How Learning Management Systems Are Changing L&D For Businesses
Many businesses have seen an improvement in their learning and development program since investing a learning management system (LMS) platform.
What Is Learning And Development And Why Is It Important?
The L&D industry has existed for a long time. Yet, still, some business owners and employees aren’t quite sure exactly what it is. Learning and development (L&D) in the workplace refers to the process of empowering employees with skills to improve their performance levels and business growth. L&D is most commonly provided through an employee training program that can be carried out through multiple forms such as eLearning, blended learning and in-person training.
This process should be a top priority for all companies. The reason for this is because L&D is vital for companies to stay competitive. Without a workforce that is continuously trained and provided the knowledge they need to succeed, business growth may be difficult. Retention can wane, and having to continuously hire new talent can be expensive.
By implementing an ongoing learning and development program, your company can save on hiring costs, decrease employee turnover while also improving company reputation and productivity levels. Check out the full list of benefits that you can achieve with L&D in our article, Top Benefits Of Learning And Development Training.
What Is A Learning Management System (LMS)?
Many L&D providers are now providing training opportunities through the use of learning management systems. A learning management system (LMS) is a software tool that allows companies and employee training providers to create, manage and deliver training content, most typically online and eLearning training.
Just like Google’s Gmail allows you to manage your email inbox, an LMS is built to provide companies and their employees with the ability to access a dashboard that contains valuable training content and other learning activities anywhere and at any time. An LMS allows companies to house their training and development content centrally in one software program. It has also been proven to save on traditional employee training costs such as minimizing the costs related to hosting in-person training sessions.
How Does An LMS Improve L&D?
Learning management systems have played a significant role in improving the delivery of learning and development training for businesses, especially due to its cost-effectiveness. Besides that, an LMS also provides the benefit of giving business leaders and HR departments a better understanding and sense as to how beneficial their employee training plans are. Therefore, improving how companies are implementing and designing training for employees.
Tracking Progress & Certifications
One significant way that an LMS has been benefiting L&D training is the fact that it offers features that allow for the tracking of employee progress and it also provides certificates of course completion.
Traditionally, employee training was often held in person over the course of a few sessions. Once these sessions were completed, an employee may have received a document noting participation but there may not have been any way for stakeholders to determine exactly how an employee benefited from the training.
Now, with the help of an LMS, it is possible to track exactly how much progress an employee has made in regards to certain training modules and can give you a better understanding of their knowledge level. For example, some learning management systems offer quizzes as part of employee skill training. This helps an employee to retain the information that they have left and also gives insights into strengths and weaknesses in either their skill set or the training content itself.
Finally, being presented with a certification at the end of training provides more credibility and helps employees to feel that they received value from the training. This certificate acts as an official document proofing their expertise and high skill level in a particular area.
How Training Company Is Bringing The Best Of L&D With Our Award Winning LMS
Here at Training Company, we understand the benefits that companies can experience by investing in an LMS dashboard. That is why we curated one of our own. Through our LMS, many companies have gained access to a wealth of training content modules and learning activities helping them improve their learning and development programs.
Branded Dashboard & White Label LMS
We have created our LMS in a way that allows your company to brand it and white label the system as your own. The aim of creating an LMS was to ensure that a company could invest in a software program that reflected their company through and through. That means only your brand visuals and logos are shown, creating a seamless experience for your employees.
Access To The Right Course Content
With access to our LMS, The Learning Centre, your company can avail of an extensive library of existing or curated content just for your needs. Have your own training material? No problem, you can upload directly on to the platform and let your employees get started on upskilling right away.
The goal of our LMS is to provide your business with access to the right course content at the right time and cost. By maintaining your own employee training platform, you not only save on investments while providing employees with a training plan designed especially for their needs. You also get access to full user analytics and course progress tracking.
Access Learning And Development At The Best Cost
Looking to improve your learning and development training plan with an LMS? Get in contact with the Training Company team today and we can guide you through exactly how our LMS works. Additionally, we act as your outsourced L&D department, meaning that we work alongside you to create the perfect sustainable employee training program for your business.
Reach out to us today to see how your company will benefit from next-level L&D training opportunities.
Building High-Performance Teams
Building high-performing teams is a complex endeavor that involves a combination of leadership, communication, collaboration, and fostering a positive work environment.
Here are 15 effective strategies to help you build and maintain high-performing teams:
#1. Clear Goals and Vision
Ensure that the team has a clear understanding of its goals, objectives, and the overall vision. When team members are aligned with a common purpose, it becomes easier to coordinate efforts and achieve results.
