Companies often think in strict terms of profit and loss. One vital component on the road to success and profit is the employee. To fully engage employees, managers must invest in training that not only helps them with their jobs but also lets them learn new skills and adapt to workplace changes.

Getting a good return on investment (ROI) regarding employees is a priority, and ongoing training is an excellent way to do it because it gives employees a future with the company. In return, you get a proactive, engaged and loyal worker, one willing to give her time and talent to the company.

Here we’ll go over some important training programs that will, in the end, contribute to the achievement of your company’s goals and the well-being and engagement of your employees.

Orientation Training Programs

Think of orientation training as an opportunity to welcome a new employee and communicate company goals from the get-go. It’s a chance to familiarize the employee with your brand, major players in your organization, your mission statement and code of conduct. It’s an introduction to your workplace culture and helps avoid miscommunication, a major source of employee and managerial discontent, lost time and employee turnover. With these potential problems in mind, why not set a positive tone for communication through an orientation program?

Health and Safety Training

In the workplace, it is your responsibility to keep employees trained in the latest health and safety practices. Industry is always developing new technologies, but sometimes those technologies come with an increased potential for injury. Comprehensive and consistent training reduces incidents of on-the-job injuries, which not only result in lost time for employees but also open up the company to potential lawsuits and increased insurance costs. There’s nothing worse than paying hundreds of thousands in fines, having a reputation stained, and an injured worker over something that’s entirely preventable.  Health and safety training is also necessary to ensure compliance with government regulations.

Even in non-industrial settings, there are health and safety issues that can be prevented or planned for with proactive health and safety training. At the minimum, training in first aid should be on your radar including training in CPR. Training will also ensure that every employee knows the policies and procedures for dealing with emergencies such as fire and other incidents where evacuation is a real possibility.

IT Training

IT training can be broadly defined. On one level, there is the IT professional; someone employed to interface with both hardware and software issues within an organization. This can encompass anything from servicing and troubleshooting computer hardware, setting up and maintaining the server and configuring LAN and WAN networks.

Increasingly, IT training means educating employees in how to use company software. This can be for industry-specific software such as SalesForce, a customer relationship management tool, or InDesign, a desktop publishing application or WordPress, which is used to create websites, conduct e-commerce and blogs. Learning software helps employees acquire transferable skills in HTML, PHP and JavaScript. Training in using social media, like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook is also on the rise as companies use these apps to build brands and engage customers across multiple platforms.

Time Management Training

With increased competition for customers, there are pressures for both management and employees to maximize the use of their time. A time management training program can be beneficial and often can be customized to your company’s culture. This training can help develop strategies for prioritizing projects and avoid last-minute crisis situations. It is also helpful in delineating how employees can better balance life and work issues.

Leadership Training Programs

These programs help instruct your employees in leadership skills including decision-making, successful communications and team building. Designed for personal growth and empowerment of individuals in your organization, they are effective at nurturing engaged employees.

Harassment Prevention Training

These programs help employees to recognize harassment in the workplace. They set definitions of harassment, legal options as well as procedures for reporting it to management. They also help to foster a workplace culture that is respectful, where there is zero tolerance for offensive behavior that is damaging to employees, management and your company at large.

Employee training will pay off in employee morale, low turnover, and recruitment of top talent. How can you afford not to invest in it?