It shouldn’t be a surprise that employers continue to struggle to find candidates for jobs. Part of the reason that today’s labor market is so challenging is the lack of qualified candidates.
The solution for organizations is two-fold. First, companies need to focus on interviewing and selecting current employees to fill open positions；Secondly, and probably the more difficult solution, is if internal applicants don’t have the skills to fill current openings, then it’s time to build training and development programs that will give employees those skills.
Unfortunately, over time, organizations have strayed away from OJT, which has created a bit of a ripple effect. According to the CareerBuilder survey, “The Shocking Truth About the Skills Gap,” 53 percent of respondents indicated that a lack of on-the-job training contributed to the skills gap.
So, a lack of OJT is contributing to the skills gap, but we need programs like OJT to give employees the skills they need so they can fill the job openings we have.
5 common on-the-job training challenges (and how to fix them!)
1. Consistency
One myth about on-the-job programs is that OJT translates into informal training. It’s not true. At least, it shouldn’t be true. On-the-job training programs need to be structured. A lack of structure can result in training inconsistencies which will result in performance, product or service inconsistencies.
Organizations can provide structure and consistency to their on-the-job training programs through the use of checklists. Once an employee successfully completes a task, then get a sign-off. Video demonstrations can provide consistency in presenting the task, and the employee can practice after watching the video.
2. Time
On-the-job training programs take time during daily operations. It’s a huge advantage to the learner that they are practicing in the actual work environment. They can see their surroundings, hear all the sounds, feel the effort required to do the task, etc. It can’t be more real. That’s also the downside. Because daily operations still need to run while training is happening.
There’s no rule that every aspect of on-the-job training must be conducted in the actual work environment. Think about OJT training in three parts:
- Demonstration of the skill
- Practicing the skill
- Testing for comprehension
It would be beneficial to do the final step (testing) in the work environment. But the other two (demonstration and practice) can be conducted in a combination of classroom/simulation and work environment.
3. Trainers
Organizations need to have qualified, current employees who can conduct training. OJT is often technical skills training which means it’s conducted by subject matter experts (SMEs). If the organization doesn’t have SMEs or if the SMEs lack training skills, then the company is at a disadvantage.
The company’s on-the-job skills training is only as good as the trainers. Identify the high-performing or high-potential employees who would be great trainers. Ask them if they will take on this responsibility. And, of course, give them the training they need to be good at the role.
4. Productivity
Conducting training during peak operations can be a challenge because it can be a drain on productivity – both organizationally and individually. It’s critical to understand the best times and environment to conduct on-the-job training. Focus on getting all stakeholders to buy into being available for training during those times.
Similar to the time conversation above (see #2), there’s no rule that says all on-the-job training must be held during peak operational cycles. It could make sense to ask employees in training to work an evening shift or make an adjustment in their schedule – only until the training is completed. And then they can resume their regular work hours.
5. Errors
Practice is part of any successful training program. And during practice, we often make mistakes. On-the-job training is no exception. The challenge happens when mistakes are made during the normal workday and then need to be fixed. This can be a drain on company resources as well as productivity.
Depending on what the errors are, there might be some opportunity to simply discard them. But in some industries, an error can be significant and take several minutes (or hours!) to correct. Keep in mind, it’s also possible that fixing the error would be an excellent learning experience for the employee.