#2. Effective Leadership
Strong leadership is essential for guiding the team, providing direction, making decisions, and fostering a positive team culture. Leaders should lead by example, inspire and motivate team members, and create an environment of trust and respect.
#3. Diverse Skillsets and Roles
Assemble a team with diverse skillsets and roles that complement each other. Having a mix of skills and perspectives can enhance problem-solving, creativity, and innovation.
#4. Open Communication
Foster a culture of open and honest communication. Encourage team members to share their ideas, concerns, and feedback freely. Effective communication helps prevent misunderstandings, reduces conflicts, and promotes collaboration.
#5. Clear Roles and Responsibilities
Clearly define roles and responsibilities for each team member. When everyone understands their role within the team, it minimizes confusion and helps streamline tasks and decision-making.
#6. Collaboration and Teamwork
Promote a collaborative work environment where team members actively share knowledge, work together on projects, and support each other’s efforts. Encourage cross-functional collaboration and discourage silos.
#7. Continuous Learning & Development
Invest in the professional development of team members. Offer opportunities for skill enhancement, training, and learning new technologies or methodologies. This not only benefits individual team members but also contributes to the team’s overall growth.
Training Company is a Canadian provider of full range learning and development services specializing in delivering engaging learning experiences, along with ongoing learning management system services and support.
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#8. Recognition and Rewards
Acknowledge and celebrate the achievements and contributions of team members. Recognition and rewards can boost morale, motivation, and a sense of belonging within the team.
#9. Empowerment and Autonomy
Give team members the autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work. Empowered individuals tend to be more engaged, innovative, and motivated to excel.
#10. Problem-Solving and Decision-Making Processes
Establish clear processes for problem-solving and decision-making within the team. Encourage constructive debates and discussions while ensuring that decisions are made efficiently.
#11. Regular Feedback and Performance Evaluation
Provide regular feedback to team members regarding their performance, strengths, and areas for improvement. Conduct performance evaluations to set goals, track progress, and identify opportunities for growth.
#12. Adaptability and Flexibility
Embrace change and be adaptable to evolving circumstances. High-performing teams are capable of adjusting their strategies and approaches to meet new challenges.
#13. Work-Life Balance
Promote a healthy work-life balance to prevent burnout and maintain team members’ well-being. A rested and balanced team is more likely to perform at its best.
#14. Conflict Resolution
Address conflicts promptly and constructively. Encourage open discussions to resolve disagreements and maintain a positive team dynamic.
#15. Continuous Improvement
Regularly assess team processes, workflows, and outcomes to identify areas for improvement. Strive for continuous learning and growth as a team.
Remember that building and sustaining a high-performing team is an ongoing effort. It requires a combination of strategic planning, effective communication, and a commitment to fostering a positive and productive team culture.
Are you looking for a trusted partner that has the expertise and resources to deliver an impactful Team Building training program for your organization?
Reboarding: Belonging and Reconnecting
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Reboarding and engaging hybrid team members who are not often working in the office can be a challenge. There are several strategies you can implement to encourage communication, foster team collaboration, and ensure remote employees feel connected to their colleagues throughout and after reboarding.
Here are our TOP 10 Reboarding Strategies that will create a belonging and reconnect teams:
#1
Regular Virtual Meetings: Schedule regular team meetings or ‘huddles’ via video conferencing tools to keep everyone connected. These meetings can be daily or weekly, depending on the team’s needs, and provide an opportunity to discuss work progress, share updates, celebrate achievements, and address any concerns as you implement your reboarding plans.
#2
Utilize Collaboration Tools: Make use of collaboration and communication tools, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, or other project management software, to facilitate quick and easy interactions among team members. Encourage the use of channels or chat groups for specific topics or projects to make reboarding successful.
#3
Virtual Team Building Activities: Building social activities into your reboarding strategies is important. Organize virtual team-building activities and social events to promote team bonding and camaraderie. These could include online games, virtual coffee breaks, or even virtual team lunches where everyone eats together while on a video call.
#4
Encourage Informal Communication: Reboarding should emphasize the importance of informal communication, like water cooler chats, that involve both in-office and remote employees. Encourage team members to interact on non-work-related topics through dedicated channels or chat threads.
#5
Buddy System: Pair remote employees with colleagues who are working from the office, creating a “buddy system.” This way, remote employees can stay updated on office happenings and feel more included. Reducing the isolation of remote workers promotes a sense of belonging that is essential to successful reboarding efforts.
#6
Share Achievements and Recognition: Acknowledge and celebrate team members’ achievements and milestones publicly as you implement reboarding plans. Use communication channels to recognize their efforts, making sure remote employees receive the same recognition as their in-office counterparts.
