50 Training Opportunities Your Employees Wish You Offered
Times remain tough for employers and employees alike. As the sluggish economy continues to sputter, firms are generating less revenue, which means management has fewer options to reward hard-working staff with money or advancement. However, companies can still recognize and incentivize their loyal workforce by providing development and training, so that they may grow professionally and have a more diverse skill set.
Based on my conversations with a wide range of both rank-and-file and senior-level management at our corporate team building events in New York City, I have compiled the below list of professional skills which today’s knowledge workers claim they would like the opportunity to develop while weathering the stagnant economy. Here they are, in no particular order:
1. Negotiation & conflict resolution
2. Time management
3. Forming & leading teams
4. Strategic planning
5. Delegation
6. Consensus building
7. Conducting difficult conversations
8. Streamlining brainstorming sessions
9. Interviewing & hiring skills
10. Managing up
11. MS Office brush-ups
12. Workspace organization
13. Email/calendar organization
14. Public speaking
15. Dealing with difficult team members
16. How to handle difficult customers
17. How to conduct performance reviews
18. Multitasking tips
19. Effective team communication
20. Learning all the functions of mobile devices
21. Email etiquette
22. Meeting etiquette
23. Anger management
24. Social media / Web 2.0 strategy & tactics
25. General writing skills
26. P&L basics
27. How to make a good first impression
28. Thank you / follow-up email pointers
29. Power & influence building
30. Project management & leadership skills
31. Nonverbal communication skills
32. Listening skills
33. Note taking / shorthand
34. Typing
35. Sales pitching
36. How to dress for success
37. How to interface with senior management & board members
38. Project evaluation & measurement
39. Speed reading
40. Mastering the elevator pitch
41. Holding others accountable
42. Learning to become a mentor
43. Executive coaching
44. Managing change
45. How to spot statistical trends
46. How to take risks
47. Dealing with insubordination
48. Interpersonal networking skills
49. Conducting project post-mortems
50. Judgment / decision making skills
Even with financial limitations, surely you can find SOME way to provide your staff with professional training in at least one of the areas above. Your employees understand the environment we’re all in, and will appreciate the effort to give them skills, when dollars aren’t an option.
What are some other areas of professional development which knowledge workers are seeking, or would benefit from in lieu of direct compensation/advancement?