On the Job Training: Best Practices For Working Professionals

Training on the job is a cost-effective form of onboarding that encourages employee confidence. By helping new employees adapt faster to their job, you’re developing their skills and encouraging career progression. You’re also contributing to a more effective, productive, and satisfied workforce.

On the job training is a practical approach for teaching employees the abilities and competencies required to carry out a particular task at work. Employees acquire knowledge and skills in a setting where they will need to put them into practice.

Table of Contents

• Introduction to the job training 
• Importance of On the job training for Working Professionals
• Types of On the job training 
• Training Methods
• Benefits of On the job training 
  • For Employees
  • For Organizations
• Challenges and Effective Solutions in On the job training 
  • Common Challenges
  • Effective Solutions
  • Successful On the job training programs
    • Belgium Technical Academies by Manpower
    • McKinsey’s Corporate Universities
• Future Trends in On the job training 

Introduction to the job training 

In an actual work setting, on-the-job training (OJT) is a useful method for developing new competences and skills. It is a type of instruction given while an individual is working and earning paid at their place of employment. The on-the-job training approach is founded on the idea of “learning by doing,” meaning that employees pick up skills while actually doing the work.

Importance of On the Job Training for Working Professionals

• Practical Learning: On the Job training allows employees to gain experience working in situations very similar to those they’ll encounter on a daily basis. This hands-on method imparts the vital knowledge, skills, and competencies required for employees to accomplish specific tasks.
• Understanding Company’s Mission and Goals: The on-the-job training method educates the employees about the company’s mission statement, goals, and objectives, and company policies.
• Skill Improvement: Employees have a great opportunity to expand their knowledge base and develop their professional abilities through training, which is why it is crucial. Employees who are more skilled in their jobs produce more work more quickly and with higher quality.
• Competitive Advantage: Maintaining your organization’s competitiveness requires workforce training. The majority of employees will have professional skill gaps or shortcomings because they are only human. You can increase the skills that each employee needs to strengthen through a training program.

Types of On the job Training 

• Job Rotation: This method involves moving employees through a variety of jobs, departments, or tasks to gain a broader understanding of the business operations and identify where their skills and interests align best. Job rotation can enhance job satisfaction, stimulate interest and motivation, and provide a well-rounded skill set as employees gain a comprehensive view of the organization.
• Coaching: In coaching, a more experienced employee, often a supervisor or manager, provides guidance and instruction to a less experienced employee or trainee. The coach provides feedback, answers questions, and helps the trainee understand how to perform their job effectively. This method allows for personalized instruction and immediate feedback.
• Mentoring: Similar to coaching, mentoring involves a relationship between a more experienced employee and a less experienced one. However, mentoring often goes beyond job tasks and includes guidance on career development, professional growth, and navigating the workplace culture. Mentors can provide advice, share experiences, and help mentees set and achieve career goals.
• Job Instruction Training (JIT): This method involves providing detailed instructions and demonstrations of how to perform job tasks. The trainee often has the opportunity to practice the task and receive feedback. JIT is particularly useful for jobs that are procedural or require a specific set of steps to be performed correctly.
• Apprenticeship Training: This is a structured process that combines On the job training with related classroom instruction. Apprenticeships are often used in trades and technical occupations. Apprentices learn from experienced employees, gain hands-on experience, and often receive a wage while they learn.

Types of Training Methods

• eLearning: This method involves using online resources for training, such as online courses, webinars, or instructional videos. eLearning allows for flexibility as employees can learn at their own pace and often at a time and place that suits them. It can include interactive elements such as quizzes or discussion forums to enhance learning.
• Instructor-Led Learning: This traditional method involves a trainer or instructor teaching a group of employees, often in a classroom setting. The instructor presents material, leads discussions, and may facilitate group activities or exercises. This method allows for immediate feedback and interaction.
• Role playing: Employees acting out scenarios they might meet on the job is known as roleplaying. It enables workers to test their abilities and reactions in a secure setting. Training in communication, customer service, or dispute resolution skills might benefit especially from roleplaying.
• Coaching: As previously indicated, coaching entails one-on-one instruction with a manager or seasoned worker. It enables individualized education, prompt feedback, and may be adjusted for pace and learning preferences.
• Simulation Training: A mock-up of the employee’s working environment is created as part of the simulation training technique. For professions like pilots or healthcare workers, where errors can be expensive or deadly, simulations can be very helpful. It enables staff members to exercise their abilities and decision-making in realistic as well as safe environment.