#7
Cross-Functional Projects: Reboarding strategies should encourage cross-functional collaboration on projects to promote teamwork and build relationships across different teams or departments. Implemented well, cross-functional collaboration can create greater camaraderie, a more enjoyable work environment, and synergy.
#8
One-on-One Check-ins: Managers should schedule regular one-on-one check-ins with remote employees to discuss progress, address concerns, and provide support during the reboarding process. This helps build a strong manager-employee relationship.
#9
Promote Flexibility: To be successful, reboarding should provide flexible work hours for both in-office and remote employees to accommodate different schedules and time zones. This shows that you value work-life balance and trust your employees to manage their time effectively.
#10
Feedback and Surveys: Regularly seek feedback from all team members, including remote employees, on their experience with team engagement. Use this feedback to make continuous improvements in your reboarding strategies.
Remember, creating an inclusive and engaging team environment for both in-office and remote employees requires intentional effort and ongoing communication to ensure reboarding efforts are successful. By implementing these strategies, you can help remote employees feel more connected and valued as integral members of the team.
Top Benefits Of L&D Training
In today’s rapidly evolving world, organizations must adapt and equip their workforce with the knowledge and skills needed to stay competitive. Learning and Development (L&D) training has emerged as a vital component in nurturing employee potential and driving organizational success. Whether it’s through workshops, webinars, online courses, or mentorship programs, L&D training empowers individuals to acquire new abilities, enhances their job performance, and fosters a culture of continuous learning.
Why Learning & Development Matters To Businesses
Learning and development will always be important. Without it, company growth becomes stagnant and keeping up with competition becomes a lot harder.
Are you currently assessing how your employees’ skills match up to what is needed for your business to succeed? If so, then you may be realizing the importance of keeping your staff continuously upskilled.
As we all know, changes and advancements happen every day in various industries. The skills that were needed when you began your career will not be the same as they are today. That’s why providing employees with continuous training opportunities matters in business.
As the goals for your business grow and change, so should your employee training plan.
Top Benefits You Will Receive From Learning & Development Training
Businesses that invest regularly in the learning and development training opportunities provided to employees reap many benefits.
Not only has continuous learning been proven to increase employee engagement and productivity, but, it has also been linked to an increase in innovation and a decrease in staff turnover.
Below, we list the top 6 benefits all companies will receive when they invest in learning and development (L&D) training.
#1 – Consistency
Robust and continuous employee training ensures that employees are consistent in their knowledge and skillset level. When each employee is given the opportunity to upskill and improve their understanding of certain topics, especially company policies, it means that there is an increased chance that employee output will be more efficient and performance levels will be continuously consistent.
#2 – Increased Productivity & Efficiency
When employees are allowed to either improve on existing skills or build new ones this will inevitably lead to increased productivity levels and efficiency across the board. Offering continuous learning and development courses ensures that employees are always in the position to work to the best of their ability and provides staff with higher competency levels when it comes to procedures and safety practices for daily tasks.
#3 – Reduced Employee Turnover
Employees that are engaged are more loyal to their companies. Many professionals in today’s modern workforce look to work for companies that actively invest in their employees. By investing in L&D training programs, your employees will feel more valued and will then feel less inclined to seek career opportunities elsewhere. This leads to a decrease in employee turnover, a decrease in recruitment costs and improved employee retention.
#4 – Improved Innovation
L&D training has been found to encourage creativity among employees. When continuous learning is made a priority in the workplace it means that an employee’s thinking process is always evolving. They are given the skills and tools they need to create effective strategies and innovative ideas. This will boost employee and company performance.
#5 – Recognizes & Addresses Company Weaknesses
All employees have weaknesses in certain areas in the workplace. Learning and development training aims to help companies recognize and address skillset weaknesses. When you implement a staff development training plan, all employees will be trained to a higher level giving them the same skills and knowledge.
By improving knowledge levels overall, weak links in the company will be reduced.
#6 – Enhances Company Reputation
L&D training enhances your company’s reputation. Having a successful employee training plan in place will make your company more attractive to high quality talent and it develops your brand as one that invests in the development, growth, and progression of its employees.
Let Training Company Be Your Outsourced L&D Department
L&D is no longer reserved for massive corporations with massive budgets.
In fact, your company could be eligible for a Canadian grant to fund employee training of up to $10,000 per employee.
At Training Company, we work closely with small to medium-sized businesses as your outsourced and dedicated L&D department. We believe that all employees deserve access to professional development and training opportunities.
Through our fully customizable and curated Learning Management System, your employees can access a database of training content that is customized to your company’s needs. These courses can be offered fully online as eLearning courses or as a mixture of in-person and online training. We facilitate everything.
