How can standard operating procedures improve employee training?

Creating a standard operating procedure is a key component of knowledge management and quality management strategy within a company. It is essential for improving the productivity of every employee at their workstation. What exactly are the benefits of drafting a standard operating procedure for employee training? As a specialist in digital solutions for business software adoption, Lemon Learning offers some insights.

What is a standard operating procedure?

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a document that precisely, concisely, and thoroughly describes each step involved in performing tasks related to a given procedure. It helps understand the intricacies of each work instruction for a specific role within the company.

SOPs can take various forms: videos, screenshots, images, tables, flowcharts, etc. Implementing these tools ensures the safety, reliability, consistency, and effectiveness of ongoing employee training operations.

The advantages of SOPs for employee training

Implementing a standard operating procedure offers several significant benefits for enhancing the quality of employee training.

Reduction of technical support costs

Creating an efficient guide allows each user to access all necessary resources within seconds to independently manage a common issue related to their workstation. Writing and distributing an SOP significantly reduces the risk of omissions or serious errors in performing company processes. This considerably limits the need for technical support team interventions.

Acceleration of onboarding

Easily integrate and train new employees by providing them with a detailed document to safely and autonomously perform their tasks for the first time. Implementing an SOP simplifies the initial supervision or coaching efforts of managers, designated internal mentors, or team leaders.

Increased training efficiency

After delivering training sessions, the trainer won’t be available 24/7 to assist learners in applying the acquired knowledge in real work situations. Finding essential information quickly to complete a task is often complicated due to the abundance of educational content provided during training. Additionally, it’s challenging for operators to remember everything they learned. SOPs provide almost instant pedagogical support to solve problems independently, especially when dealing with software with multiple features.

To create an effective and agile standard operating procedure that boosts business processes, Lemon Learning suggests integrating its AI Assistant into the company’s software. This interactive tool, available at all times, can scan multiple libraries of diverse educational resources in seconds. It can quickly draft reliable and personalized responses to help users whenever needed. The goal is to help employees familiarize themselves with work instructions and integrate the appropriate actions into their procedural memory as quickly as possible, thereby sustainably boosting the company’s productivity.

Employee satisfaction and engagement

The existence of an evolving knowledge repository related to procedures and SOPs in the company increases employees’ interest in training activities. Using these tools continually strengthens professional skills and knowledge, enabling employees to stay aligned with quality requirements associated with the company’s expertise.

How to implement an effective SOP?

An effective standard operating procedure aims to eliminate the difficulties employees face in performing tasks related to their roles within the company.

Choosing the right tools

List the business processes and procedures to be detailed. Each targeted activity should be broken down into simple, coherent, and easy-to-understand operations for a beginner. Consider selecting the best methods to optimize each training action (screenshots, images, videos, chatbots, informational bubbles, etc.). If the standard operating procedure is about handling business software, Lemon Learning is the tool you need to provide tooltips. You can also communicate in real-time with employees and accelerate their autonomous and reliable training.

Personalization and contextualization of content

Consider the experience of the targeted employee and the evolution of professional practices for their role. For complex procedures, interactive guides, decision trees, and videos are widely used. For simple operations, infographics or bullet-pointed texts with concrete examples may suffice. In purely textual content, adding visuals can help clarify the SOP steps. Always specify the use cases for the assistance solution.

Continuous monitoring and improvement

The guide should be validated by the most competent specialized managers within the company. An analytical dashboard can be used to evaluate how employees adopt the standard operating procedure. Based on employee feedback, regularly update the content to effectively address new business issues.

An SOP explains work instructions for a given role in a company. It greatly assists employees engaged in continuous personal training.