By Gage Drake
Employee training programs like online executive courses are known to be a very successful and useful resource, with continuing education being something the workforce values greatly.
According to TalentLyft, 90% of employees are likely to stay in a company longer if it invests in learning. More studies have proven the value of employee training programs, which help hiring, retaining, and retraining employees for an organization’s success.
Whether you’re creating a training program or want to refresh the current training content you have, we share tips on how you can create a successful one below.
- Assess the organization’s needs to develop appropriate goals
Before anything else, you must first establish your goals as an organization to identify what is needed to achieve them. It’s also crucial to establish key performance indicators, which are defined as “a set of quantifiable measurements used to gauge a company’s overall long-term performance.”
Answer the following questions to develop goals and success metrics:
- Who is your target audience for the training program?
- What are the short-term and long-term goals?
- What is the timeframe for such goals?
- How do you plan to measure success?
- What does success look like for employees?
- How will you know if your employees have learned from the program?
- What type of employee training plan do you need?
When discussing your goals and objectives, you’ll also want to consider the kind of training program you should implement. According to Workable, these are a few training plan ideas:
- Classroom or workshop style
- In-house seminars or industry conferences
- Individual or group training
- Skills-based or management training
- External resources or on-the-job training
- Professional, safety, and quality training
- In-person or online training
- Structured or self-paced timeline
- Focus on adult learning principles
Adults who participate in employee training plans will come to the table with more experience than younger students in academic settings. That’s why you must focus on certain characteristics of adult learning, like:
- Experience playing a critical part in any learning style
- Learning must incorporate real-world applications
- Adult learners are likely ready and willing to learn especially if they find the training content interesting
- Adult learners should be involved in the process, whether it’s creating evaluation criteria or developing content
- Develop the outline and learning objectives
What topics do you want or need to cover? What is the most vital information? How will you want to begin and end the program? You must create an outline to flesh out the entire idea of the training program so you can identify its structure, hitting all the critical points.
- Finalize the training plan
After establishing the outline with the learning objectives, it’s time to add more details. Make sure you keep the learning objectives handy to ensure the training plan will address each one. Tweak the plan as needed, get feedback from colleagues and fill in the blanks, creating any necessary revisions.
Wrapping It Up
Keep these basic steps in mind as you build an effective training program to reap all the benefits it can offer.
