Top Training Tips For Human Resource Teams

December 20 2022 - Training and staff development are two of the most important responsibilities of a Human Resource team. It can be intimidating to host a training event, but with some prior planning and preparation, you can approach staff training with confidence. Check out these top tips for training sessions that will make the job easier, and help you conduct a successful training session.

Engage Your Audience

Group training sessions come with unique challenges. It can be hard to get useful feedback or opinions from your training subjects, especially if you are conducting induction training. People are reluctant to speak up in these situations even if they have something to say.

Using live audience polling apps can help you to get a better idea of opinions and answers to questions without relying on people to put their hands up or speak publicly. You can see voting polls in real-time with this app from Vevox. Their app can be incredibly useful in training situations and is perfect for conducting live polls. Vevox is the number one rated app for live polling, give it a try in your next training session.

Plan For Different Learning Styles

Not everyone takes information on board in the same way. When you are conducting any type of training session you should bare in mind that different people are going to interpret information in different ways. Mix up your content between words, pictures, and videos to help people engage with the topic.

Visual learners can process information in pictures much more effectively than in words that they read or hear. Kinetic learners need an example they can hold in their hands or a practical demonstration. Bear these and other learning styles in mind when planning your training sessions. Make sure there is a little bit of something for everyone, and you back up parts of your presentation with pictures.

Show The Structure

Many people make the mistake of getting things going straight away. Before you begin any proper training, give your audience some time to settle in. Begin by telling your audience the structure of the training so they know what to expect from their day. This will make them feel more comfortable.

Timings should be flexible, this makes the day feel more casual while remaining structured. Do not just name a topic or section you will be covering, summarise it during your introduction. Give people the basic plan so they have an idea of what they will be learning at different parts of the day. This will help make them more comfortable and confident as the training session progresses.

Curate Your Training Materials Carefully

Information overload is a common problem in training sessions. It can be tempting to give your attendees lots of information, especially in handouts and training materials. This can be counterproductive, however. Be careful with the amount of information you give to attendees at the start.

It can be a good idea to create an online resource, such as a shared cloud drive, that your attendees can access during and after the training event. This cuts down on the amount of paper on their desks, which can be distracting, and allows you to include content like videos and PowerPoint presentations. You can create handouts that lead the trainees to the resources that they can access later, supplementing the extra information that they can find there.

Think Beyond Education

Training sessions can become stale and monotonous rather quickly. Remember that these sessions are about more than just education, they are about team building and are an opportunity to represent your company’s culture. Try and make them fun, and break up the day with some fun and non-educational tasks.

Schedule some team-building activities into the day. Start early with ice-breaking sessions that help you get to know your attendees, and help them get to know each other. This will make any group sessions later in the day easier for everyone. This will also help to keep everyone engaged throughout the day.

Choose A Fun Venue

If you can avoid getting stuck inside a cramped office all day, you should. The venue you choose for your training sessions will have more of an influence over your training than you might think. Switch things up to a fun space if you can, even if it means hosting your training event in the cafeteria or outside.

Try and make the space more friendly too. School-style setups with desks in a row all facing forward may make a lot of sense on paper, but you can generate a better atmosphere for learning if you rearrange the room a little. Make a semi-circle from your seating, so that you are at the focal point of the room.

Use these top tips to help make your next training session a success. Training staff members and conducting inductions can be a lot of fun, and they should be too. Keep things light, engage your audience, and give them a training experience that they will remember.

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