6 skills every employee should learn

1. Workplace safety

Whether your business setting is high risk, located in an office space or your employees work remotely, safety training is a crucial investment.

Employers can reduce liability by putting processes in place that include regular safety training.

Make training content relevant to topics specific to your industry and region.

2. Cybersecurity

Companies make important investments in information technology systems and manage sensitive data. This requires employees to be properly trained to keep systems secure.

At onboarding and once a year include password security and mobile device secure usage.

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3. Regulatory compliance

Different businesses have regulations specific to the work they do. Whether governed by laws or industry standards, compliance often requires staff training.

If you collect healthcare information on patients, credit card data from customers or personal data, include this in your employee refresher course training content.

Once everyone has completed the initial training, stay abreast of any changes or updates on regulations.

Deliver this training immediately to catch employees upon any changes to guarantee compliance.

4. Customer service skills

Handling every customer interaction with grace is essential to your business’ growth and client loyalty. Attentiveness, patience and knowledge are basics for any employee to know when interacting with a potential or current customer.

Every employee is a representative of a company's brand. Training that includes customer service skills makes each employee aware of every interaction while creating a positive culture.

Most social network platforms include a field for a company name. Every employee has one social network profile or another. People participate in professional, hobby-based groups or maintain personal accounts to simply stay in touch.

Given the variety and active use of social media tools, corporate policies must include a clear policy on how employees are allowed to use the company name in current and new profiles. Everyone can use a reminder that personal and professional activities overlap whether in the office or at play.

What each employee says, past, current and new, impacts every organisation’s brand image.

5. Products and services

This is an opportunity to remind teams even beyond sales of core products and services to keep everyone on the same page. Companies today constantly launch and pivot products.

Throughout the year features change and oftentimes do not reach all employees at the right time. In many cases, once they've received the training on new products and services, they may not need to communicate them immediately. In this case, they need to be reminded. The fresher the information is; the more effective employees are in the field.

6. Ergonomics and well-being

Manual labour and repeated movements can lead to workplace injuries. Tips on taking breaks and proper handling of packages are important topics to cover for employee well-being.

Environmental factors like lighting and adequate temperatures are also important to keep in mind for a comfortable working environment.