Employee training programs have the potential to be incredibly effective and beneficial resources, and the workforce appears to value continued education.
Did you know that 90% of employees would work with a company longer if there were an investment in learning?
According to 360Learning, “Employee training programs and, by inference, learning and development departments are important instruments in hiring, keeping, and re-training people”.
Corporate Employee training plans can include range of activities from onboarding new employees to addressing general or specialized skills, and re-training existing employees.
Whether you want to establish one (or more) programs or just refresh your current training plan, this article will help you design a successful training course or program for your employees. We will also offer you tips and tricks for devising the best employee training programs through this article.
What is an Employee Training Plan?
An employee training plan is a document that describes a training program. It describes the training objectives, learning outcomes, training techniques, tactics, and curriculum used to train employees within the organization.
Why Employee Training Plan is important?
Employee training provides several advantages to a business, that includes the following:
- Bridging knowledge gaps: Regularly investigating your employees’ skills helps discover knowledge gaps and ensures they have the competencies needed to accomplish their jobs.
- Enhancing productivity: Employees that receive frequent training gain new skills, update old skills, and become more confident, efficient, and productive in their professions.
- Improving employee retention: Implementing ongoing training programs makes employees feel valued and fully equipped to accomplish their tasks well. This results in improved job satisfaction, lower absence rates, and greater productivity.
- Enabling succession planning: Having a robust employee training plan guarantees that you have someone ready to take over when a team member quits.
- Consistency: A solid training plan ensures that everyone works from the same data repository. Training all employees in the same manner, fosters uniformity across the team, reduces the cost of training employees and guarantees that the company’s rules and procedures are followed as intended.
7 Steps to create a successful Employee Training Plan
Organizations look at employee training and development as a long-term plan, and training assists them in updating their employees, implementing new technology, and entering new markets. A poorly planned or performed employee training plan, on the other hand, might undermine these efforts and hold a company behind, costing it millions of dollars in lost revenue.
Here we will guide you through the seven steps in developing a successful employee training plan and discuss the dos and don’ts of constructing a comprehensive employee training plan.
1. Assess your employee needs and develop a training plan
The first step in creating a successful training plan is determining your goals for your company and your employees and what you will need to attain them.
It is also critical to develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to judge a company’s overall long-term success. KPIs, in particular, help assess a company’s strategic, financial, and operational achievements, particularly when you compare it to other organizations in the same industry.
A few questions to get you started are:
- Who is your training program’s intended audience?
- What are your short- and long-term objectives?
- What is the time frame for achieving those objectives?
- How will you determine success?
- What does success look like in the eyes of the employees?
- Selecting the software used for employee training
- How will you assess whether the training program has been successful?
2. Check available training resources
A training plan for employees requires more than assessing your company and employees’ needs. You should also be aware of the resources available to you, your budget, and the level of organizational support you can expect while implementing your employee training and development plan.
Here’s a checklist:
- Do you have existing training resources (Word papers, presentations, videos, and so on) that you can reuse?
- Do you have the necessary in-house knowledge and resources (content producers, video equipment, etc.) to create your training content?
- Do you have the funds to pay training professionals to generate unique training content for your company?
- Are there courses available online that meet some of your training requirements?
- Can you use the plethora of free online and offline training resources?
By answering such questions, you will better understand which training resources you have and areas that will require more investment.
3. Determine the type of employee training plan
You should consider the training program you wish to undertake while discussing your goals and objectives. Here are some suggestions:
- Workshop vs classroom style
- Industry conferences vs in-house seminars
- Individual training vs group training
- Management training vs skills-based training
- On-the-job training vs training from outside sources
- Training for professionalism, safety, quality etc.
4. Integrate feedback mechanisms
Because no training program is ideal from the start, don’t approach your training plan as if it were set in stone. Have the flexibility to make changes when they are necessary. To detect issues in your employee development program early on, you should continually monitor its progress and seek feedback from learners and stakeholders.
Here are some ways to integrate feedback:
- Examine test results and reports for troublesome courses (e.g., the most difficult, more unpopular, or less engaging ones)
- Conduct surveys to allow employees to rate their courses and instructors.
- Request that professors critique the content and provide suggestions for changes
- As your company grows and its priorities change, re-evaluate your training program. To train staff in new skills and workflows, remove obsolete information, introduce new courses, and revisit current ones
5. Design and develop training materials
An employee training plan is only as good as the training resources it contains. It is critical to have a thoroughly planned design before beginning development to guarantee that nothing is missing or out of order.
Remember to focus on the learning requirements of the employees rather than what is easy for the trainer. Also, make sure your content is appropriately geared toward meeting the learning objectives.
Training materials may include:
- Training guides for eLearning
- Presentations using PowerPoint or slide shows
- Job assistance
- Workbooks
- Online resources
6. Implement & evaluate training
Plan ahead of time for any logistics, such as scheduling and testing technology, to ensure it works. Before beginning the actual training, clarify the ground rules and communicate your expectations.
Evaluation and feedback are also critical components of the employee training process. It is preferable to request feedback from employees as soon as the program is completed so that everyone’s memories are fresh. For maximum efficiency, consider using online surveys or questionnaires, and requesting anonymous input may be the best approach.
7. Finalize your training plan
The final stage is to write, finalize, and map out your training plan. However, don’t just scribble down a high-level description and consider it done. Take the time to design a comprehensive employee training plan.
Types of training methods for employees
Employee training plans focus on improving various skills for employees to enhance their performance and productivity rates. They also help upskill them to prepare for what the future would require of them.
The employee training methods come in various shapes and sizes, and the variety continues to grow with each passing year. Each team, department, and company can choose the best training techniques for new and existing employees based on their individual needs.
Below are the different types of training methods:
1. Instructor-led training
ILT (Instructional-led Training) is a type of training in which an instructor guides a group of candidates or individuals.
2. Online training
Online training is delivered through the use of online videos, quizzes, and courses.
3. On-the-job training
On-the-job training, often known as hands-on training, focuses on the essential skills needed for the profession. Recruits promptly put this training approach to work.
4. Interactive training
Group activities, games, quizzes, evaluations, and anything else that keeps employees interested in the learning process are all examples of interactive training.
5. Modern training
Employee training methods have evolved in the modern workplace, including remote employees and people from many cultures. As a result, the best approach to deal with it is through social and online learning.
6. Group discussion and activities
This sort of employee training is best suited for problems requiring a collaborative approach to solve.
7. Leadership training
An excellent way to re-energize and reset current leaders’ thinking is to provide leadership training.
8. Employee simulation training
The most common simulation training method is to use a computer, augmented reality, or virtual reality equipment.
9. Role-playing training
Role-playing, like group discussions, asks employees to work through one part of their responsibilities in a controlled environment.
10. Case studies
Case studies can help employees learn about real-world difficulties in the workplace quickly.
According to Deloitte research, the average employee can devote only 1% of their workweek to professional learning. This is only 24 minutes per week for a 40-hour week, or 4.8 minutes per day. So, start making those 24 minutes more productive, engaging, and perhaps even enjoyable.
Conclusion
Careful planning and consideration is required while framing the Employee training programs. Following the steps and procedures mentioned above will make things a lot easier. Also, it is essential to assess any program after a set period.
What is working? What isn’t? Have the goals shifted? Do you need to change the way you measure metrics?
Take all this into consideration and tweak your employee training plan to maximize benefit.
