to learn new things—and that keeping their skills up-to-date is just as important as getting their day-to-day work done.

Image by Flickr user Blatant News (Creative Commons)

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 6th, 2011 at 10:30 am and is filed under Workforce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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