All you need to do is discuss your training needs with us and we’ll do the rest.
How To Manage Conflict Resolution When Working Remotely
Whether your employees are working remotely or onsite or something more hybrid, it is important to consider your organizations workplace culture.
Why Is Workplace Culture Important Even When Remote?
Workplace culture has always been an integral part of an organization, but it is an increasing challenge when working remotely.
Having a great culture in your company isn’t about zoning in on individual achievements. Rather, it’s about how the team works together as a cohesive unit.
While many leaders may believe that being in the same physical space is necessary for workplace culture to be fostered, this is not the case. It’s just done differently, when working remotely.
So, why is it important that you are encouraging a workplace culture for your remote team?
No matter where your employees are located, an effective team culture provides your employees with:
- Open communication and trust which keeps the team cohesive
- An understanding as to how their individual work fits into the overall big picture of the company’s objectives
- An environment where employees can voice their opinions and ideas without judgement
- A shared sense of values that are important for the team and the company
Employees may have settled into a new work routine at home, or maybe a hybrid working environment. It’s important to keep consistency of the workspace, whether employees are working at home or at the office. The hybrid and remote environments can blur the lines between workspace and home life, and can cause unprecedented stress.
It is your job as a leader to ensure that workplace culture stays cohesive whether you are in the office or working remotely.
How Can Remote Working Emphasize Conflict and Communication Issues?
Effective and open communication is absolutely crucial when employees are working remotely. Without it, everything falls apart. Working in a remote environment limits interactions with colleagues. Employees are no longer able to walk to a colleagues office and quickly ask a question or follow-up on a task of a project. Employees have had to adjust significantly from the in-person, face to face interactions, resulting in a high chance that communication will suffer.
Remote work can blur the boundaries between home life and work life.
For example some employees now have to juggle family life as they work. This can lead to further stress and tensions at home. If tensions are high at home, this can lead to inappropriate workplace behaviour like snapping at colleagues. And as we all know, inappropriate workplace behaviour can lead to further tensions and breakdowns in communication.
Other communication challenges such as miscommunication can also become more evident when working remotely. With a lack of face-to-face communication, many individuals aren’t able to pick up on the non-verbal cues that are needed to get a message across to a coworker. After all, communication via email or other messaging channels such as Slack can be easily misinterpreted.
How Do You Manage Conflict Resolution Remotely?
When it comes to conflict resolution it is important that the employer works quickly and effectively to understand why this conflict is taking place and put measures in place to improve the team dynamic.
Avoiding Communication Issues
It is your responsibility to ensure that communications with all employees are transparent and inclusive.
When team members are dispersed across different locations, it can be easy for one person to fall out of the loop. Avoid this by having company-wide communication channels or group chats. That means all employees will be kept up to date with company announcements and it reduces the chance of miscommunication occurring.
Task & Project Management Systems
If tasks aren’t completed on time, this can also be a source of conflict and tension for employees. Avoid this by clearly defining the expectations, objectives and deadlines for tasks and delegate these fairly among employees. Using a clear task assignment system such as tools like Monday.com or Asana can help to create accountability and gives transparency to the responsibilities of each team member meaning everyone is on the same page.
Open Lines of Communication for HR issues
Additionally, all managers should be providing employees with a group chat or open forum which is dedicated to hearing concerns in order to address issues in a constructive and transparent way. When it comes to conflict management, there are always ways that you can mitigate and resolve conflict easily in your organization.
How Do You Improve Communication Remotely?
If you feel that workplace communication has deteriorated since your company has begun working from home, there are a number of steps that you can take as a business leader to get communications back on track.
Remember, effective communication is vital for strong team culture.
Try some of our tried and tested tips for ensuring that your team’s communication skills continue to excel even when working from home:
- Establish how information is to be shared online e.g. email, group chat or collaborative team software programs
- Set up regular touchpoints each day such as a morning coffee chat or digital lunch breaks to connect with other team members or just to catch up socially
- Clarify the responsibilities that each team member has while working from home and what it means to be a good digital team member
The art of communication is one that all leaders need to cultivate especially in times like these when skills like active listening can make a huge improvement to employee communication levels.
Training Company: How We Can Provide Long-Term Solutions
Managing employees as they are working remotely can be a challenge especially if this is something that you’ve never experienced. However, with the right leadership and communication skills, you will be effective at ensuring your workplace culture is kept intact and cohesive even when employees aren’t in the office together.
