WHAT IS CORPORATE TRAINING AND WHAT ADVANTAGES DOES IT OFFER TO EMPLOYEES?

Many companies have begun to take it upon themselves to provide in-house professional development for their employees, and with good reason. Nowadays, the needs of the market shifts fast, and companies have to stay up to date with technological developments and trends in order to stay competitive. And corporate training is a tried-and-true tool to achieve this goal.

Companies that offer comprehensive corporate training have a 24% higher profit margin that those that don’t, and generate higher shareholder return. However, not investing in corporate training can cost a lot further down the line: a staggering 76% of millennials believe development within a company is vital, which explains why retention rates raise up to 50% for companies that provide adequate learning support.

Corporate training has only become more accessible in the 21st century, because online training for companies is usually just as effective, and 89% of employees agree: they want easily accessible training, and are willing to switch jobs in order to get it!

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5 types of business training for employees

Depending on your needs, training for companies offers preparation across many subjects. What less savvy companies might consider a disadvantageous knowledge gap can actually be a window of opportunity to train your employees with the precise skillset your business needs.

  • Languages can be beneficial for a company that is opening up to international markets, improving corporate communication and collaboration with partners abroad.
  • Soft skills are key to professional growth for every single employee. From the intern to the CEO, soft skills training boosts efficiency and cooperation.
  • Programming has become a must in the digital world, as companies need employees educated in Web 3.0 and data systems to stay ahead of the competition.
  • Project Management skills are among the most demanded. Not knowing how to use spreadsheets, or being familiar with words like Kanban and Agile, is no longer acceptable.
  • Digital Marketing training is crucial: the internet is a noisy place, and your business needs to know the rules of the game in order to create effective online marketing strategies.

One to One or group training: which is better for your company?

Corporate training presents companies with many choices about the specific way their employees will be trained, and deciding between group or one-to-one classes is difficult because of how many factors play into it. Both forms present their own advantages:

  • One to one training is more personalized, and addresses the employee’s needs in a more attentive and effective way. Training is adapted, and results are achieved faster and better in a trust environment where the employee feels less pressure and focus on the learning experience.
  • Group training provides a more dynamic learning environment, suitable for all subjects but particularly beneficial for those related to interpersonal skills. In small groups of similarly skilled learners, they can practice communication and leadership abilities, let loose with a new language, or support each other’s learning processes with more technical skills.

The employees’ personality and learning styles also play a role in determining which training format works best for them; their input is highly recommended when deciding the specifics of training for companies.

The importance of business language training

“Business language” is a term that refers to the specific language, meaning the lexicon and industry-specific terminology, language proficiency, and social customs and conduct within the corporate world. It’s a whole culture that employees might not have been exposed to before, and that is often essential to the functioning of a company.

Business language is most used among B2B (Business To Business) communications and liaisons, and improper communication could wreck intercompany relations and affect profits. This is particularly important in an international context, as some cultures of the world have very rigid norms in corporate contexts that, if not respected, would be considered insulting. In addition, business language is used in spaces like business conferences, where a good command of business terms will solidify a company’s public image among peers.

For all these reasons, business language training is highly requested within training for companies. Business talk is a skill that employees often lack when they join a team, since it doesn’t happen a lot outside the corporate world!

How to make a training plan for your company?

While some companies, like Google and IBM, have a large enough workforce to dedicate resources to finding learning opportunities for their different teams and departments, most small to medium businesses don’t have that luxury.

For this reason, companies that provide corporate training often offer extremely customizable packages, as well as audits meant to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of a company, and suggest the best training plan for its specific needs, size, working style and internal culture.