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Benefits of On the job training 

Here are some of the benefits of on the job training for both employees and organizations:

For Employees:

• Real Experience: On the job training helps employees in gaining experience working in situations very similar to those they’ll encounter on a daily basis. This hands-on experience helps them understand their role better and learn how to perform their tasks efficiently.
• Skill Development: Employees benefit from additional skills and knowledge as well as motivation to do well. This contributes to their personal development and career growth.
• Confidence Boost: On-the-job training helps employees assimilate into the new workplace and boosts their confidence. From the beginning, it makes employees feel like valuable contributors to the team.

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For Organizations:

• Improved Productivity: On the job training benefits employers by improving productivity and work motivation. Employees who are well-trained are likely to be more efficient and productive in their roles.
• Cost-Effective: On the job training is a cost-effective form of training. It saves money and time as employees learn while doing their job, eliminating the need for external training programs.
• Increased Employee Retention: OJT leads to higher employee retention. Employees who are receiving training are more likely to feel valued and stay with the company longer.
• Creates a Skilled Workforce: On the job training helps in creating a skilled workforce as it develops and fine-tunes skills, builds industry knowledge, and expands one’s professional network.
• Promotes Teamwork: On the job training promotes teamwork as employees learn in a collaborative environment. This can improve communication and relationships within the team.

Challenges and Effective Solutions

Here are some common challenges in On the job training  and their effective solutions:

Common Challenges

• Information Overload: Bombarding employees with too much information from day one of a training program can be overwhelming, leading to disengagement and potentially causing employees to leave the organization.
• Employee Resistance: When a new tool or piece of software is introduced, staff members may feel burdened and reject the change. To benefit from the freshly purchased software, this opposition must be efficiently and rapidly overcome.
• Ineffective Training Techniques: Given the development in the culture of remote work, conventional techniques of employee training may no longer be effective. With obsolete training methods, frequent problems like employee disengagement, annoyance, and productivity loss may arise.
• Mundane vs. Periodical duties: Employees may feel uneasy carrying out routine, daily duties as well as irregular ones that happen once a month or three times a year. Each has its own unique set of difficulties.
• Lack of Employee Engagement: Disengaged workers won’t give their jobs their all and may even foster animosity among coworkers.
• Employee Roadblocks: Once users of a program begin using it, they may run across a number of various problems. These difficulties prevent an employee from successfully completing a task and must be resolved.
• Poor Feedback and Support System: The IT staff continuously monitors employee input as part of the employee support process. The task is incomplete and the subsequent procedures are also in danger if there is a lengthy wait or if the problem is not appropriately resolved.

Effective Solutions

• Avoid Information Overload: To assist your staff in learning the application in real time, use the on-screen instructions. This promotes self-learning among employees and raises customer interest in your product.
• Address Workforce Resistance: Use interactive material to overcome staff pushback. Your employees can manage any changes without extensive and costly training thanks to announcements and walkthroughs.
• Implement Effective Training Methods: Use digital adoption platforms to provide effective in-app employee training and development. This allows for responsive or interactive learning experiences and eliminates long, expensive, and ineffective traditional training sessions.
• Handle Mundane and Periodical Tasks: Automate mundane tasks and provide in-app guidance to perform complex or periodic tasks. This can ensure a quick and smooth ob training process.
• Increase Employee Engagement: Use digital adoption platforms to keep employees engaged with in-app walkthroughs, tooltips, announcements, and more. This allows for personalization in help content or training material provided to the end-users.
• Address Employee Roadblocks: Track employee actions in real-time and identify the exact place where new hires get stuck or face challenges. Provide instant support with customized interactive software walkthroughs and allow them to perform tasks effortlessly.
• Improve Feedback and Support System: Utilize digital adoption platforms to give employees immediate assistance and to force them to recognize and correct errors as they occur, all without the help of external support or direction. This guarantees a prompt response to your employees’ requests for assistance and makes sure they don’t go unanswered.