With our Insights Discovery programs and Conflict Management trainings we can help your team learn to effectively communicate. Training Company helps employees understand their communication preferences and styles. We teach you the skills to recognize another person’s communication in order for you to respond in the most appropriate and effective way. We also help you understand how to not take conflict personally and address the miscommunication proactively.
Here at the Training Company, we can help your business to understand the skills that are needed for keeping communication effective and the stress management techniques to keep employees happy and productive. Our extensive list of courses is accessible through our Learning Management System and can be facilitated online or in-person.
Interested in hearing about how Training Company can help you put long-term communication solutions in place in your company?
Practicing Active Listening Can Improve Employee Communication and ROI
Active Listening: Is It The Key To Strong Workplace Relationships?
Listening may seem simple but in fact, it is a powerful communication tool that many don’t use correctly in the workplace. Knowing how to listen effectively when communicating with your employees and co-workers can enrich workplace relationships, improve productivity, and even boost employee morale.
Don’t believe us? Keep reading and you’ll learn why you should.
Listening skills are becoming increasingly important in companies, especially when it comes to conflict and crisis management. Over years of facilitating trainings, Training Company has met with many businesses that weren’t leveraging this skill to their advantage.
When many of our daily interactions with others in the workplace involve us having to be 100% confident in interpreting communications, developing great listening skills will inevitably help to build long-lasting and strong relationships both internally with colleagues and externally with clients and customers.
What Is This Form Of Communication Technique?
Have you ever heard someone mention how many people listen with the intention of responding instead of listening to understand? Every day in the workplace, you may be approached by a fellow co-worker or an employee with a problem. While you might give them your best answer and assume you helped, this isn’t guaranteed unless you were truly listening to what they had to say.
Active listening is the practice of giving your complete, undivided attention to what someone says, rather than what their words literally mean. Oftentimes, we don’t fully listen to hear a message as it was intended to be received. In fact, the average person only listens with 25% efficiency.
When we communicate, there are many verbal and nonverbal cues that we use to get our message across. The same should happen when we listen. In order to actively listen with intentional focus, we need to show both verbal and nonverbal signs of listening. These signs can include:
Verbal
- Using positive reinforcement
- Asking questions to open conversation further
- Reflecting on what has been said
- Clarifying what the speaker is saying
Non-verbal
- Maintaining eye contact
- Smiling
- Avoiding distraction such as fidgeting
- Having good posture
- Mirroring the speaker’s intentions with your facial expressions
Listening is the most fundamental component of interpersonal communication skills. And for this reason, it is essential that all members of a company – leaders and employees alike – develop this skill with practice.
What Benefits Will My Company Receive By Improving Listening Skills?
There are many clear benefits that you can receive by practising active listening in your workplace.
Firstly, it acts as a key component in workplace productivity and performance across many different levels. For example, those workers who feel like they’ve been truly listened to by their manager are known for displaying higher levels of enthusiasm and confidence. Those who don’t feel listened to are more likely to look for other opportunities.
Listening with the intention to understand also reduces the chances of misunderstandings occurring. This goes both ways. When an employee engages focused listening, they can ensure they have understood your requested task and then complete it more effectively. When a leader engages it, they can build trust among employees and improves overall workplace communication.
Inevitably, these skills will also benefit your customers and clients. When messages are communicated effectively in the office, this results in higher levels of productivity, performance, customer satisfaction and return on investment.
How You Can Improve Your Company’s Active Listening Skills
Putting measures in place to make sure that messages are being sent and received exactly how they should need to top of all leader’s priority lists. When it comes to listening with an intentional focus, it is vital to remember that you need to pay attention, use the right body language, seek to understand, not interrupt and respond appropriately.
Active listening skills aren’t inherent communication skills but they certainly can be learned and developed. Looking to improve employee communication in your business? Why not consider investing in one of our Professional Development course packages. We also offer customizable and sustainable training plans for small to medium-sized businesses. Get in touch with us today and upskill your team.
How The Insights® Discovery Tool Can Help Improve Workplace Communication
Communication in the workplace is a necessity on a daily basis. How can you make sure that it’s effective? Tools such as Insights® Discovery improves an individual’s understanding of themselves and how they communicate with others.
Communication in the workplace is one of the major concerns that most business owners come up against. When communication levels are deteriorating, it can have drastic effects on the growth of your business and employees.
However, there are training tools that leaders can leverage to make sure that the communication skills of their employees and themselves are effective for communicating externally with customers and most importantly, internally with fellow coworkers.
Below, we walk you through the importance of communication skills in the workplace and how the Insights® Discovery tool can help you reach your goals.
Communications Going From Bad To Worse? Why This Needs To Stop
We’ve all experienced bad communication in the work environment. Whether it was coming out of a meeting and not knowing what should be done next. Or, an employee misunderstanding the task that you gave them.
