A quality laboratory staff training program nurtures a flexible workforce, improves efficiency, helps limit overtime, and provides quality testing. Set your laboratory and clients up for success—use these tips for creating a clinical lab staff training program.
Identify Learning Objectives and Success Metrics
When creating a training program, you must start with the desired results in mind. Identify the learning objectives you want to accomplish and determine metrics for success.
What do your employees need to learn? How will you know they’ve learned the necessary processes and information?
Considering these questions early on will give you insight into your staff’s gaps in knowledge and how those gaps hinder performance. Goals should align with your laboratory’s objectives and pertain to your lab’s everyday work experiences.
Make Learning Interactive
The next tip for creating a staff training program for your clinical lab is to make learning interactive. Your training program should be clear and concise, but it doesn’t need to be boring. In fact, the more your staff engages with the material, the better the outcomes.
One way to raise engagement is to use games and fun activities that require participation. Polls, trivia, and group work can get your staff involved.
You can also make trainings more interactive by opening a discussion session. Ask your staff questions and let them share their ideas for an allotted time.
If the group is reticent, you can ease them into discussion by asking the question and giving them a moment to think of their answers. Once the time is up, let staff members share their thoughts with the people near them for a minute or so. Then, call on individual staff members to share their personal thoughts or interesting thoughts their partners shared.
Assess Training Success
Once participants have finished the training, assess how well they’ve learned the information. You can even have staff members demonstrate their skills in the lab if it’s not too time-consuming.
In general, one of the best ways to assess training success is to look for consistently accurate results; some staff members might need individual support to develop their skills further. However, if you notice gaps in knowledge or skills across the board, you need to rework your training program.
Consider Hiring a Third Party
Factors including cost and staff expertise may influence whether you should hire a third party to conduct trainings. Compare ongoing and one-time lab consults to determine which might best meet your needs.
Ongoing consulting can help you make multiple changes that improve your staff training program. But for singular moments, such as when adding a new testing line, you might prefer a one-time consultation. Either way, an experienced firm can train your staff on instrumentation, sample prep, and data analysis.
Look into the services a consulting firm provides and supplement these services with in-house training. Doing this creates a balanced approach that blends an outside expert perspective with your own expertise to improve your staff’s skills.