Remote employees do better when they receive training: Survey

Despite, or perhaps because of, the uncertainty and pressure that characterized this year, remote employees place great importance on training, according to a new survey by TalentLMS. The survey, which gathered responses from 1,000 remote workers across the US, found that 88 percent of the respondents felt access to training was somewhat or very important--and if they had already had training, they were even more likely to feel this way.

However, the survey also found a mismatch between employee expectations and employer actions: only half of the respondents said they had actually received training in the last six months.

There is also a mismatch in the types of skills employees want and what employers are training them on. The overwhelming majority of respondents, especially younger ones, most wanted hard skills training. Soft skills training came second, with COVID-19 and compliance training lagging far behind. But based on the findings, employers are far more likely to provide COVID-19 and compliance training rather than hard or soft skills, possibly out of concern for health, safety, and local regulations.

The reason for wanting training was fairly clear: survey respondents thought they needed it to do their job better, and in fact, those who had received training consistently rated themselves better in indicators such as productivity, time management, work-life balance, and ability to communicate with team and colleagues.

In addition, the survey found that training affects job satisfaction for remote employees in much the same way as it is known to affect in-office workers. While remote employees are for the most part happy with working from home, they were more likely to feel happy if they had received training, and were also 20 percent more likely to feel valued by their company than those who had not received training. While the survey did not explore the correlation between training and retention, the results did indicate that remote employees who plan to leave their company are likely to cite lack of proper training as a reason.