Effective communication is a nuanced skill and isn’t always inherently learned. In fact, it is one of the top professional skills that leaders, managers and employees alike need to cultivate on a daily basis. Communicating with others is more than just conveying a message through words. The dynamics of communication involve listening skills and knowledge of verbal and non-verbal styles.
The trouble is that nowadays the preferred medium of communication in the workplace is email or platforms like Slack. As we know, written forms of communication can so easily get misinterpreted. As more and more companies are now working remotely, it is imperative that business owners provide opportunities for their employees to improve their professional communication skills.
If you believe that the levels of communication in your organization are becoming worse or have lost the aspect of human connection, this needs to stop. Without immediate intervention, you are putting your business at risk of losing great talent and ultimately, harming your business’ bottom line.
The Importance Of Getting Communication Right In The Workplace
Workplace communication is important for a company’s growth and success. Without it, employees can become lost and begin working in silos without a clear direction. Projects won’t get completed on time and even worse, employees will become frustrated and disengaged due to lack of communication from management.
According to statistics, 57% of employees report not being given clear directions in the work environment. While 69% of managers report not being comfortable communicating with employees in general.
When you get communication right in the workplace, your company will notice a number of benefits including:
- Improved innovation: An organization that displays great communication skills is more likely to be innovative. The reason for this is when employees feel that they can openly share their ideas without judgement or ridicule, there are more opportunities for companies to improve their services and internal procedures.
- Supported growth: Company growth is dependent on effective communication. When practiced correctly, it allows employees to ensure that tasks are completed on time and improves customer service.
- Increased employee engagement: Your internal communications have a great impact on how employees feel about your company. Employees’ thoughts and suggestions matter. So, focusing on internal communications and listening can help make your staff feel more valued.
- Eliminates email overload: Email is often used for everything including information requests and task assignments. Businesses that use other means and modern tools for employee communication avoid the issue of email and information overload.
- Creates a positive workplace culture: Companies that communicate in an open and transparent way have a much healthier workplace atmosphere which increases employee motivation and satisfaction.
What Is Insights® Discovery And How Can It Help?
Insights® Discovery is a tool that can help your company get its internal communication flow back on track and perform better than ever.
Insights® Discovery is a psychometric tool that was developed from the learnings and psychology of Carl Jung. As a workplace tool, it has stood out among the rest for its effectiveness in improving how we communicate with one another.
It does this by assessing each individual’s personalities and how that affects their verbal and communication styles.
Employees will be asked a number of questions that cover their preferences and behaviours in both their workplace and personal environments. Based on their answers, the tool then creates a colour model that visually maps out an individual’s personality type. This visual colour map informs an employee how their personality impacts their management style, communication abilities and the value they bring to an organization.
Every person has their own way of communicating, and each person has an individual way that they want to be communicated with. By acknowledging this and being more mindful of the ways in which you communicate messages to others, your company can make a huge improvement when it comes to workplace communication.
It is important to recognize that it’s not just employees who benefit from this tool but also leaders. All individuals in a business, whether the CEO or an intern, can gain valuable insights from understanding how their own personality type affects many everyday interactions in the work environment. Knowing this information then equips you with the skills you need to adapt to various communication styles.
Utilizing Training Plans To Improve Workplace Communication Skills
Many professional training courses that are centered around improving leadership skills and workplace communication now use the Insights® Discovery tool to help participants get a better understanding of who they are as a person and how to communicate effectively with others.
As communication is the cornerstone of an engaged and effective workplace, adopting assessment tools such as Insights® Discovery as part of your annual employee training plan will go a long way in helping all aspects of your business. If you want to improve how you and your employees connect with each other and move towards a more engaged workforce, get in touch with us today and we’ll help you devise an employee training plan to suit your needs.
Benefits of Learning Communication Styles
Communication is essential inside and outside the workplace.
What are the different styles of communicating that individuals use? What exactly are the nuances involved in this professional skill? Below, we discuss the basics of communication and the communication styles that all businesses need to be aware of.
What Are The Basics Of Communication?
Everything that happens in the world, whether good or bad, is a direct result of communication.
When it comes to communicating effectively with another person in both the workplace and in our personal lives, we first need to truly understand what this process involves.
The process of communicating is made up of a series of events. When these events are managed and delivered well, it leads to a situation where effective communication can be achieved. In order to practice this process effectively, you need to first learn what the basics of communication are.
