Employee training can be the difference between "just a job" and a career worth staying for. It's also one of the biggest levers you have for building a team that sticks around and gets better every year. In fact, LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report 2025 found that managers who work for “career development champions” are, on average, 67% confident in the organization’s ability to retain qualified talent.
Most employers default to the same training approach year after year. That doesn’t mean you should too. Here are five employee training methods you can try to find the one that actually clicks for your team.
Onboarding vs. ongoing education
Before diving in, let’s differentiate between the two phases of training: onboarding and ongoing education.
Onboarding training helps new team members learn the initial skills they need to do their job. It also exposes them to the culture and mission of your business.
Ongoing education teaches existing employees new skills that help them get better at their jobs and advance to leadership roles within your company. To keep great employees, you need to give them professional growth opportunities.
Now that we’ve sorted that out, let’s take a look at some training methods.
Method #1: On-the-job training
On-the-job training (OJT) is exactly what it sounds like: a form of workplace training where a new hire shadows an experienced employee, then does the work themselves under the supervision of a mentor. This type of training works well for hands-on work, like customer service or labor.
Is on-the-job training right for me?
OJT is a great option for small businesses because it’s inexpensive and can happen on day one. If your new hire learns better by doing, job shadowing first can help get them up to speed quickly.
The quality of the training can vary wildly based on who exactly is involved. You can prevent inconsistency by setting up a detailed onboarding program, focusing on relevant problem-solving skills, observing the first hands-on training session, and stepping in when needed to avoid skills gaps early on.
OJT can be a little overwhelming if your candidate is diving in head first, so be sure to schedule regular check-ins to keep tabs on how your staff is progressing.
Method #2: Independent training
With this method, your team trains through independent study sessions. This can include video training, webinars, or e-learning courses that are usually completed through a learning management system (LMS). There’s often a quiz at the end that sums up everything the session covered.
Independent training works best if your employee needs to pass an exam, complete compliance training, or obtain a specific certification. For example, restaurant cooks may need to pass a food handling exam or a real estate agent may need to pass a state broker exam in order to get their license.
Is independent training right for me?
For some people, independent training can be isolating and demotivating. It’s not the most interactive training method, and without group discussion and real-world applications, it can feel stale quickly. You may want to include more interactive opportunities, like group study sessions, to prevent your employee from getting lost while they go the independent route.
This method can quickly get expensive or time-consuming.
New hires may lose focus if they’re also trying to juggle other responsibilities. Try to make the materials as interesting as possible, give your team time to do the training during their workday, and add in checkpoints to test their knowledge as it applies to your business.
Method #3: Instructor-led training (ILT)
ILT is a form of social learning where you, or an outside instructor, teaches a class to your team about a specific area that will help them grow. Unless you hire a group of employees all at once, this method is best reserved for continuing education training programs like a leadership development course or a workshop on holiday sales techniques.
Is instructor-led training right for me?
To make this method work from a cost and time perspective, try to train as many employees at once. If your team works on a shift schedule, put the training on the calendar right away so they have ample time to plan around it.
Provide plenty of snacks and breaks to keep people fresh and engaged during the sessions.
Just like school, it’s easy for employees to get distracted. Build in ways for them to participate and stay interested, like by incorporating case studies or role-playing.
Method #4: Role-playing
While role-playing is a key component of classroom training, it’s also important enough to be included as its own method. Why’s that? Because it’s a form of simulation training that mimics the unpredictability of real life, which makes it particularly effective for sales or customer service training.
To get your creative juices flowing, here are some situations that make good fodder for role-playing:
Have a sales employee negotiate pricing with a prospective customer.
Have a restaurant server take food and drink orders from a guest.
Have an employee deal with a customer who is unhappy with the service they’ve received.
Is role-playing right for me?
Try it out and see how your team reacts. Before a shift, give your team some sample scenarios and have folks act out each side. Be creative—for instance, throw them a curveball and include situations that don’t happen too often, but will prep them for when they do. Depending on your industry, you may want to include situations around unexpected delays, extra-inquisitive customers, and other forces outside of your team’s control.
Make it fun. Role-playing works when it engages employees and gets them to think on their feet. Don’t spoil this by role-playing too often or by focusing your training only on unpleasant situations, like dealing with an irate customer.
Method #5: Educational apps
This method is a twist on traditional independent and classroom training methods. Your team learns new skills via courses and quizzes that are delivered through an app they use with their phones. This method can work well for younger staff who are rarely without their phones. Plus, they have the freedom to complete the courses on their own schedule (within limits).
Some of the better-designed apps use gamification to keep employees interested and excited to learn.
Notable apps in this space include Mitti, TalentCards, Axonify, and OttoLearn, which provide between-shift, gamified training to “deskless” teams on a tight schedule.
Should I use an app to train my team?
Try to find an app that already exists and covers the materials you need. Building a custom app is going to be way too expensive for most small businesses.
A poorly designed app is just going to be a pain, so spend time comparing options before picking one.
Not everyone owns an iPhone, so be sure that the app you pick works for both iOS and Android operating systems. Survey your team before selecting the app to make sure your team can actually access it.
Ready to get going? Pick a method that makes sense for your business, set up your program, and watch as your team uses those training wheels to truly excel.
FAQs
What's the difference between onboarding and ongoing employee training?
Onboarding trains new hires on the specific skills, tools, and culture they need to start their job, while ongoing education builds new skills for existing employees so they can grow into more advanced or leadership roles. Both are important. Employees who don't get growth opportunities after onboarding are more likely to leave.
How do I choose the right employee training method for my team?
The right method depends on the skill you're teaching and how your team learns best. On-the-job training suits hands-on roles like customer service, while independent e-learning is great for compliance or certification needs. Instructor-led sessions or role-playing work well for skills like sales negotiation. Most businesses mix two or three methods rather than relying on just one.
Is on-the-job training effective for small businesses?
Yes, on-the-job training is one of the most cost-effective options for small businesses because it requires no separate curriculum and new hires can start learning on day one. Its main risk is inconsistency, since quality depends on the mentor doing the training. Pairing it with a structured onboarding checklist and regular check-ins helps close skill gaps early.
How much does employee training cost for a small business?
Training costs vary by method and industry, but the Association for Talent Development's 2024 State of the Industry report found organizations spent an average of $1,283 per employee on workplace learning in 2023. Low-cost methods like on-the-job training and role-playing can bring that number down significantly for small businesses with tighter budgets.
What's the best training method for customer service or sales teams?
Role-playing and on-the-job training tend to work best for customer service and sales teams because both simulate real customer interactions. Role-playing lets employees practice scenarios like dealing with an unhappy customer or a price negotiation in a low-stakes setting, while on-the-job training builds confidence by having new hires shadow a coworker before handling calls or orders on their own.
