How to Rock Corporate Training in Your IT Company: Insights from ITExpert and BotsCrew

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According to Gallup, 59% of millennials, the backbone of today’s IT workforce, prioritize opportunities for learning and growth when selecting a company to work for.

However, effectively building a system for training employees without blowing the budget can be quite challenging. In this article, we’ve highlighted various approaches, experiments, and tips to help organize corporate training efficiently. Here’s the expertise shared by:

• Maryna Kosich, Recruitment Team Lead & Account Manager at ITExpert.
• Veronika Markovych, HR Lead at BotsCrew.

Why and when should you hold corporate training sessions

Technologies, development methodologies, tools, and corporate requirements are constantly changing. To keep up with progress and remain competitive, companies invest in the training and development of their teams. Nowadays, Learning & Development (L&D) stands out as a pivotal area for business growth. In fact, in 63% of American companies, leaders in the corporate training sector even hold seats on the board of directors.

New technologies emergence

In the ever-evolving IT field, technologies undergo constant change. Without upskilling, your team risks falling behind the competition, which can significantly impact the company’s competitiveness and profits.

Bridging knowledge and skill gaps

Training of the organization’s personnel can be useful to eliminate “gaps” in the skills or knowledge of the team. For example, it will help train the team in a certain tool, pass AWS certification, and improve English level or conflict resolution skills for team leads.

Onboarding new team members

New team members require onboarding and specialized training to swiftly and effectively acquaint them with work processes, fostering enthusiasm from their very first task, and retaining valuable specialists during the initial stage. Statistics reveal that 4% of new hires depart from a company after a negative first day, while an additional 33% actively seek new job opportunities within six months of starting if onboarding is poorly executed.

Upskilling and retraining IT specialists

Staff retraining and reskilling are also important considerations — for instance if you’re switching to a new technology stack that your team isn’t familiar with. Additionally, when a team leader identifies a specialist’s potential for a different role, they might offer them a chance to switch departments. Alternatively, an employee might express interest in transitioning to another specialization or domain by applying for an internal vacancy. In such cases, providing employee training and mentorship support within the company can be invaluable.

Revamping employee training: your guide to success

Recognizing the importance of internal employee training, how can we craft educational programs that maximize budget efficiency?

Assess the training needs

Before developing a training program, assess the needs of the company, department, team, or individual employee — for example:

• Boost managers’ leadership skills.
• Enhance technical proficiency in specific yechnologies.
• Refine conflict resolution and soft skills for programmers.
• Provide training on CRM, Cloud Providers and CI/CD Mastery.

Applying a one-size-fits-all approach to training is ineffective. Topical employee training demands a tailored, individualized approach.

Gather employee feedback

Engage employees in the training development process by soliciting their input on what they’d like to learn. Their insights can highlight areas requiring training and illuminate challenges faced at work.

Sample employee feedback questions:

• What do you need to feel more confident at work?
• Do you feel a lack of knowledge in this or that issue? If so, what exactly does this gap refer to?
• Do you feel that internal and external staff training could close this knowledge/skills “gap”?
• What methods of internal staff training are most effective for you?

For instance, when crafting the timetable for lectures and internal training events at ITExpert, the team employs regular Google forms to gather insights on new topics of interest and areas specialists would like to explore or to tell about. Knowledge sharing and countionious development are out priority values.

Establish objectives and metrics for assessing performance

Before commencing your training initiatives, establish clear and measurable program goals, facilitating evaluation for both management and employees. Determine metrics to assess learning effectiveness.

At BotsCrew, internal promotions serve as a key indicator of training success, reflecting team members’ growth. In 2023 alone, 7 internal promotions were recorded. Additionally, customer feedback and internal department metrics contribute to evaluating training effectiveness within the team. For instance, active utilization or implementation of new technologies by specialists post-training is viewed as a positive signal.

Encourage teammates throughout the learning journey

At times, an employee begins training with eagerness and excitement, but halfway through video lectures and completing assignments, their motivation dwindles. They may find themselves lacking in both motivation and time to make it to the finish line. Meanwhile, a colleague may be overwhelmed with work tasks, frequent meetings, or simply not feeling up to it, realizing that training isn’t currently a priority.

