7 Rules of Staff Training Every Organization Needs

Times are changing, and so are the ways we train our staff. In Relias’ latest State of Healthcare Training and Staff Development Report, we explored how these changes are affecting training in healthcare. One of the biggest takeaways from this research is the reason healthcare leaders view training as important.

In the survey for our report, 81% of respondents rated staff education very important (the top rating) for licensing and certification. Yet not as many — just 67% — of respondents said that training has a significant or major impact on business goals.

Though the organization-wide impact of training may be difficult to readily recognize, its effects are far reaching.

How Training in Healthcare Supports Business Goals

There are many ways that better training in healthcare organizations can help you achieve your business goals. Let’s focus, however, on just two: increased staff retention and better client outcomes.

It’s no secret that healthcare organizations struggle with retention. While you can’t expect everyone to stay for decades, a robust training plan can help address many of the root causes of turnover. Through effective training you can:

• Give your staff opportunities to improve their knowledge and advance their careers.
• Help staff members learn to cope with feelings of burnout, moral injury, and more.
• Allow staff to see compliance as more than just a formality to meet legal requirements.
• Show employees at all levels of the organization that they are appreciated and respected.

And from a financial perspective, it’s far cheaper to invest in an effective training strategy than to struggle with high turnover. In fact, Gallup estimates that it costs 50% to 200% of the annual salary to replace an employee who has chosen to leave.

As your staff base becomes more stable and well-trained, your organization will deliver higher quality care to your clients. Indeed, in the State of Healthcare Training and Staff Development Report, 78% of respondents reported better staff performance outcomes as a benefit of education programs. By equipping your staff with the best training, you’re giving them the tools they need to provide better care and thus create better outcomes.

7 Strategies To Promote Training in Your Healthcare Organization

It’s clear that better training in healthcare can positively influence an organization’s outcomes, so let’s look at how you can put it into practice.

Start Training New Hires From Day One

When employees are hired, they’re eager to learn about their new job at your organization. If you wait until orientation to engage your new employees, you risk the chance of losing them to another organization who is willing to let them start immediately. Keep your employees engaged from day one by instantly enrolling them in online training. If you auto-enroll new hires prior to their start dates, they can begin learning as soon as they’re settled in.

Blend Live Training With Online Courses

Since people have different learning preferences, it makes sense to deliver your training in ways that accommodate those preferences. A blended approach has many benefits. Using a variety of methods will support learner engagement and focus for longer periods of time. Blended learning also provides flexibility for learners to work at their own pace.

These benefits allow learners to get the most out of their training. In fact, researchers have found that adult learners who enrolled in blended learning outperformed learners who attended in-person instruction. Given these findings, it’s easy to see why blended learning is a valuable form of training in healthcare.

Validate Knowledge and Behavior Change

What good will it do to spend valuable time creating and delivering engaging content if you aren’t measuring the application of the training you provide? How will you know that your employees are following best practices or applying what they’ve learned? By using validators like tests or quizzes at the end of your training, you have the assurance that employees understand and retain their training.

Automate Scheduling and Tracking of Training in Healthcare

Anywhere you can save time is crucial. When it comes to training in healthcare, there are multiple ways of saving time by automating the things you currently handle manually.

For example, rather than rolling out training individually to each new hire, you can create a curriculum of courses and enroll all your new staff at the same time. Set up your training program to repeat this enrollment process every time your organization has a new hire — drastically saving you administrative time and allowing you to focus on other tasks.

Automate Reporting for Audits and Surveys

You don’t want an upcoming audit to throw a wrench into your workflow. What happens when you need to provide proof of training for your entire staff’s licensing compliance? Do you sift through stacks of employee files and spreadsheets? Or do you have the report already set up so you can produce it with the click of a button? The choice is obvious.

While several software options exist that can help you automate your processes, a learning management system (LMS) is the best option when it comes to reporting on training in healthcare. The pandemic has highlighted the need for automation, with 24% of respondents in a 2020 Relias survey saying they had adopted an LMS during the crisis. Through an LMS, you can automate staff enrollment in compliance courses, report on the results, and survey staff on these trainings — all from one platform.

Use an LMS To Maximize Your Custom Courses and Training Videos

If you’re currently training your staff using PowerPoint slides, videos, or other custom content, you can easily upload these files to create courses within your learning management system.

Using an LMS:

• Training can be viewed online at your staff’s convenience.
• It’s easy to track the status of training.
• You can appeal to both visual and auditory learning preferences with video, text, and audio all in one place.
• You can add exams to be sure employees understand what they’re learning.

By using an LMS to take advantage of your custom content, you know your staff will get the unique training they need to operate effectively in your healthcare organization.

The Rules Are Always Changing

Rules, guidelines, requirements, delivery methods, and content are constantly changing in the training industry. These shifts can make compliance training in healthcare difficult to manage.

What’s more, not having the ability to easily perform and track compliance training may prove to be a serious liability to your organization.

Ensure that your organization is prepared with the right tools and support to meet your changing staff development needs.