Studies Link Training to Innovation in the Workplace

Recent data on training and how it relates to innovation draws a few interesting conclusions from the research that can be applied to industries in transition such as banking 

1.  More training within a company leads to not only better process innovation, but also better product innovation. In other words, better training can actually lead to new innovative products after employees are trained to think a different way or increase knowledge.  

2.  On the job training is at least as important as classroom or digital training. The reason is in part that when you are teaching innovation, people need to see thoughts and strategy in action. However, research does not disregard traditional classroom training.  

3.  A company that creates a positive view and application to training in general will have an overall positive effect on firm level productivity through process innovation (the way people solve problems and think through problems).   

One of the reasons is that continuous training leads to cutting edge knowledge. In other words, the employees are up to speed on the latest information, which is extremely important for innovation. Also, there are studies that show a lack of skill within an enterprise is a huge deterrent to innovation. This may sound like the first point stated another way, but not exactly. It is not just about having cutting edge knowledge but also the simple skill sets to do the present job in a thorough way.  If a bank is filled with employees that struggle just to do the job on a regular basis, it will slow down their minds in such a way that they are less likely to innovate. Put another way, training leads to people having the basic knowledge to do their jobs in an efficient way, thus freeing their minds for the ability to think through how to do things better. 

Lastly, training that provides interaction is more likely to hold. With more interaction, instructors had a better opportunity to see if employees were actually learning the information that was being taught. When employees interact, it is more likely that they are able to transfer the information to their work because they have an opportunity to try and relate it to their work setting.