A recent study showed that 80 percent of people (including employers and employees) believe there is a current skills gap issue. This issue is likely to grow in the coming years as new technologies like ML (Machine Learning) and AI (Artificial Intelligence) keep entering the workplace. Employers are looking for ways to close this skills gap and create the workforce they need for ongoing success.
Employee Training a Viable Solution
One promising solution to the skills gap problem is employee training. Employers are relying on Benjamin Franklin’s wise words, “An investment in knowledge is the best investment.” Rather than risk losing top-performing employees and missing out on top-rated candidates, employers are choosing to equip their workforce with the skills they need through employee training.
Effective employee training has the power to increase productivity, improve workplace safety, and boost customer services. Most importantly, the right employee training can help companies prepare for the future and overcome the skills gap obstacle. It makes sense that more and more companies are making employee training and development a priority.
The ROI of Employee Training
This surge has turned employee training into a multi-billion dollar industry. Many employers are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions of dollars training their workforce. Unfortunately, in many cases, all this training is for nothing. Some reports state that as little as 10 percent of employee trainings are effective. This has left many employers to wonder what the real value of employee training is.
The problem for many employers, however, is not making employee training a priority, it’s choosing the right training for their team. If employers want to obtain the highest return on their investment, they must take the time to assess the training needs of their workforce and develop a training program based on those needs.
How to Use Assessment to Determine Training Needs
Employers have been using pre-hire assessments for years to help make sound hiring decisions. Many of these same employers underestimate the role these assessments can play in determining company-wide training needs. These assessment tests provide data-driven results that can help employers better identify any skills gaps within their own organization.
1. Identify Company Needs
The first step is to determine what specific skills your company wants its employees to have. Evaluate your current job descriptions and candidate personas to identify specific skills needed to be successful at these positions. Also, interview managers and supervisors to identify any additional skills.
2. ASSESS CURRENT SKILLS LEVEL
Once you have defined the skills your company wants, you can perform a complete assessment of the current skill level of your team. Evaluate pre-hire assessment test results of your new hires and consider conducting a new round of assessment on your long-term employees. These assessments can identify skill levels in many areas, such as problem-solving, multi-tasking, technical ability, data accuracy, typing speed, communication ability, and more.
3. Evaluate Skills Gap
Now, it’s time to compare your current skills level assessment with the company’s desired skills level. These results may surprise you and your management team.
It will, however, identify critical skills gaps within your workforce that may be hindering productivity, customer service, and even retention.
4. Determine Training Needs
You can now use the information from your skills gap evaluation to determine which training options can help close this gap. Using employee assessments also can help your business decide if company-wide training for a specific skill is needed, or if selective training for employees who underperformed on the assessment is a better option.
Employee training is an extremely useful tool for helping employers overcome the current skills gap, but only if it’s the right type of training. Employment assessments can provide you with the valuable data your company needs to determine which training options are the best for your company.
