Step Two: Determine what training approach to use.

After you have identified who needs to be trained in what areas, you will need to determine what training methodology to use. Today there are many options managers and business owners can exercise to train their employees.

Seminars are a popular choice for large-scale training issues like professional standards updates and customer service issues. The benefits of this type of training methodology are: that they are usually given by an expert or organization that has extended knowledge of the area, they cover all the issues related to the issue is a short period of time, training materials are provided, and employees enjoy the fact that they get out of work to attend the seminar. The drawbacks of seminars are based on the time and money that they require. Employees are away from their jobs for one or more days to attend the seminar so the company must either do without their services during this time or pay for a temporary replacement. In addition to losing money for missed work, the company also has to pay for the seminar, travel, lodging, and meals while the employee is at the seminar. Another drawback to this type of training is that the material is presented to all employees at the same pace and in the same manner. This methodology does not take into consideration different learning styles or paces of individual employees, and therefore some employees may be bored while others may feel overwhelmed by the amount of material being presented to them in a short period of time.

In order to overcome pacing issues of training materials, programmed instruction can be used to deliver training materials. Programmed instruction is basically a hard copy format of training that is delivered either through: step-by-step booklets, latent ink booklets, or through computer-assisted instruction or computer-based training. All of these formats allow employees to progress at their own pace, and to go back over material as many times as needed. The drawback to this type of training methodology is the costs associated with purchasing training materials for every employee, especially if the company has a high turnover rate.

Examining case studies is another training methodology that can be used. Employee meetings can be held in which critical incidents are reviewed and alternative solutions or actions can be discussed. The advantages of this type of training methodology are that the issues addressed are specific to the company, and that employees can see the connection between a skill and its result easier in this situation than they can in a made up example printed in a training booklet. The main drawback to this methodology is that employees may feel singled out if the case study is about them. To overcome this, you may need to word the case study in a manner that gives the employee anonymity and that changes the situation enough so it can not be attributed to a specific employee.