There aren't many large organisations that don't rely on IT in one way or another. Whether it's an integral part of the industry, or just a means to manage communications or finances, there's no escaping the glowing screen and well-worn keyboard in the office. And whatever form your business's technological requirements take, mass-produced office software or bespoke IT solutions (or both), you can be sure that the company will be at a disadvantage if staff aren't effectively trained to use the software.

Regular in-house training can stop this becoming a problem, taking a few hours out of an employee's schedule but significantly improving their contribution to the work. Well, a significant improvement, assuming that the training is up-to-date and of enough quality to pass on genuinely effective lessons to the staff. However, if the trainer doesn't himself have the requisite skill and experience, then at best you'll be wasting time and money, and at worst, you could be spreading a flawed and inefficient approach throughout your company.

This is why your trainer needs to ensure that the lessons he or she passes on are as beneficial (to employees and to the company as a whole) as can be. We can divide the issues facing the trainer into two categories: those that relate to delivery, and those concerned with content; both must be in place to guarantee the most effective training.

Content

Any kind of tuition, on any kind of subject, for any kind of student, will be bound to fail if the material of the lesson isn't up to scratch. It's important that the trainer knows the system (or systems) in question, and that he or she is fully up-to-date - after all, the latest edition of the software might require the user to approach the problem in a different way, or it might provide new tools that will make work easier. What will happen if the trainer hasn't had the chance to develop his or her own skills with the new release, or perhaps hasn't had the chance to use it at all?

What happens certainly won't be good news for the company. If the trainer is no longer using the software in the best or most efficient way, then that failing will spread far and wide: instead of one employee working ineffectively, you'll have a whole department or even the entire business working ineffectively. Time will be wasted, staff will fail to get the most benefit from the software, and a long-term problem will emerge, the righting of which may prove to be very costly.

Delivery

On the other hand, it may be that the trainer's knowledge is bang up-to-date, but that that knowledge isn't filtering through to the staff as well as it should. This may not seem quite the immediate concern that a lack of understanding presents, but don't be fooled: if your trainer isn't able to engage staff, isn't able to keep their attention and to explain the subject in terms that everyone will understand and be able to apply to their own tasks, then the training will be at best a waste of time. At worst, it could lead to misinterpretations of the lesson, with staff adapting incorrect techniques that only weaken their contribution. And again, there'll be long-term problems that must be addressed for the company to progress.

Solutions

All very bleak, so far. If both the content and the delivery of the training aren't to the very highest standard, the impact on the business could be genuinely harmful and difficult to overcome. Yet this doesn't need to happen - indeed, it really is very easily avoidable.

Given the potential influence (positive or negative) that a trainer can have on the business as a whole, it should be seen as an absolute priority to ensure that the training he or she is giving out is always of the highest standard. This means training the trainer. The company needs to identify a provider for such a course, who can assist with any delivery issues whilst providing the latest and most accurate content specific to the business's needs, and to make sure that regular refresher courses are always available.

However, there's also something that needs to be taken care of in-house: every company has its own unique policies, procedures and circumstances; many also have unique tools (both in the physical and the software sense). For the company to have the benefit of successful in-house training, it needs always to support its training staff. And that benefit can be a very substantial one indeed; an organisation that prioritises and encourages training should expect to be more effective and more efficient in its work, and to move forward positively together.