3 Factors to Consider to Better Train Your IT Staff
John Maglione, WWT Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist, authored an article for Training Industry discussing how to better train IT staff.
Posted by Training Industry on December 7, 2018:
With the pace of innovation and progression of technology, it's crucial for IT employees to be able to refresh their skills to keep up with a changing market. Training and learning should be a corporate priority from the top down and done on a continuous basis. Learning can come in many forms, such as formal education, mentoring and on-the-job training. However, with the workload that most companies place on their employees, training can go by the wayside in lieu of achieving project milestones.
Time is the crucial element. It's hard for most companies to invest the time needed to train their employees. Given this dilemma, it's essential to have an efficient training program.
Consider your workforce on an individual basis. Training methods and approaches need to be different based on factors such as the employee's background and needs. Should you conduct classroom sessions or online learning, provide course materials for self-study, or support on-the-job training? Some people prefer to learn in a classroom or other group environment, while others prefer to learn alone.
Here are three factors to consider to keep your IT staff up-to-date with new technology and best practices.
1. Pairing and Grouping
Finding a way to work in collaboration in a pair, in a group or in teams is one way to overcome the time challenge. "In our XP environment here at World Wide Technology, our team approach is a great way to leverage cross-pollination for learning," said WWT's Nate McKie. "Our developers get a lot of opportunity to pair with senior people in technologies where they may not have much experience. This allows the two people to share and teach each other different aspects of what they're working on and learn from each other. At our company, each team generally has 75 percent skill coverage and 25 percent learning so that the team can learn together to keep everyone engaged."