The 5 Most Effective Corporate Training Methods [Pros and Cons]

Organizations spend billions of dollars on corporate training annually—an estimated $130 billion, to be exact. Yet, only around a quarter of the resulting training efforts are effective. How can you avoid joining the dreaded seventy-five percent of ineffective training efforts?

Corporate learning and development teams work with tight budgets, tight timelines, and sky-high expectations. You need to know what corporate training methods have the best potential to move the needle on your team’s KPIs and increase transfer of training without busting your budget. 

This post will cover five options for proven corporate training methods. We’ll cover each in detail, then answer the ever-important question: Which training method is most effective for corporate teams?

Effective Corporate Training Methods: How Can You Measure Effectiveness?

Corporate training has a bit of a bad reputation. Why is that? Let’s look at a few reasons corporate training has been ineffective in the past. The challenges with corporate training boil down to three main problems.

Firstly, corporate training is often not engaging. If your training method consists of corralling your employees into a conference room and asking them to watch a speaker scroll through PowerPoint slides for several hours, you may see less than stellar results. 

Related: 7 Must-Have Corporate Training Programs [And How to Get the Most from Them]

Additionally, many corporate training efforts aren’t immediately applicable to the day-to-day job duties of the employees in attendance. When you attempt to make your training one-size-fits-all, you end up with too-broad training that is not directly related to most of your employees’ job functions. 

Armed with this understanding of most corporate training is ineffective, we are now ready to ask a vital question: How can you measure corporate training effectiveness? 

To measure the effectiveness of your training, you will first need to set KPIs and targets. You can examine job performance or knowledge retention metrics to see if the information imparted during training is retained and applied.

Effective corporate training, such as simulations, will allow learners to put their new knowledge to the test in scenarios that parallel their job duties. These types of training are more likely to positively impact job performance by increasing employee engagement in training and offering higher knowledge retention rates. 

Instead of wasting money on check-box training that goes through the motions without achieving measurable results, you should invest in effective training efforts. Next, we will examine five training methods you may choose to implement in your organization. 

1. Roleplay-Based Training 

The first method you can employ to increase the effectiveness of your corporate training efforts is roleplay-based training. This type of training enables employees to act out a scenario in a controlled environment. 

Roleplaying exercises allow trainees to learn how to behave or what to do in a given situation when it arises in the real world. This immersive and interactive training method allows learners to learn by doing.

One downside of this method is that it is time- and resource-intensive. Since multiple participants must engage in this training collaboratively, you need to conduct roleplay training in person. This fact makes it more challenging to conduct this type of training in remote or hybrid work environments. 

It can also be challenging to measure results without bias in this method. 

2. Classroom-Based Training 

Another training method you may want to consider is classroom-based training. Classroom training is a classic training and professional development approach involving gathering employees in a presentation room. A speaker then conducts training via audiovisual training resources.

This type of training is effective in certain situations, such as teaching case studies. You may also want to use this type of training to cover broad information as a starting point before breaking out into groups and diving into more in-depth trainings using another method. 

The downside of classroom-based training is that it is not immersive. As a standalone training method, it is also difficult to measure the effectiveness of this type of training. Classroom-based training is generally only effective when used in conjunction with another training method. 

3. Job Shadowing/On-the-Job Training 

On-the-job training is the ultimate example of learning while doing. In this method, your learners will learn how to do the job while performing the job. This type of training is often used during onboarding processes, where a new employee will shadow a more senior employee for a period to learn how the job should be done.

On-the-job training is effective because it allows the learner to gain muscle memory by interacting with the actual work environment while learning. This type of training can also create a mentor/mentee relationship with the senior employee, facilitating the new hire’s acclimation to the new environment. 

Job shadowing is a time-intensive training method, as your senior employee must halt their usual job duties to walk the new hire through the ropes. You also risk passing on poor habits from one employee to another using this method. Lastly, on-the-job training opens you to the risk of a trainee making a mistake that has real-world consequences. 

4. Simulation-Based Training 

Your fourth option for effective corporate training methods is to utilize simulation-based training. Simulation-based training creates a controlled, real-world environment in which the trainee can learn new skills and apply them immediately.

A benefit of simulation-based training is it allows the learner to apply new skills in an environment where they can gain real-time feedback through measurable results. Simulations also help train soft skills by allowing trainees to apply problem-solving and communication skills. 

You can also use simulations like the ones offered by CapsimInbox to provide training in bite-sized microlearning segments.

The chief downside of simulation-based training is that this method can take time to implement if you need a highly customized simulation to fit your use case. 

5. Coaching or Mentoring 

The last training method we’ll discuss in this post is the method of coaching and mentoring. This method involves one-on-one training conducted on an individual basis to provide each employee with guidance, feedback, and support.

This method is advantageous because it allows you to provide immediate feedback and offer a support system for each learner. Your trainees can also build relationships with their mentor or coach. This method of training is also immersive and interactive. 

Related: How to Upskill Your Workforce in 2022: A Step-by-Step Approach

Coaching and mentoring are some of the most time- and resource-intensive training methods, as they must occur one-on-one to be effective. Using this method, you may encounter many of the same challenges as job shadowing and on-the-job training.

Which is the Most Effective Corporate Training Method? 

So, which of these five options is the most effective corporate training method? The answer is… it depends.

No training method will work for all businesses, situations, and learners. However, some methods are more universal and effective than others. You may want to consider simulation training to get the maximum benefit from your training without sacrificing the time and resources needed to engage in sometimes less-than-reliable one-on-one training methods.

Simulation training allows you to train your workforce effectively and efficiently without running the risk of real-world errors or bad habits getting passed on from one employee to another.

Check out our free, self-guided demo today to see how CapsimInbox’s simulation training can help you level up your employees.