Communicating with others involves four components. These are:
- The Sender
- The Receiver
- The Message
- Feedback
The person initiating the conversation (i.e. the sender) must say or do something that represents what is in their mind. The receiver then must interpret what was said or done and seek to understand what is being communicated to them. The result of this becomes the message. Oftentimes, the meaning of the message as given by the receiver is not the same as the meaning that was intended by the sender. That is why feedback is vital. When meaningful feedback and conversation occurs, that is when the sender can ensure that the message they wanted to get across was truly understood. It is only when these four components are carried out and practiced together that communication can be considered a success.
The Different Communication Styles
Many people don’t realize that there are multiple different communication styles that can be used when providing information or sharing knowledge in the workplace. Below, we outline three of the main styles of communication that businesses leverage.
Interpersonal
Verbal or interpersonal communication is the method of speaking with another person that we are most familiar with, face-to-face. This communication style does not just focus on what is being said but also how it is said.
While words play a large role in transmitting messages in this style of communication, there are also non-verbal cues at play here such as tone of voice, body language, facial expressions and gestures. All of these cues must be paid attention to along with the words being spoken.
Non-Verbal
What we don’t say is often as important as what we do.
Essentially, we are talking about the non-verbal cues such as body language that we give as part of communication. Non-verbal methods of communicating allow us to interpret additional information and meaning over what is being spoken.
For example:
- Facial expressions can tell you what kind of emotional state an individual is in.
- A nod of the head can signify that someone understands what you are saying.
- Mirroring other people’s posture can be a sign of rapport building.
- The tone and speed of speaking can indicate whether someone is nervous or relaxed.
Written
Businesses rely heavily on written forms of communication when sharing ideas, knowledge and information. Communicating with others via email is commonplace among employers, employees and customers. This communication style enables the sender to develop an organized and well-crafted, considered message.
Written styles of communication can have some drawbacks. This can happen because written communication doesn’t allow the receiver to see the non-verbal cues of the sender. As a result, it can be more impersonal and does not allow for immediate feedback.
Emails and written messages can be easily misunderstood and misinterpreted. If you do not display the correct skills needed to effectively communicate a message via this style.
Why Improving Your Different Communication Styles Is Essential For All Companies
Developing effective communication skills and understanding the different styles of communication that individuals use will always be of benefit for companies. Understanding communication is a cornerstone of corporate conflict resolution.
Effective communication is the cornerstone of a successful business that is why leaders must invest in the training needed to know how to efficiently communicate internally and externally. Taking the time to truly understand how people send and receive messages will not only improve interpersonal relationships but can also increase employee engagement and satisfaction.
Here at Training Company, we recognize that many everyday activities require great communication skills in order to be carried out successfully. Many of the professional training courses that we offer on our learning management system give your business the opportunity to improve upon these skills so that communication can become more effortless and fluid.
Interested in improving your employee’s communication skills? Reach out to us today and we’ll help you create a training plan that is right for both your business goals and your employees.
L&D And Employee Compensation: Should These Both Be Linked?
More employees each year consider learning and development training opportunities as being more of a priority than other forms of compensation such as higher salaries and extended vacation leave. So, should companies be making employee training part of the compensation packages that they offer existing and potential employees?
Should L&D Be Linked To Employee Compensation?
Today’s modern workforce look for two core aspects when they are considering a new job opportunity. These are a great company culture and employee training opportunities. While the traditional employee compensation package often just included a fixed salary level, performance-related bonuses, health benefits and vacation leave this isn’t always enough anymore.
As you know, a company’s employee compensation plan should always be strategic. It should provide affordability for the business and incentivize the employee increasing retention rates. And what is the best way to retain employees? Encouraging upskilling.
An employee will always feel more motivated and engaged by a company that openly supports their progression, both professionally and personally. So, by including learning and development (L&D) as part of employee compensation, you are telling future employees that their development and growth are highly valued.
What Are The Pros Of Providing Training To Employees?
When an L&D training plan is successfully implemented in a business, it has multiple benefits that can be seen and experienced by both employers and employees alike.
The value and benefits of employee training act as a kind of domino effect. Leaders feel more confident and can engage their employees better, improving performance levels. While happy and skilled employees boost employee morale, retention levels and job satisfaction.
By making training and development an essential part of employee compensation and constantly adapting to ever-evolving L&D trends, your company will be able to continuously stand out from the crowd and compete in a complex and diverse economy.
L&D And Employee Compensation: What Are The Possible Cons?
If you do decide to include training and development as part of the compensation for new and existing employees, then you need to be dedicated to doing it correctly. Otherwise, you may experience pitfalls.
When an employee training plan is put in place which isn’t effective or doesn’t address the skills that your employees need to improve, you will notice quickly. Learning and development training is an investment for your business and your staff. So, an employee training plan must be designed with careful consideration.
