Berger Leadership Blog

An organization can only be as successful as the abilities and knowledge of its employees. This is why employee training is a must.

Forbes contributor Stephen Baer lists four elements that should be included in any effective employee training program. He calls them the 4Ms, and they include:

1. Micro. When training, give your employees bite-size segments that can be practiced right away so they are easily retained.
2. Mobile. Make trainings convenient for your staff so they can tackle them whenever and wherever they want.
3. Memorable. The training content needs to be memorable. Baer says designing trainings as a game can help along with giving employees a "practice playground for real-world situations."
4. Measurable. Make your trainings measurable so you can track the growth of your employees.

While training your employees is a key part of leading them, it is important to seek their input as well. Mark Murphy, also a Forbes contributor, suggests holding monthly conversations with employees to ask them about their learning and goals.

His suggested questions include: "What things would you like to get better at this next month?," "What things are you better at now than you were last month?," and "Could you tell me about a time in the past month when you felt excited and a time in the past month when you felt demotivated?"

Having this kind of conversation with your team regularly will help you develop proper training that meets the needs of your employees and organization. Employees who are learning – and learning within their areas of interest – will be more engaged and become much higher performers.

I've found that when employees feel taken care of, their loyalty to you and the organization deepens. NAFCU makes it a priority every year to provide employees with training. We budget for it and encourage every staff member to take advantage of the opportunity to grow their skills and abilities.

Follow me on Twitter (@BDanBerger).