While employees working remotely may seem like a fleeting trend, positive results like happier staff reduced turnover and increased productivity have cemented flexible work schedules into the DNA of most company cultures. The workplace is evolving and the traditional 9 to 5 work schedules are beginning to slip away causing companies to adopt new approaches to hiring and training.
With the pandemic sweeping over the nation, more and more employees are starting to work from home. However, to attain the desired level of productivity and efficiency, your remote workforce needs to keep up with training. Training is critical to staff and company growth, even when the teams are geographically dispersed. Many of the same teachings used to create training programs for in-office employees apply to remote workers too, but offsite training tends to come with a more methodical approach. Here are 4 ways to train remote employees.
Make Sure Remote Employees do Their Homework
One of the best perks of working remotely is a flexible schedule. From the employer's point-of-view, the flexibility angle makes it all the more crucial to hire employees who are highly self-motivated people. Assigning your remote workforce training homework such as e-learning modules and digital books to do at their own pace and then follow up with evaluations makes the most of the remote employees time and helps the employer know the info is being reviewed.
Use Screen Capture Tools to Conduct Software Training
If you have ever had to learn the ropes of a new software then you know firsthand that it can sometimes come with a headache or two. Learning to use new applications like CRM software is typically a hands-on task that can take a little bit of time to fully understand. If you are not able to sit down next to a new hire and go over software training, consider investing in technology that allows you to create a video of the screen and talk through what you are doing. By doing this, you will mitigate confusion so employees can watch the steps unfold on their screen to replicate them.
Leverage Social Media for Peer-to-Peer Networking
While formal training programs are an essential part of development and onboarding, informal learning can comprise up to 75 percent of total learning, commonly taking the form of casual interactions among colleagues who pass along tips and tricks for handling various challenges. However, these types of conversations don't exactly take place around the water cooler with a remote workforce, so it is a good idea for companies to foster a virtual environment that serves the same purpose. Create private groups on different social media platforms where employees can search for new information, share best practices, and give praise to fellow colleagues that would typically happen in the hallway around the coffee machine in the breakroom.
Reinforce Your Company Culture Through Ongoing Training
The last tip on the list but certainly not least, reinforce your company culture through ongoing training. Even though your employees may be offsite, you still need to deliberately create and continuously reinforce a strong and happy company culture that upholds your values. Training and development initiatives play a huge role in this effort, so it is important to make sure you build the training program for your remote employees on a framework of your values. By doing this, your culture will remain front and center for all employees.
Training remote employees may seem like a bit of a challenge at first, but it is definitely possible to create a strong, team that collaborates effectively and cohesively in addition to fully participating in all aspects of the company training program.
