Employees in the US and UK that don’t fully understand job requirements cost employers roughly $37 billion a year, based on statistics from Training magazine. As you can imagine, this lack of job training can easily result in a dip in profits and growing customer dissatisfaction.
What Is On-the-Job Training?
In a business, on-the-job training is also called OJT. The process is used to teach employees critical skills and capabilities that will be required to perform daily tasks in a new work environment.
Beyond the standard skills needed to hire an employee in the first place, on-the-job training may cover how to use:
- Workplace tools and equipment
- Workplace machinery
- Workplace documents
On-the-job training will also often review specific company policies and practices, including how to interact with customers and deal with customer issues. In some cases, on-the-job training may be performed at employee orientation when multiple staff members are hired at once. Other companies may require a new employee to “shadow” another employee to learn how they work on the job.
5 Teaching Tips for On-the-Job Training
Understanding how employees learn will make it easier to facilitate effective on-the-job training for each new hire.
Instead of using a cookie-cutter approach for all new staff members, consider these helpful tips to tailor a training program to an employee’s needs:
- Try new skills. New employees should be allowed to try out any new skills possible, involving tools, machinery, and equipment, in a safe setting.
- Learn by doing. Instead of offering verbal instruction, new employees will better learn by doing in areas of customer service, technical skills, and even management.
- Set an individual pace. Remember, every employee has his or her own learning style. Employees that work slowly and methodically shouldn’t be rushed, just as quick-thinking employees shouldn’t be held back in the learning process.
- Allow for personal discovery. New employees should be allowed to work out their own methodology, even if it doesn’t fit training guidelines step-by-step.
- Encourage problem-solving. Instead of being told exactly how to deal with a customer issue or problem on the job, a new employee should be allowed to provide their own potential solutions to solve a crisis.
If extensive information needs to be issued on-the-job, many new employees may benefit from learning in a personalized environment with preliminary online courses. After this information has been taught on a computer, a manager can use the tips listed above to provide hands-on training to all employees in their new work environment.