We often hear about what small businesses can learn from large ones. If, however, we should focus on what large companies can learn from the small, we would have to point to the effectiveness of staff training. This is the topic of an interesting article on trainingjournal.com entitled Five things that big companies can learn from SMEs. So what should large companies learn when organising staff training?
1. Do not provide unnecessary training courses
Small companies usually send their staff on courses only when it is really necessary and useful. They do not train without a clear need related to the operation of a team or the company's profit. They do not send whole teams on courses they do not need only to lose considerable sums of money. Do you really think that it is cheaper to train several thousand employees across the company than to find and choose a few hundred for whom a specific type of training makes sense?
2. Promote mentoring
People in small companies learn from one another very well. In a small team knowledge can be shared easily and is also easy to see who has the best results and why. In a team of hundreds, when many members never see one another, it is far more difficult to find those from whom others may learn. Thus it is very important to highlight the best performances and encourage employees to help one another.
3. Plan training schedules
Small businesses have very well managed covering processes for employees who are away on courses. In large teams it is much more difficult. Complex spreadsheets or calendars in which many people are trying to find a suitable time for training and backups are very common. This, however, does not mean there are no simpler solutions. Just start using a specialised software to plan training.
4. Clarify key skills
Line managers in small companies, who also send their staff on courses, have a clear overview of training needs. In large companies communication between staff or their managers and HR is often lacking. Thus it is necessary to focus more on data collection regarding employee skills and their impact on performance.
5. Rationalise the use of your staff training budget
Being allocated a budget and only then deciding what educational activities you will use it for is wrong. Start with the business objectives of the company and prepare your arguments regarding how much money you want and why.
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