Use some tricks to keep your staff motivated: 

• Come up with a reward for those who reach the end of the training. Options include corporate merchandise, extra paid time off, a lunch meeting with the company’s founder, sponsorship for a specialized conference, and more.

• Encourage group discussions as part of the learning process by forming mini-groups akin to The Buddy System. Identify interested colleagues and convene to discuss and analyze the material learned. These informal gatherings yield positive results, enhancing material retention and boosting motivation to learn. With friends, you achieve more!

• Encourage employees to publicly declare their learning intentions on social media platforms, work chats, etc., or organize a mastermind group. This fosters social accountability among colleagues, reducing the likelihood of backing out from their commitment to learning.

Exploring the perfect L&D process within the company: real-life examples  

From onboarding to promotions, we’ve analyzed the internal training process at ITExpert and BotsCrew.

Maryna Kosich

Recruitment Team Lead & Account Manager at ITExpert

“At ITExpert, we’ve been running training programs for new recruiters for years. We strongly believe that individuals with strong soft skills, even if they lack experience, can contribute significantly to our business. That’s why we offer opportunities to gain technical skills through training and hands-on practice.

Even before onboarding officially starts, our Team Leads offer new hires basic advice, recommendations, and instructions to help them prepare. For instance, they may suggest watching a video, webinar, or presentation to familiarize themselves with initial tasks before diving in. This approach is convenient and reduces stress for both mentors and mentees.

The onboarding process and subsequent training are broken down into components:

1. During the initial 2–3 weeks, our team members are closely mentored by a senior colleague. The mentor assigns tasks, assists in solving them, and explains any potential nuances. Given that our recruiters frequently handle challenging vacancies that even the client’s internal team struggles with, our recruits, even at the junior level, must be prepared for this level of complexity.

Additionally, new hires receive a comprehensive onboarding plan, access to a variety of useful resources on different topics, a technology handbook, an internal manual outlining teamwork rules, and more.

2. The second critical component is technical training. To excel in their roles, recruiters must possess a broad spectrum of knowledge not only about recruitment practices but also about the IT industry as a whole, the requirements of specific positions they are sourcing for, market dynamics, and the values of IT companies.

In our company, this aspect falls under the purview of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The foundational training program encompasses various domains, the nuances of hiring candidates with diverse technical backgrounds, and emerging trends. Weekly lectures and Q&A sessions with the CTO are conducted to facilitate better comprehension and provide guidance on applying knowledge practically.

3. The third component, which happens to be my favorite 🙂, involves internal knowledge sharing facilitated by experienced colleagues. This encompasses a vast library of recorded lectures by our team members, along with ongoing exploration of new and pertinent topics for ITExpert employees. Within our internal club, we engage in theoretical discussions, analyze case studies, and tackle practical assignments.

The lecture schedule remains adaptable and swiftly adjusts to address current market challenges and company needs. Topics range from “HR interview techniques” to “Managing negative comments and reviews on social media.” Additionally, several times a year, our management organizes comprehensive training sessions and workshops focused on honing specific skills such as communication with clients and sourcing.

4. Grading system, career planning initiatives, and knowledge maps. They form the foundation for continuous growth opportunities within our team. Beyond basic training, individuals have the chance to further develop their expertise in specific recruitment areas through our grading framework tailored to our company’s objectives.

The grading system provides clear guidance on one’s position along the career path, highlighting areas for improvement and more effective goal achievement. Based on this assessment, employees craft personalized career plans for the upcoming period, outlining actionable steps and milestones to reach their objectives. Guidance from recruiting team leaders, the L&D manager, and seasoned colleagues assist individuals in navigating their career trajectory and pursuing additional training opportunities.

Additionally, our internal library of lectures and books, reimbursement for external training, and access to new webinars within our club further support ongoing learning and professional development.”

Veronika Markovych

HR Lead at BotsCrew

“BotsCrew has several approaches to employee training depending on the employee journey:

• Onboarding. On the first working day, we create a detailed onboarding plan together with the new colleague’s direct manager and familiarize the employee with the plan so that there is an understanding of what will await the colleague in the next two weeks.

In the first three days, the specialist, regardless of the position, gets to know in more detail what kind of company we are, and how we work, as well as familiarize himself/herself with our corporate culture.

