Imagine that you’ve just finished speaking with your doctor. The doctor tells you that your health is critical and that you will need a triple bypass. Now you could go to your local hospital and have their best surgeon take care of you, or you could have your next door neighbor Dave the Mechanic perform the operation. Your friend swears by him and he has watched a LOT of Grey’s Anatomy. What if he offered to do it for free? Would you still decline?
This decision should be clear. It’s obvious that you would rather go with the surgeon, who has spent years learning everything there is to know about medicine and will do the best job possible. Training makes a world of difference and yet many business owners still do not recognize the importance of doing employee training.
There are many reasons businesses choose not to seek training. It can be costly or maybe they don’t have the time for it. Most companies seek out highly-skilled, qualified employees. But sometimes employees can become under-qualified to new or changing technology, or the implementation of new methods and processes. While training can sometimes be costly, not training your employees can end up costing more in the long-run.
1. Lost Time Due to Mistakes will Cost You
Mistakes are a part of everyday life. People make mistakes and it is from these mistakes that they learn to grow. When an untrained employee does not grow from this mistake and continues to repeat it, the end result can be more than just a nuisance. Time and materials are lost due to these mistakes and the work has to be done over. These mistakes don’t only affect the person making them, but everyone around them.
2. Untrained Employees are Not Effective
We have all been on the receiving end of a service, whether it was waiting for your food to be made, or vehicle to be fixed. Now put yourself in a position where you are the customer your company is providing a service for. No one is happy to be on the other end of a phone on hold or having a inattentive waiter. Untrained employees are simply not effective. More time and money is spent when employees are not properly trained and are attempting to do a service they are not comfortable fulfilling.
3. Poorly Trained Employees result in Lost Customers
Have you ever seen an impatient customer walk out due to unsatisfactory service? What if I told you that it could happen to you? This occurs more often than you think, as consumers are becoming more acquainted with quicker and more effective services. It all comes down to how effective your employees are with handling customer orders and issues. Untrained employees equal unhappy customers.
4. Untrained Employees Start to Feel Inadequate
We live in a time where technology and innovation continues to flourish. Whether we like it or not, the times are changing and the way we do business is no different. Keeping up with new technology is important from not only the consumer base but from the company as well. Employees that are not properly trained on the technology they use can feel overwhelmed, overlooked, or inadequate. This can result in under-performance, mistakes, and apathy for their work. In the long-run this will cost the business lost time and money.
5. A Simple Project Becomes Difficult and Expensive
When employees lack the proper training something simple can become much more complicated than previously thought. All of the previous notes mentioned earlier come into play when creating and fulfilling a service. Time, energy, and materials wasted on a project are costly and unmerited when considering it all could have been avoided if it were performed by someone more skilled and effective.
Having trained employees means that you are getting the most out of your technology and services. No customer has ever complained because the person they talked to was trained too much or too skilled for the service they were providing. With the proper training, your employees will be able to develop new skills, provide better customer service, reduce mistakes, have self-confidence, and improve the overall work environment. The best way to invest in your company is to invest in your employees.
