Technology training is often one of the last priorities for the management of employees. On the surface, it disrupts workflow, decreases output and temporarily applies talent towards internal performance. However, technological failure costs the U.S. billions and the worldwide cost is trillions in lost productivity. Much of it could be prevented with simple routine maintenance and best practices. Here’s a list of four reasons why you should invest in training for your employees.
Reduce IT Support Costs
IT expertise is a great resource but how many of your routine support tickets could be solved once and for all with a short training video? Consider talking with your IT department to find the most common issues and have a short video created to walk employees through a process or a fix.
The time saved from redundant IT support requests can be better spent on maintenance, repair and improvement of existing resources. This will help you get the most out of your IT team.
Focus On The Objective, Not the Task
It’s no secret that multitasking has been shown to decrease overall productivity and focus. Also, regular technological hiccups throughout the day contribute to distraction and lost output. Training can reduce the occurrence of these distractions and avoid the mental “lag” from task switching.
Increased focus and reduced frustration will help employees be more productive in a shorter amount of time. Furthermore, having one specific way of achieving each task makes communication and collaboration easier within the office.
Invest In Your Staff
Technology training is an investment in your staff and a vote of confidence in their ability. When you train employees to develop their skills, you increase the likelihood of retention, the productivity of their labor and their overall value to your company.
Whether they are an intern, co-op students or full-time employees, training will serve them in the future. By investing in their human capital, you increase their output and overall contribution to your company, including society as a whole.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
Business is competitive and every advantage is important. Staying on top of new technology and keeping up with industry changes is important. Regular training will reveal skill gaps and highlight areas of improvement.
An incentive to learn and progress can help with job satisfaction. Highly invested employees may be searching for training to improve their performance to remain or become more valuable in the workplace. Microsoft currently powers about 80% of businesses around the world and there’s no better place to start.
Useful Tips for Training
Training shouldn’t be disruptive and when done efficiently the net benefit is extremely positive. To ensure continuity in service, you can break training into bite-sized chunks and stagger the training to avoid complete loss of productivity from any department.
One added benefit of this approach is the feedback received from the training as the earliest adopters complete it. The training should be easy, step-by-step and accessible for employees with disabilities or from diverse backgrounds.
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