{"id":643,"date":"2013-04-10T14:46:33","date_gmt":"2013-04-10T14:46:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/?p=643"},"modified":"2013-04-10T14:46:33","modified_gmt":"2013-04-10T14:46:33","slug":"testing-your-small-business-employees-can-help-them-make-the-grade-study-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/testing-your-small-business-employees-can-help-them-make-the-grade-study-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Testing your small business employees can help them make the grade, study says"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"smb-tech-trends\"<\/a>What would happen if you sprung a pop quiz on your small business team? Maybe you are about to announce a new product or service and you want to be sure everybody is up to speed. You may work in a highly regulated industry where the rules and regulations change frequently and your staff has to be up to date. Or maybe you have a company policy on Bring Your Own Device <\/a>(BYOD), and you want be sure everyone understands the dos and don\u2019ts. In all cases, you can\u2019t afford to have someone make a mistake. A test could tell you who needs to hit the books.<\/p>\n

A pop quiz may be met with less than enthusiasm, but it turns out that tests are not a waste of time, contrary to what many think. In the Inc. article \u201cWant Smarter Employees? Quiz Them,<\/a>\u201d corporate HR specialist, Suzanne Lucas, points out that tests actually help us learn and this applies not only to students but also to office workers. A recent study <\/a>published by the American Psychological Association bears this out,<\/p>\n

The study conducted by Rice University in Houston found that \u201cpeople appear to lean more when tested on material, rather than simply rereading or restudying the information.\u201d\u00a0 The experiment included 60 college students, age 18 to 25; 60 younger adults, age 18 to 25; and 60 older adults, age 55 to 65, either attending school or living in the Houston area.<\/p>\n

Study results indicated that students and adults in both age groups improved their retention of new information — as evidenced by taking a more difficult follow-up test — if they were tested on the material and received feedback, rather than just restudying the materials.<\/p>\n

\"checkMake training a priority<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rice University study makes a case for using tests to help your team learn new information or to master new skills. Testing, however, speaks to the bigger issue of ongoing team training at your small business.<\/p>\n

I addressed this in \u201cTraining your small business team within you budget.\u201d<\/a> pointing to several areas where you can cost effectively keep an ongoing training effort going to ensure employees have the required knowledge and skills to support business:<\/p>\n