Most employees want to continue to learn and appreciate new learning opportunities, especially if those opportunities make them more successful in their jobs. At the same time, however, when you announce an upcoming round of training, those same employees probably groan and complain. If you’re like most business owners, you understand that it’s essential to train your employees if you expect them to perform at the highest level – you’ve heard the success stories that prove just how important employee training is.

But what happens when you train your employees the wrong way? The scary truth is that bad training can cost you in ways you probably haven’t realized. Here are four ways employees are known to react when subjected to low-quality training programs.

They Tune Out

New employees are excited to join your team – but they’re less excited to go through your training process. If you don’t invest in making your employee training experience enjoyable and engaging from the start, new hires are not going to pay attention – they’re going to tune out everything you’re saying. It’s natural human behavior to stop actively listening when you lose interest and are bored by what’s going on around you. If your employees stop listening, they won’t learn the tools they need to succeed.

They Forget What They’ve Learned

You ask your employees to go through training because you need to share crucial information with them. But that crucial information is worthless if they don’t absorb what you’re saying. If your employees forget what they’ve been taught, there’s no shortage of potential problems lurking in the very near future. Sloppy work and increased turnover are just two issues you’re going to run into. If your training content isn’t designed and delivered in a way that appeals to different learning styles, the chances of your employees absorbing and remembering the important parts are slim.

They Don’t Understand the Materials

There’s nothing worse for trainers than devoting time to prepare and teach important information, only to find out that no one understood the material. This is a common problem because many employees, especially new hires, are afraid to speak up and ask questions for fear of looking stupid and being embarrassed in front of their co-workers.

In other cases, employees walk away from training thinking they’ve grasped all the concepts, only to find out later that in fact, they’re unclear about how to implement what they’ve learned. Including tests at the end of each training module or session will ensure that your employees actually master the materials and are ready to get back on the job. Requesting feedback from participants is another way for instructors to gain perspective and find out if learners are in fact learning.

They Dread Attending Training

When you repeatedly subject employees to bad training, it should come as no surprise that they dread and resent having to sit through it. Once you create a bad taste in your employees’ mouths, you have to work that much harder to get them to pay attention and absorb training materials. Sound familiar? It’s not uncommon for employees to dread training. But if your employee dread training because your content is out of date, irrelevant, or overwhelming, it’s time to make some major changes. It’s never too later to revamp your training itinerary – just make sure you stick to useful information and present it in an engaging way to make the whole thing as enjoyable as possible. Instead of just the boring stuff, give them information that makes their jobs and lives better.

Chances are, your employees are hard-working and dedicated to excelling at their jobs. And they probably don’t want to waste time sitting through long, boring training sessions. If your training gives them the tools they need to excel, they’ll accomplish more and make your company more successful along the way.

Ever Wondered How Employees Will React to Bad Training?