4 Reasons Why Continuous Communication Skills Training Is Necessary

While it’s clear that one-off training can have impressive results we recommend a long-term approach for the following reasons:

1. Most training courses offer a motivational buzz and some general skills development. We recommend a process-driven approach where people can learn the bigger picture and are more able to slot new skills into a larger framework. This reduces the natural reactiveness that comes with people going back to the same old practices in the same old ways.
2. The longer you work with a training company, the more customised your training will become. While it’s a good idea to select a company that knows your industry, it still takes time and practice for a training company to know your business well enough to really provide you with the customised approach that suits you best.
3. After a one-time general course, it’s a good idea to split up your team up by experience and by the skills they need to learn. As training goes on, the more likely your team should be split into streams that enable them to work on their strengths and address the gaps they have, instead of trying to provide a one-size fits all curriculum.
4. Lastly, ongoing training allows for a progression of skills development from introductory, to intermediate, to professional levels. Coupled with ongoing coaching, this approach avoids teaching people what they already know, or what they don’t really need. Instead, if focusses on higher and higher levels of development to enable focused improvement while taking certain levels of knowledge and application as a given.

Long-term training can help to reduce the rate of staff turnover, increase productivity, improve efficiency, and reduce need for supervision. Training your staff is always a good investment, whether it is sales training or some other kind of professional development.

Staff who have the opportunity to receive interpersonal skills training on a regular basis and improve their methods at work will feel more valued and a greater sense of loyalty to the company they work for. Some managers are reluctant to train the staff in fear that when they become more qualified they will seek out a higher level position in another company but in fact this is rarely the case if there is the opportunity for career progression within their current role.

Regularly investing in your staff shows that you value them as members of your team as well as refreshing skills and techniques, providing an opportunity for raising questions and concerns, and allowing for more advanced and customised training.