Later, there is a more focused onboarding: for instance, developers get to know the main technologies we use on projects, our platform, the product, and how everything is built. We collect all the necessary materials, and the person processes them independently. Each task is assigned a responsible person who can mentor the newcomer.

• Knowledge-sharing sessions. 2023 has become a turbulent year in terms of technology. Since the main specialization of our company is chatbot development and AI has made a revolution in recent years, we’ve launched various knowledge-sharing sessions.

How it works: one of our tech specialists selects a topic they’ve previously worked on and prepares a sharing session around it. They create a presentation, cover key points, and delve into the specifics of operating that particular technology. We record these lectures and integrate them into our knowledge base. Later on, we leverage these materials for training new employees.

For example, one of our founders specializes in sales, therefore, he has tremendous experience in communicating with potential customers (and more). He created a two-day webinar course on communications for everyone.

• Benefit — education. We have a budget for the training of each teammate, which covers the study of English (50% of the cost, valid from the very first working day) and other training (starts after a completed probation period and provides a certain quantum).

If we see some cool online courses in IT or interesting events that can be useful to our teammates, we pay for them and inform colleagues about the access in group chats.

• Mentoring programs. When new employees join the company, a mentor is assigned to them. It is usually performed by the team leader, accompanying during the onboarding and on the project after passing the probation period.

Personal Development Plan. We draw up a PDP for each employee in the company. It should match the wishes of the teammate and the goals of the company. If you’re, let’s say, a Java developer, but you want to take a course in copywriting, that’s cool, but it won’t really match your professional growth. In addition to the development plan itself, we schedule regular check-ins to easily track the employee’s progress and provide the necessary support when needed. We also add deadlines and additional resources that are needed to fulfill the goals.”

Millennials and Gen Z will be excited: embracing the latest in corporate training trends

Embrace innovative and creative methods to keep staff training engaging. Check out some of the latest trends companies are using today!

Gamification

Dan Schobel, director of research at Future Workplace, believes that Gen Z (born between 2000 and 2010) and members of the Alpha generation (born between 2010 and 2024) gravitate towards gamification elements. In a separate study, 67% of respondents noted that a gamified course encouraged them to study more diligently.

In 2018, Deloitte introduced a unique app for new analysts called “The Zombie Apocalypse.” Divided into modules, each section concludes with a code to unlock the next level. The app effectively hones consulting and software development skills in an engaging format.

Mobile Learning

On average, people spend up to 5 hours on their smartphones, with over 75% confessing to smartphone addiction. However, this gadget time can be transformed into productive moments, like utilizing smartphones for staff training. Leveraging mobile technologies makes learning exceptionally flexible, allowing users to engage anytime, anywhere. For instance, you can catch up on lectures during your subway commute to work.

Microlearning

Specialists are willing to allocate only 1% of their working time to training, approximately 24 minutes per week. Surveys also indicate that over 50% of individuals are inclined to utilize corporate learning tools more frequently if the courses are shorter.

Considering these numbers, microlearning emerges as an effective staff training format, typically lasting 5–25 minutes per day. It enhances information retention by up to 80% and doubles engagement compared to traditional programs.

AR and VR Technologies

Numerous Fortune 500 companies, including Walmart and Boeing, are leveraging VR and AR for employee training programs. For instance, Walmart utilized VR to ready its staff for high-pressure scenarios leading up to Black Friday.

“If your training isn’t up to this standard, count me out”: a checklist for managers and HR/L&D teams

Here’s a quick checklist, drawing from the experiences of ITExpert and BotsCrew, as well as various employee training scenarios:

✅ Goals and metrics for measuring success are established before training.

✅ Training is tailored to meet the specific needs of employees.

✅ Feedback is gathered to determine the most engaging and convenient format.

✅ Lecturers are thoughtfully chosen based on expertise and engaging presentation style.

✅ Training incorporates elements of gamification to enhance engagement.

✅ Post-training evaluations are conducted to assess effectiveness and collect feedback for future programs.

The future of work revolves around skills, making investments in the knowledge and capabilities of your employees one of the most valuable contributions business owners can make to their company. Investing in your team is like putting money in your own success bank!