Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) are the engine of any modern economy and, in fact, make up 99.9% of all businesses in the United States. And the outlook for SMBs is rosy as a recent Bank of America report suggested that 65% of SMB owners were optimistic for 2024 and had increased revenue in 2023 over the previous year. The increase in business and activity means hiring and training and for SMBs, that can be a costly and lengthy undertaking. The labor situation is also detrimental to SMBs as the pool of quality and enthusiastic candidates for entry level positions continues to shrink in the current economic climate. When it comes to training, SMBs can turn to technology to speed up the process to get new hires producing quickly and prevent any gaps in service or operations from negatively affecting the bottom line.
Self Paced Learning for Basic Skills
Module based learning is a cost effective way to get new hires trained and ready to work. Self paced learning (SPL) is ideal for customer facing teams and entry level positions that can be a hybrid of service duties and operational tasks. This methodology is an excellent way to to teach basic workplace skills such as:
- Customer service skills
- Organizational skills
- Basic business specific tasks and processes
SPL is a good way for SMBs to get new hires the essential skills they need to get into the field at a quicker pace. Modules can be completed on any type of device and using handhelds may garner the most traction when using this type of training tool. But some drawbacks exist as this training model utilizes ‘one-way’ engagement which may leave gaps in understanding concepts as well as limited evaluation opportunities. SPL can be very effective and affordable training method to deliver and deploy essential service and operational skills needed for entry level positions
Virtual Learning for Advanced and Business Specific Skills
Session learning methodology conveys necessary job skills and processes through online or virtual meetings that are live and completely interactive. Virtual Learning is spread out over a few ‘sessions’ which helps build rapport between instructor and student. VL is suited well to deploy the advanced skills and process such as:
- Customer engagement tactics
- Communication and body language skills
- Selling and basket building techniques
- Conflict resolution and diffusion
- Business specific processes and tasks
Technologies such as screen sharing, one on one huddles and polling are excellent tools within virtual meeting platforms that ensure training material comprehension. VL can also provide deeper evaluations on elements such as participation, communication skills and overall understanding of the concepts in real time. VL is highly effective at teaching new skills and job related tasks and can deliver more impactful training, faster than traditional training methods.
Using AI in the Field
Artificial Intelligence is making its way into the training category and may be a gamechanger when it comes to fast and effective training. At the core of AI technology is machine learning programming which can process vast amounts of historical and real time data to make educated decisions. The speed and interactivity of AI positions it to be an extremely powerful training tool and resource. When configured with the appropriate data sets and outcomes, an AI based training platform can get new hires into the workplace on their first day. AI language interpretation elevates the training process by delivering real 2 way interactions. AI training tools can perform evaluations on the go by knowledge check and real world interaction monitoring. The technology can optimize learning based on new hire understanding of training material. Ideal for handheld devices, an AI training tool can also provide ongoing support to new hires by answering questions and providing resources while working. AI’s high level of interaction and engagement can deliver impactful and efficient training and skills development while on the job as the new hire gains valuable active experience.
The Bottom Line
The small and midsize business category powers most of the world’s major economies and the outlook in North America remains positive for SMBs after a very good 2023. Growth in the face of continued rising costs can hit SMBs especially hard and filling vacancies is not only critical in preventing gaps in service and quality, but can also be time consuming and costly. Finding and training quality candidates is also a challenge but deploying new hires into the workspace quickly can help mitigate some of the time and money associated with hiring. Using innovative methods of training, SMB owners and managers can adopt technologies that deliver basic and advanced service skills as well as business specific skills and processes more effectively than in the past. Getting these new hires the skills they need and contributing to the business at a faster pace will have positive impacts on productivity and overall profitability as well as define development standards for new team members.