Training Principles to Produce Competent Employees

If you registered for the ISSA 2020 Virtual Show, you might have been a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of talks and presentations. I know I was. I didn’t know where to start. This article is intended to act as a taste of the actual presentation. Taking an hour out of your day to watch a video might not sound like a good use of your time as a business owner. So, by the time you read this, you might decide for yourself if you want the full experience. If you weren’t sure if you wanted to attend the virtual show itself, then this article will serve as a way for you to definitively decide. Many of the presentations and products on display will be available until March 31st, 2021.

Mathra Woodward, owner of Quality Driven Software gave her talk on the 6 ways to produce competent employees. For Martha, it is imperative to have competent employees as she runs a business that is over 100 miles from her home. Being an absentee owner means she’ll need the best employees possible. This is how she does it. 

First of all, she says you need to be welcoming. Seems obvious, but you can severely hurt your turnover rates. Before, Martha had such a bad turnover rate that she didn’t even know the name of an employee who had been working there a few weeks. She realized that she wasn’t making her employees feel welcomed in their work environment. Martha says you need to do onboarding like you do with customers. Give them the best you have upfront, don’t let them see the disorganization that may happen such as sudden rescheduling. First impressions are essential to how your employees see your company. 

The second way is a question that asks “are you a match for each other”? Essentially, if an employee’s values do not match up with the company, they will eventually end up leaving. In her talk, Martha shares several first-hand stories that back her points up, and how she deals with hiring employees based on three aspects. They are “do core values match”, “are there attitude issues”, “Is this job a good fit for the employee”?

The next point is “Do you have a consistent/reliable plan”? Essentially is your training and the way you handle employees consistent? Does the training make sense? Martha goes into detail as to how you can make these plans work. 

The fourth step is titled “More than just procedures”. Martha says other than just teaching them how to do the job and that they know the policies of your company, you have to make sure it is a good job fit, attitude fit, and that they are self-directed, self-motivated employees. 

Training principle number five is “competency-based vs. time-based”. This means there is no magic time frame, where it’s a rapid-fire session where it was only a matter of chance if they became competent or not. Martha says if there are problems after training, you should reverse engineer your training program to solve those problems. 

The final point is “expect more, get more”. Martha says, when you lower the bar, the results will be lower. If the standards are higher, people will rise to the occasion and will push the ceiling higher. Eventually, the end goal will provide great employees who want to do their very best. 

If you want to watch the video and get the full breadth of knowledge, click the link below!