Ideas for everyday training on a budget

Keeping communication lines open and employee training on track during tough times are vital to employee satisfaction. Organizations that communicate effectively are four times as likely to report high levels of employee engagement, according to the 2007/2008 Communication ROI Study by Watson Wyatt.

During times when budgets are strapped, it may take a little creativity and ingenuity to keep daily employee training from falling by the wayside. Some easy communication and information sharing ideas can help you provide valuable employee training.

By implementing just a few simple and cost-effective ideas for everyday training, you can enhance employee communication and boost job satisfaction. Here are a few to get you started:

Start a book club. Get a group together, possibly by department, and select business or career development topics everyone is interested in. Hold club meetings in a large lunchroom or meeting room and order some food. Buy the books at bulk discount and have employees pay their own lunch tab to attend. Generate discussion based on reading topics and allow everyone to share their opinions.

Begin a lunch program. Get employees together for a structured lunch meeting. It could be pizza or a nice lunch downtown, depending on everyone’s workload. Prepare an agenda including the latest industry-related news, interesting new articles and informative websites relevant to your business. Encourage all employees to come to the meeting with discussion topics and opinions. Plan for a question and answer period at the end of the lunch meeting.

Both programs should be completely voluntary, employees may turn away from anything extra curricular they’re asked to do. And remember, keeping it fun and interesting will keep employees coming week after week.