One of the complaints I hear from employees is that they haven't been trained properly...or don't get enough training. Many business leaders simply don't make this a priority, while others are afraid employees will leave if they are well-trained. This reminds me of my favoriteRichard Bransonquote,
"Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to."
As a professional EOS® implementer, one of the Traction® tools I teach my clients is 5-5-5™. This is a brief, quarterly conversation that each supervisor holds with their direct reports to make sure the employee is on-track. It's a great opportunity for employee and supervisor to give feedback on the employee's growth plan. I've found that this keeps employees from growing stagnant, and it helps the company make sure it has a well-trained workforce.
Some successful companies may even create an official company training policy and training checklist for new hires. The training policy covers the goals of training and offers a high-level overview of the company's philosophy on training. The new-hire checklist is specific to the position, but it details the employees first 30, 60, or 90 days on the job.
Here's a sample of a one-page company policy (click to download).
Here's a sample of a 30-day New-Hire Checklist for a sales person (click to download).
Time spent developing your employees through training will always be an investment with a huge ROI. While training budgets vary by industry, a good rule-of-thumb is to spend 1% of your total budget on training.