Employee Training: What It Is and Why It's Important

Key takeaways

Employee training is any instruction or activity that helps employees learn new skills or improve their current skills and performance.

• Employee training empowers employees and organizations simultaneously by improving company culture, increasing productivity, reducing turnover, and enhancing employee satisfaction and work-life balance.

• Types of employee training include workplace skills training, technical training, safety training, compliance training, and more.

• You can implement employee training through methods like virtual courses, on-the-job training, microlearning, mentorship, and peer training.

Discover why employee training is essential and how to make it a part of your organization. When you’re ready to start investing in employee training, explore Coursera for Business to provide your employees with access to flexible, on-demand learning from top institutions and industry leaders, helping them grow professionally while contributing greater value to your organization. 

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What is employee training? 

Employee training is any instruction or activity that helps employees learn new skills or improve their current skills and performance. The term may describe anything from safety training for an entire staff to introducing a new hire to the responsibilities of a particular job or training an existing employee on how to use new technology. 

Some use “employee training” interchangeably with “employee development.” While they go hand-in-hand, you’ll usually find slight differences. Training teaches something new or builds on something that already exists, and it is usually a shorter process. Development is more of a long-term, multi-layered approach. For example, employee training might require getting a new tablet for the office and teaching your employees the basics of using it. Sending an employee to take an online course or earn a certification to enhance their current skills, however, falls more under employee development. 

Read more: The Importance of Skill Development and Where to Start

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Why is employee training important? 

Employee training empowers employees and organizations simultaneously by improving company culture, increasing productivity, and offering numerous other benefits. It is typically mutually beneficial, leading to lower turnover, increased sales for your organization, and more contentment and work-life balance for your employees.

Take a look at some of the more specific benefits you may see as you implement employee training. 

Benefits for your employees

Employees who receive high-quality employee training tend to be more satisfied overall, but the benefits continue. According to a 2025 report, 59 percent of employees believe training improves their job performance, 51 percent say it gives them more self-confidence, 41 percent report better time management skills, and 33 percent believe training has helped them get a pay raise [1]. Other reasons your employees may appreciate good training include: 

• Increasing autonomy in the workplace

• Maintaining a safer work environment

• Feeling more supported by their employers 

• Acquiring skills and knowledge they can use to advance their careers

• Learning skills and information that may lead to a leadership role in the future 

• Developing a greater understanding of their roles and the tasks they need to complete 

Benefits for your organization  

It's no secret that satisfied, well-trained employees are more likely to benefit your organization. They're less likely to leave for another job when they feel content where they are, which means you have a lower turnover rate and lower onboarding costs. Other ways that employee training might benefit your organization include:  

• Safer workplace (fewer accidents, fines, and lawsuits) 

• Increased profits due to better performance and higher productivity 

• Increased engagement and enthusiasm among your staff 

• A better pipeline of potential future leaders within your organization 

• Improved company culture 

• Increased collaboration and better workplace relationships

• Morale boost for both employees and leaders

• Ability to implement new technology and strategies with greater ease 

• Improved company reputation as employees spread the word about how they enjoy working for your organization

What are some types of employee training? 

You can categorize the various types of employee training based on the goal and subject matter. Some common types of training include:

• Workplace skills training: This type of training enhances human skills, such as communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking, which are generally just as important as technical skills, experience, and education. 

• Technical skills training: Technical skills training helps employees learn how to use new technology or develop skills related to their specific roles, such as learning a programming language, budgeting, web design, or medical coding. 

• Safety training: Safety training helps employees develop health and safety habits to prevent workplace accidents and reduce illnesses and injuries.  

• Compliance training: Compliance training typically involves instruction on laws or policies that may impact your organization and employees. For example, if a new diversity law passes, you may use compliance training to show how it can affect your workplace. Safety training can sometimes fall into this category.  

• Pre-onboarding and onboarding training: This type of training is for new employees. It can range from an orientation that provides an employee with information about the company's values and culture to instruction on how to begin performing various tasks related to their role. 

• General workplace training: General workplace training is a broader category encompassing a wide variety of training opportunities. It usually focuses on reskilling or upskilling technical and human skills. It can apply to new and veteran workers, your entire staff, or just one employee. 

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Common ways to implement employee training 

While some employee training involves gathering a group of workers around a conference table to listen to an instructor, others may require employees to watch a video, such as one required by your corporate office on sexual harassment. You can also get creative with how you present training to workers. Some ideas include:

• Virtual training by an instructor, either live or asynchronous

• Virtual courses and lessons

• On-the-job training

• Simulation or role-play 

• Peer training

• Microlearning

• In-person instruction

• Blended learning 

• Mentorship

• Video training

• Shadowing

• Hands-on training 

• Coaching 

• One-on-one meetings

Employee training best practices

Being aware of effective strategies for planning and implementing an employee training program can help you get the best return on your time, effort, and investment, benefitting both your employees and your organization. Consider the following employee training best practices: 

• Set concrete goals: Ensure you have a clear purpose for training your employees. Develop a metric to determine whether your training is successful. 

• Promote extrinsic learning: Encourage your employees to continue their learning beyond your training program. Set them up for success by explaining how it can benefit their careers and by providing them with tools such as access to reading materials, videos, and courses. 

• Personalize training methods: Tailor your training methods to suit each group or individual as much as possible. Consider different learning styles, employee feedback, and past reception and engagement. Offer a variety of opportunities so everyone can find something that makes them comfortable.

• Consider an incentive: Employees may welcome video training but may be hesitant to attend compliance training meetings, for example. Give everyone who does a gift card, or hold a raffle for a day off. 

• Pay attention to employee feedback: Ask your employees what is and isn't working for them, and make the appropriate changes.

• Leave time for learning: Prioritize quality over quantity. Employees will learn at different rates, so you may need to give some more time for concepts to sink in.  

• Leverage peer learning: Employees may feel more comfortable around their colleagues than a manager or supervisor. Some simply learn best by watching someone do the job. Create a mentorship program or allow new employees to shadow more experienced ones. 

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