Every year 24/7 Wall St (247wallst.com) publishes its list of the 10 worst American companies to work for. This year’s list, based on research by Evan Comen, Samuel Stebbins and Thomas C. Frohlich, makes for unpleasant reading. It includes a list of the 10 worst companies, which we will not share in today’s post. It also explains why those employers made the list. Some reasons include unhealthy work-life balance, lack of advancement, low pay, and incompetent management.

But there are other reasons too, and that is why we are writing about the list today . . .

Many of the problems that make employers “bad” could be prevented or reversed with training

If you read between the lines of what makes these companies so bad to work for, you’ll often see these underlying issues at work:

• Employees lack basic, needed skills. When companies fail to train new hires and current employees on the most basic skills they need to perform their jobs, their frustration quickly builds to the bursting point.
• Micromanaging and lack of autonomy. There is no getting around the reality that some managers are prone to engage in the intrusive supervisory styles that add up to micromanagement. Yet when both managers and the people they supervise are trained to understand and use a well-thought-out set of procedures, micromanaging stops happening so often. Again, it is a problem that can be dramatically reduced through effective planning and training.
• Frustrations in dealing with customers and the public. When employees are not trained to work effectively with customers, frustrations rise. When they do not understand company procedures or rules, the same issues occur. Again, many of these problems can be anticipated and prevented with a program of focused, well designed training.
• An unmanageable workload. Some employers really do pour on so much work that it becomes impossible for workers to do their jobs. But in most all cases, worker morale improves through training that makes sure that employees possess the skills and knowledge they need to handle their work quickly and effectively.
• Lack of clear expectations. This issue seems to underlie problems at many of the “10 worst” companies that are on the 24/7 Wall St list. When employees do not know what is expected of them or how their performance will be evaluated, they feel like they are working in a vacuum. Training sessions, especially during the onboarding process for new hires, can be used to clarify expectations and motivate employees to excel.

Is It Time to Review Your Training?

Is your training working hard enough to combat problems like those in the new year and beyond? We invite you to contact a Tortal Training professional for a review.