Professional Development | Corporate Training
Regardless of the drivers of the team or how it was formed, completing training together has benefits for the individuals, the group, and the larger organization. Employees who go through training as a team are more likely to have higher morale and deliver better work faster.
Team Training Defined
High quality training for professionals should include a subject matter expert providing an environment conducive to gaining new skills and knowledge. As a leader, including a team leader, director, business owner, or training leader, you should know the difference between training for an individual and what’s referred to as “team training,” or when a group completes training together.
Dr. Salas, Trustee Chair and Professor of Psychology at the University of Central Florida, and frequent contributor to Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shares: “…companies that provide team training can see as much as a 20% increase in team performance.”
Knowing the motivational benefits of team training will enable you to secure the budget and support to activate your plan.
Motivational Benefits of Team Training
Good team training should result in the participants gaining the skills or knowledge reflected in the learning objectives; that new skills are gained is the basic benefit. Truly impactful and long-lasting training goes a step further, with team members realizing more engagement with their work, a drive to do their work better in appreciation of the confidence the company has in them, and a feeling of belonging.
Benefit: Cultivate Engagement
Disengaged employees, those that do not actively seek new ideas or contribute to the overall work, can be expensive and can impact everyone’s morale such that all productivity decreases. According to Weekdone.com, 39% of employees don't feel that their input is appreciated. You need to seek opportunities that will engage employees and boost morale: team training is a great way to achieve that goal.
- Team training fosters feeling of belonging to something bigger than self
- Team training demonstrates company appreciation of employee
- Employees that feel valued are more likely to have high job satisfaction
A benefit of team training is that it helps employees feel like they matter while also improving engagement and morale.
Benefit: Increase Productivity
Team training can enhance skillsets even as it reinvigorates the passion around a project and/or tasks. With deeper skill knowledge and renewed enthusiasm, teams are more productive.
- Team training can enhance team knowledge and expertise
- Team training expands knowledge pool of workforce leading to faster solutions
- Employees who train together share standards and quality expectations
Sending one employee to training will result in short-term but immediate results. Supporting a team through a shared training experience will have exponentially more, and longer-lasting, impact on productivity with more knowledge, more experience, and common standards gained at the same time.
Benefit: Foster Culture
As the pandemic has had and continues to impact on life across the world, companies are actively seeking ways to foster culture for employees that could be distracted, overwhelmed, and/or unable to come to the office. Team training provides the unique opportunity to naturally collaborate, particularly remotely, as part of work but in a way that expands perspectives beyond immediate problems or team disagreements.
- Team training is a safe space for building trust
- Team training is productive change of pace that can be energy boost
- Culture can be shaped by vetted, shared experiences
Company provided training to groups and teams can instill consistency, which in turn, contributes to a shared culture. Even if the world is in upheaval, if the team or group has a consistent experience aligned with company culture, they will feel energized to complete shared goals.
Training Benefits All
Ever heard that old saying, “can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? That’s a closed mindset that means your most experienced employees are devalued while your other employees have skills without the guidance to apply them. Providing training to your employees, especially as a team, shows the company values them. Additionally, as shared on the global talent recruitment site Indeed.com:
“…By continuing to teach your employees new skills and abilities, they will not just become better workers, they will feel like more productive members of the organization. This will improve their morale as well as their workplace capabilities.”
You can realize higher engagement and productivity in your team when you provide training for the group.
