training & development
Annaert says that the principal reason
the program is so popular among staff is
because it is responsive to their needs.
“We’re using their input and bringing
back popular training sessions based on
their requests. Also, to keep the sessions
interesting and relevant to staff, one of the
nice things we do is we will occasionally
bring in outside speakers. Maybe an industry
professional can speak at a higher
level about a certain topic,” said Annaert.
By occasionally enlisting the help of
outside experts for their training sessions,
Voices.com is able to keep them vital, offering
its staff an opportunity to take fresh
perspectives on a variety of topics pertinent
to their day-to-day work lives.
THE TRAINING TUESDAYS
MODEL
Annaert says that another company looking
to adopt a similar training program
should start by first undertaking a needs
analysis to determine both what topics
employees want training on and what topics
will best help the company.
For Voices.com, the survey process
didn’t stop there. The company regularly
surveys its employees and their feedback
is used to help determine what topics are
covered in training.
Though each training session is open to
every employee in the company, Annaert
says that employees most often attend
and get the most out of training sessions
that are closely aligned with their particular
roles.
“Even though it’s nice to learn about a
new process that another department is
involved in, we find that people will enjoy
and participate more often in the training
sessions that are more geared towards
what they do on a daily basis. So, if it’s
sales-related training, there will be more
sales people there and taking more away
from it because it more directly impacts
their work,” she said.
The fact that the weekly training exercises
offer Voices.com office workers a
productive opportunity to get away from
their desk and shift their focus for 30 minutes
or so each week also doesn’t hurt their
appeal, says Annaert. n
Photos courtesy of Voices.com
A Voices.com Training Tuesday session
30 ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2015 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
