6 Steps To Design An Effective Employee Training Plan
This guide provides practical advice on how to create employee training plans that will help your employees develop their skills, enhance their effectiveness, and boost their retention.
A solid employee training plan can form the basis of an organization rather than just a means of employee training. If done correctly, it can assist you in dealing with change, transformation, and disruption. In this blog, we will discuss how to design an effective training plan to achieve better results.
What is an Employee Training Plan?
An employee training plan includes a strategic approach, actions, requirements, goals, deliverables, and instruction that will be used to train employees throughout an organization.
The plan includes detailed descriptions of the elements required to create instructional content, training standards, training timetable coordination, and so on. The training plan is used to develop an employee training program that teaches employees about the application, career, and business operations to improve results.
Types of Training Plan for Employees
Below are some suggested types of training plans for employees from Workable:
- 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
- Professional, safety, or quality training.
- In-person vs. online
- Self-paced or structured timeline.
Indeed also has the following suggestions:
- Group training exercises
- Hands-on instruction
- Training with an instructor
How to Develop a Training Program for Employees
Companies frequently attempt to cover all aspects at once, resulting in a complex plan that requires substantial resources, workforce, and attention.
Below are the six steps to developing an effective employee training plan:
| Step | Description |
|---|---|
| 1. Determine training needs | Identify employee expectations and set objectives through surveys, interviews, and performance analysis. |
| 2. Align with business goals | Link training to business outcomes and adjust the plan based on results. |
| 3. Get management approval | Secure leadership support by explaining the importance, timeline, and benefits of training. |
| 4. Review training materials | Evaluate existing content, tools, and gaps to determine if updates or new materials are needed. |
| 5. Create the training program | Develop a program with clear objectives, tools, and methods. Test on small groups before scaling. |
| 6. Assess and improve | Continuously evaluate the program’s effectiveness and adjust based on employee feedback and changing needs. |
#1. Determine your employees’ training requirements
This is the 1st step in creating an employee training plan. It is to the greatest advantage of an organization to conduct an employee training needs analysis, which will help you learn what the employees expect from the training.
Based on these findings, you can easily set instructional objectives that align with organizational goals and employee expectations.
Employees’ needs will change over time, as will their goals. So, what is the best way to identify employees’ training requirements?
You can identify it by creating survey questions, conducting interviews, observing employees, and analyzing the performance of employees.
#2. Align training with business needs
This is the 2nd step of creating an employee training plan. Now that you’ve determined your employee training objectives, it’s time to link them to corporate objectives and overall organizational goals.
The employee training plan assists you in strategizing the training program, which contains a series of courses and modules that employees must complete to become acquainted with the application.
Businesses must link each module taken by employees to a business outcome to make training hyper-targeted. This is required to assess the success of the training plan. If the training does not produce the desired results, you’ll need to go back to the drawing board to figure out what went wrong.
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#3. Obtain approval from upper management
This is the 3rd step of creating an employee training plan. Employee training and onboarding in a large corporation necessitate significant investment and time. So, if you want to make the best training for your employees, which includes cutting-edge training programs, you’ll need investment from the leadership.
It is essential to make them understand the importance of training and the types of business outcomes that can be generated as a result of it.
Show them how long it takes and, if immediate results are required, explain what type of training plan is required and how much investments are needed to realize it. This will help you gain their trust, and they will recognize that you are making an effort in the right direction.
Furthermore, keep them informed throughout the employees’ training journey and share the impact of your training activities to help them see the worth and results of training.
In general, upper management understands the importance of training, but they frequently expect instant results, so you must clarify how long it will take in this case.
#4. Learn about training materials
This is the 4th step of creating an employee training plan. It is critical to assess the current state of training. This will assist you in understanding:
- How much current instructional content do you have, and how much of it can be reused?
- What type of training program is in place, and can the current one be improved?
- Do you need a new training program, and if so, how long will it take to implement it?
- Is an in-house training director required, or can this be outsourced?
- How long will it take to fill the current training gaps, and how much money will be needed?
- Will the training program be able to meet the organization’s immediate needs?
- Is the company equipped with the necessary modern training tools?
- Will existing training techniques, programs, and tools be able to supplement the new ones? If not, what should be done?
Consider your budget and support staff, and then determine whether you can use these assets to bridge the gap or meet the overall goals. If not, look for alternatives that can prepare and onboard employees while they are performing their duties. It will save you time, money, and effort while achieving the desired outcome in less time.
#5. Create an employee training program
Now that you’ve obtained management approval, aligned the instructional objectives with the organizational objectives, and identified the training materials, it’s time to begin making plans for the employee training program.
You can consult with the L&D team and consultants during this phase to develop an appropriate training program. Consider all of the factors discussed in previous points when developing a training program that adds value to the employees and the business.
A curriculum, work process, training method, and other tools necessary are required to create a training program. Consider using tools or software that can enable remote training and provide comparable, if not better, results.
When you have a clear picture, it is time to test and test some more. It is critical to test the effectiveness of training programs on smaller groups before implementing them across the organization. You can produce more than two training programs and test them in multiple groups at the same time.
The one that produces the desired results should be scaled and implemented throughout the company, and it should be tweaked regularly based on employee analysis and feedback. If you want a detailed guide on how to plan an effective employee training program, check out this video from HR360Inc.
#6. Assess, reevaluate, and keep improving over time
Employee training plans should always evolve in response to changes in the needs of the employees and the organization. Even if you have an excellent training program, there will be areas for improvement.
Iteration is required for the employee training plan to be successful. Regularly analyzing how employees interact with the training content and application will give you an idea of how useful the employee training plan is.
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Final Words
Creating an employee training plan not only for new employees. Continuous skill development ensures that you are continuing to prepare your workforce for success. That is why it is critical to understand how to properly set up a training plan for your employees. That way, your learners can rest assured knowing the training content is coming from people with first-hand experience.
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Sean Bui
F. Learning Studio's Author
Sean Bui, the founder and creative director of F.Learning Studio, is a respected leader in the e-learning and multimedia production industry. With over 10 years of experience, he has dedicated his career to helping organizations create engaging and impactful learning experiences. Under his leadership, F.Learning Studio has grown into a trusted partner for organizations in the education, healthcare, and corporate training sectors, producing over 2,000 minutes of educational animation.
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