This post was originally published by Corey Kime on lessonly.com.
If you’ve been watching baseball spring training, then you understand the importance of working out all the kinks in preparation for the season ahead. To keep the skills of your employees sharp, shake of the snow and bring them out of hibernation by introducing spring training to the office. Motivate your employees, establish a culture of growth and team-building, and keep hitting home runs.
Keep your staff state of the art
With employee training at regular intervals, you will ensure that your employees are up to date on any new changes in your industry. Your business can only be as productive as your employees, and ongoing training provides the chance to keep training consistent teach new technologies, and identify any weaknesses among your team. It is worth the time and money to invest in training your employees to keep them productive and engaged in the work they perform.
Run the bases before throwing fastballs
Start your team off with some review to warm-up. Let them run through all the motions of how they started; it’s easy to forget about some features after onboarding. Having some no-pressure practice to make the turn at third base will give your team more confidence to execute when it counts. After you’ve reviewed all the technology, software, and reporting with your team, it’s time to step up to this metaphorical plate. Do some customer service games to quiz your team and prepare them for different scenarios. Work through different scenarios together so it is also a team-building exercise, and let them take a few swings before telling them what they should have done.
Allow senior employees to participate in training
You know that old veteran that your team keeps on the roster to sit in the bullpen for 162 games? Well, he’s there for a reason. Teaching an old dog new tricks make take some time, but old dogs are very good at teaching new dogs. Work with them on an employee training piece, and encourage this employee to share their knowledge. Although you may train all of your staff when they begin employment, real knowledge of the job is gained from ongoing support of employees who have been doing the work. When you empower long term staff, you provide them with the skills necessary to teach what they know about their job.
Few employees love the idea of customer service training, but this spring consider bringing a fresh approach to how you engage your staff. Your employees will build on your enthusiasm, and showing that you care about the needs and education of your employees is important. Let your staff know that their education matters and that you have established a certification program that will enhance their career opportunities.
