One-hour check-up: do your staff need IT training?

Providing IT training in your business can be a thorny topic. People aren’t always willing to admit that they need help using a computer, especially if they feel they’re the odd-one-out in a company of IT geniuses.

Other members of staff may not even realise that they’re doing things inefficiently, or be aware that there are different ways to work that could save them time. After all, most people tend to do things the way they’ve always done them, even if new or updated software includes useful features to automate tasks.

How to work out your training needs

Whether it’s helping people manage a bulging inbox, showing them useful tools or teaching advanced features in Excel, most businesses and organisations can benefit from offering some level of IT training.

The best way to establish your firm’s IT training needs is to run a training needs analysis. This will help you build a clear picture of what sort of training you provide at the moment, whether it’s working, and where the gaps lie.

Establish what training is already available. A good place to start is with what you already have. Ask managers what training they’ve budgeted for and what they provide informally. Also try and find out what on-the-job training people get. Do you run any mentoring or buddy schemes? How do you bring new employees up-to-speed on your systems and processes?
Run surveys and ask employees directly. A company-wide survey is a great way to gather people’s thoughts on the IT training you provide and what they’d like to see you offer. Frame your questions carefully – for instance, ask about specific pieces of software used in your business.
Interview line managers. They should have a good feel for how the people they manage are coping with their work. If staff members appear to be underperforming, could it be because they’re struggling with software or unintuitive systems they haven’t used before?
Use employee appraisals and one-to-one meetings. Once you’ve spoken to line managers, you can broach training issues with employees on an individual level. If someone is embarrassed at not knowing how to do something, a private, supportive conversation can be the best way to elicit this information.
Match objectives with skills. Most companies are working towards agreed business objectives, and your staff probably have individual objectives agreed too. It’s really important each employee– and your business overall – has the necessary skills to meet those objectives. Think carefully about what it will take to achieve each one (encourage your staff to feed into this process) and then use your conclusions to drive forward a training plan.

Providing effective, appropriate training can make an enormous difference to your business. If your staff don’t know how to use the software you have, showing them how to use it properly could increase efficiency significantly.

What’s more, employees appreciate training. It shows they’re valued and helps them build new skills and develop at work.

You can get more information about running a training needs analysis from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and the Lasa knowledgebase.