If you are fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be at the helm of a team, it may come as no surprise that it can be an uphill battle  when it comes to motivating your  team mates. 

For some, just the mention  of  the words ‘learning’ or ‘training’ is enough to set off negative comments by team members. Whereas others get excited, not to be able to learn but to get an opportunity to spend time away from their everyday routine.

But why these reactions? Why the negativity when a business is investing time and money in its people? 

This article investigates some quick tips and techniques that you can  utilise  to and engage people in your organization to enjoy learning and ensure that they get maximum benefit from attending training courses.

Don't Use Training as A Fix-All Solution 

When noticing a team member underperforming, first determine the cause for the knowledge or skill gap. Lack of training may not be the sole reason for why your employee is not performing to the best of their abilities. Consider potential personal issues, lack of motivation or other causes for unhappiness. There might be instances where lack of adequate guidance or mentoring results in inadequate productivity. These factors will not be addressed by encouraging training. Ensure your employees are happy and have the support they need. Once the basic factors are looked after, they will be more likely to want to grow as part of the team and take on further learning.

Provide Guidance, Support, and Input 

As a team leader, you can become a source of guidance and support.  Team members  will feel they have a partner in growing their careers.   As  your team members  work through their training, they will be motivated by positive guidance to improve themselves in their roles. As a leader personal encouragement and positivity can greatly contribute to their learning experience.

Grant Learning Autonomy 

Let  your team members  create a personalised career learning plan. Within the needs of the company they can choose to build their skills based on their long and  short-term  career goals.  Fortunately, there  are lots  of  learning  options available to professionals right now that can help them build these skills. The motivation comes when your team can see their progression align with their career goals and see that they are actually building new skills for the future. 

Sell the Benefits of Training 

Don't just send people to  courses, ensure they understand the benefits of why they are going.  Help them understand what they can get out of the training. If possible, try to relate it to other facets of their lives and how these new skills can improve them. 

Final Thoughts 

The need to motivate  your team to pick up beneficial skills is  becoming one of the most important things  you  can do for a company’s success. If  you can raise the team’s  engagement and motivation  to learn, it will positively impact productivity, performance, and  profitability.