Business, Career, Education

How to create an employee training and development plan: 4 steps

Employee training program

Getty Images

This guide outlines the four steps to create a customised employee training and development program easily for your business.

Employee training is important for the growth of both organization and the employees. If the employees are upskilled, they can perform better at their job and increase their productivity.  It is beneficial for their career growth and at the same time, helpful for the organization as skilled employees can contribute to the success of the business.

However, if the training program is not effective, it will be a huge loss for both employees and the organization. This is where a customized training program comes into the picture.

Providing a customized training program that caters to all types of employees will increase the engagement level and yield better results. But, before creating your training program, you need to do thorough research on the company’s goals and employee behaviors. Upon gathering the relevant information, prepare a customized training program for your organization.

4 steps to create an employee training plan

So, let’s look at a few ways to create a customized employee training program.

1. Determine the employee training needs:

The most important thing to consider while you are designing a training program is whether it aligns with the goals of the company are not. The objectives of the workforce and the organization should align for you to create an effective training program. You should also determine the goals of the training program, like how it can have an impact on productivity, sales, and employee engagement, etc, so that it will be useful for both the parties concerned. 

2. Research your audience

To provide a customized training program to your employees, you need to analyze their needs and requirements. You should gather information like how much knowledge they have on the training course, the age group of the learners, if they are genuinely interested in the training or not and whether the trainer can fulfill their expectations or not are a few things you should consider. 

Your learners might be filled with people who understand the concepts in different ways, like visual, oral, and kinesthetic. Visual learners understand the concept better if they see or read it. Diagrams, videos, and all types of visual information work best for them.

Oral learners are people who understand concepts better if they hear them. They respond best to interactive sessions and audio conferences etc. Kinesthetic learners are the people who learn through touch and feel. They respond well to live demonstrations. So, you should design the training program by keeping all these different styles of learning in mind.

3. Review the performance of employees:

Make a detailed performance data report to find out in which areas your employees are lagging. This could be technical skills, communications skills, or any other skills that need training. Through this data, you can provide the training to a specific group of employees. 

Talk with employees and managers in in-person to find out the areas in which they feel comfortable and where they are not. Provide questionnaire forms, take feedback and keep it interactive to find out what training you should provide and areas you should focus on in the training.

4. Leverage technology:

With tools like learning management systems (LMS), you can offer a customized learning experience to your employees. It offers four different learning types like asynchronous instructor-led, asynchronous self-paced, asynchronous self-paced, and synchronous virtual classroom.

The gamification of the LMS provides a customized learning experience. Through badges, points, and leaderboards, learners can compete with each other which helps to create more engagement. DigitalChalk is one such LMS that offers all these features at a very low price. You can check out DigitalChalk reviews to know how the product helped the customers to have a customized learning experience.

Employee training – advantages for the company

Through employee training, valuable know-how reaches the company, which benefits the entire company, as it will also pass on to colleagues. Another positive effect is the increase in competitiveness, as qualified employees have a great influence on the company’s success.

Training is perceived positively by the workforce, as further training financed by the employer is considered a proof of trust and thus creates a long-term commitment to the company. The motivation as well as the performance of the employees is increased.

In-house seminars are beneficial for employees, as they do not have to learn extra in another place. This saves time and travel costs. In addition, the employer has a better overview of the actual learning content.

Positive effects for the employee

An employee with a high qualification has higher chances in the labor market – this also contributes to securing the job. Since the requirements in everyday work are constantly changing, a well-trained employee is in demand and thus has better career opportunities.

Increasing one’s own qualifications usually leads to a better income and more self-confidence. Well-trained employees are treated with respect and recognition by the management level and by colleagues.

Conclusion

For successful employee training, a certain willingness to further training is absolutely necessary from both sides – employers as well as employees. Neither for the employer nor for the employee is further training advantageous if companies are reluctant to finance further training for employees willing to continue their training or if the employees lack the appropriate willingness to continue their willingness to continue training. We hope this article helps you to create a customized training program for your employees.

Image: Getty Images