If L&D is not set up correctly, or in fact, not measured properly then it will soon become apparent that your employees aren’t getting the full benefits that they could be. Productivity levels will stay the same and in some cases, turnover rates will increase.
Is Training Bringing Measurable Change To The Employee And Business?
The main question you should always ask when incorporating L&D as part of employee compensation is whether your chosen training plan is bringing measurable change to your business and your employees.
Remember, employee training is never a one-time benefit. For you, as a company leader, to see measurable change then you need to make sure that an L&D training plan provides continuous learning opportunities for your employees. Tracking the development of your employees is also a necessity to ensure that they are receiving the full benefits of training programs and that they can apply their new skills in the workplace.
Training Company continues to work alongside companies to help them effectively create a plan to implement incentive-based learning and development as part of the benefits they offer their staff. We act as your company’s outsourced L&D partner, working with you to design an employee training program that will continuously provide benefits as your business and employees grow.
Our Learning Management System offers employees access to a vault of training material and also features skills testing and learner performance reports so that you can easily see your employees grow. When offered as a built-in benefit as part of employee compensation, we guarantee that you won’t regret it.
Effective Feedback Is A Vital Leadership Skill
Providing effective feedback is not a natural skill but one that has to be learned. Read why it is a necessary communication skill for all leaders and employees to learn.
Communicating in a professional environment? Everyone knows how to do that, right? The answer might not be what you expect to hear. While in an ideal world it would be great if everyone was handed the same ‘How To Communicate In The Work Environment’ manual – this doesn’t happen and some people never learn the right way to communicate with their colleagues.
Providing effective feedback is one such communication skill and surprisingly, it is leaders that often fail in this category the most. And it is for this reason exactly that companies should be paying more attention to the leadership communication skills they need to develop.
Why Effective Feedback Is Often An Ignored Professional Skill
While you may be providing feedback to your colleagues, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is entirely effective. In a considerable amount of professional environments, managers often assume that to be a successful leader you have to give people tough, difficult feedback. In some cases, this will be necessary but there is so much more to this communication skill than many realize.
When it comes to a business assessing the training needs of their employees, the skill of giving feedback is often overlooked as most would understand it to be a skill that we have naturally. Yet, effective feedback takes form in more ways than one. And it is certainly meant to be used more than once a year at the annual end of year performance review.
Similarly to developing public speaking or presentation skills, mastering the art of providing valuable feedback is a leadership skill that everyone can improve upon.
Top Tips For Using Effective Feedback Skills As Part Of Your Work Environment
To give effective feedback in the workplace, whether as a manager to one of your employees or to a fellow team member, it is important to keep a number of things in mind. The aim of feedback is to help the ongoing development of others, clarify expectations and build confidence. So, mastering it can mean better communication on the whole.
1) Check Your Intentions – Before you give feedback to another person, remember why you are giving it. This can help you make sure that your approach is positive and focused on how the other person can improve their performance. Regardless of whether the feedback is positive or negative in nature, it should always be fair and balanced.
2) Be Timely – Time really is of the essence. The quicker that you provide feedback, the better. If you notice that your colleague made a mistake in one of their recent presentations, make sure that you provide your recommendations closer to the event happening. If the situation is highly sensitive and emotional, give some time until things calm down but don’t leave it until the end of the year.
3) Be Regular – Make it consistent. If you are going to be giving feedback, consistency is key. Informal and simple feedback should be given on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. If the situation requires, daily feedback should also be shared.
4) Be Specific – Don’t mince your words. Tell your employee or coworker exactly what they need to work on and stick to the facts. This leaves no ambiguity and means that the other person knows exactly what it is that they should focus on improving.
5) Focus On Positives – Not all feedback has to be negative. In fact, it is always good to speak to the person’s positive behaviours as well. Mention one thing that you admire about their work and then follow up with a suggestion on an aspect they could improve.
A sign of a true leader is someone who is able to bring out the best in those around them. If you are in a managerial position, you need to be able to support and effectively communicate with your team. And the first step to doing that is learning how to provide valuable feedback.
How Your Company Can Benefit From Professional Development Skills Training
Investing in professional skill training is essential for all businesses to factor into their yearly employee training plan. Especially when it comes to how your employees communicate with each other. Not only will it ensure that your leaders are equipped with the skills they need to carry out their jobs effectively, it also means that your company is giving its employees the tools they need to grow professionally.
Interesting in hearing about more leadership skills that can help your business grow? Get in touch with us at the Training Company today and we can talk you through our catalogue of professional development courses.