What topics might be covered in employee training?
There are many different types of employee training, ranging from the most general information to extremely job-specific details. In general, however, most training falls into a few general categories:
Harassment training: This training details how employees should recognize and respond to harassment of any kind in the workplace. While sexual harassment is the most common form of harassment, racial, religious, gender, and age harassment, as well as bullying, often appear as well.
Workplace safety training: This kind of training is especially needed in potentially dangerous workplaces, and it is tailored to the particular needs of a workplace. Topics in this kind of training might include fire drills, safe driving habits, avoiding lifting injuries or falls, as well as proper response techniques.
Business etiquette/customer service training: Training in this area focuses on how appearance and conduct affects your relationship with clients, customers, and co-workers. A trainee might receive tips on professionalism, as well as how to connect with all customers and respond to the especially difficult ones.
Diversity training: This is one of many growing areas of training. Corporate globalism and the multiculturalism of the American workplace have both put a premium on being able to connect with and relate to people of all backgrounds and types. Diversity training can give advice on how to avoid cultural embarrassments, as well as how to adapt your business to work with many different groups of people.
Ethics training: This is another growing area of training, especially given recent corporate scandals. Ethics training gives advice on how to recognize and resolve ethical dilemmas—that is, how to do the right thing in confusing ethical circumstances.
These are just some of the topics that might be covered at employee training. Most training will be job specific. Some employees will have no need of one or several of the above kinds of training, but they will need extra training in additional aspects of their jobs. Employee training should be flexible to meet the needs of the individual employee, keeping in mind the employee’s job and the workplace environment.