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Successful On the Job Training Programs

Here are some successful On the job training programs and the lessons learned from these case studies:

1. Belgium Technical Academies by Manpower

In Belgium, where 35% of employers reported difficulties in filling open jobs due to a lack of applicants with the required skills, Manpower helped create the Belgium Technical Academies. Over 12,000 people have been trained in three centers across the country. 

The Technical Academy was created to offer a flexible option to assist businesses in filling the most challenging job descriptions on the market. The three pillars of the training technique are relationships, employment, and practical skills. The training uses a four-step procedure and covers upskilling and reskilling as well as developing skills for new candidates:

• Thorough candidate selection includes a close examination of motivation and aptitude for learning.
• Selected students participating in a theoretical training program via an online learning platform, with periodic skill checks.
• Under the guidance of a qualified trainer inside Manpower’s mobile unit, three weeks of hands-on practice imitating real-world job settings.
• Job placement under a short-term or long-term contract, supervised by a coach working for the client company to aid in integration.

The Manpower Technical Academy has provided results to Belgian companies since the project’s inception in 2017. For instance, the Manpower Technical Academy has taught over 150 persons, and the initial class of students’ job placement rate was 85%. With the Belgian Railway Company (SNCB-NMBS), a specialized training program has been created to solve the technical operator talent gap. 

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2. McKinsey’s Corporate Universities

As the businesses that rely on them modernize for the digital age, corporate universities are approaching their second century. The chance to change education and rectify some of its current flaws is enormous thanks to digitization. Integrated cloud-based platforms allow for more than just fresh software or cool smartphone applications. 

Now, sophisticated organizations are expanding their use of cloud-based learning to run such specialized applications as instructional videos, learning games, e-coaching, virtual classrooms, online performance support, and online simulations. MOOCs and SPOCs are two examples of these personalized applications. 

At its virtual model factory, one Asian original design maker offers a digital 3-D learning environment. Through this system, employees can “see” and “feel” sophisticated equipment that is used in many of the company’s operations.

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Future Trends in On the job training 

Here are some future trends in On the job training  based on the information gathered from various sources:

• Upskilling and reskilling: The majority of firms will place the highest importance on skill development. The widening skills gap brought on by technology adoption and disruption must be addressed by businesses. Most businesses should prioritize upskilling, reskilling, and even right-skilling training programs since workers will need to pick up new jobs, update their abilities, and learn new skills to be more competitive in the labor market.
• Microlearning: Also referred to as bite-sized learning, is fast becoming a preferred and successful teaching strategy for time-constrained corporate workers. Including a lot of information in a few concise movies is a great approach to keep learners interested.
• Data-driven learning: Learning platforms now have the ability to diagnose students’ learning requirements, notify teachers when students need help, and suggest content based on students’ competency levels and learning objectives. By personalizing learning paths for each employee, teachers can ensure maximum engagement and the best possible information retention.
• Repurposing and outsourcing content: It is possible to break up currently available training material into smaller pieces and package it in different ways. As more businesses enter into partnerships with learning providers, a large portion of the new content will be produced by third parties.
• User-generated content (UGC): UGC refers to any learning materials that students create. As more interactive learning experiences and taking charge of one’s own education and training become more and more popular, it is.
• Training for Extended Reality (XR): This incorporates all immersive learning technologies, including augmented reality, mixed reality, and virtual reality. All of these enhance employee interaction and engagement.
• Continuing education: Any firm that wishes to succeed in the hybrid environment must implement asynchronous, on-demand learning. No matter their device or time zone, employees can access learning resources whenever they need to.

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Conclusion

On the job training is a valuable tool for any organization. It not only helps employees learn and understand their job better, but it also improves their performance and productivity. With the right training methods and learning processes, On the job training can significantly benefit both the employees and the organization.