The HR Manager’s Dream Employee Training Plan Template

Few aspects of internal operations have as broad an impact on the bottom line as employee training.

Training is closely linked to critical metrics such as employee retention, productivity, performance, morale, motivation, and the overall employee experience.

Poor training — or lack of training altogether — can be costly.

Not only does training cost money, it costs time. According to ATD, companies spend upwards of $1,200 per employee on training and development. On top of this dollar amount, companies also lose out on an average of 31.5 billable hours per year per employee.

Diver Deeper: The Employee Training Manifesto for Enhanced Productivity

The costs of poor training often go unnoticed

Unfortunately, many executives look at these numbers without weighing them against the ROI of good training … or the even higher costs of poor training.

For instance, a Udemy survey found that nearly half of US full-time employees are bored or disengaged at work, and 61% of these were likely to change jobs in 3-6 months to pursue more rewarding opportunities. Limited learning opportunities (46%) were cited as a top reason for this disengagement.

The following three statistics further illustrate the consequences of inadequate training:

• ATD found that only 12% of organizations were highly effective at career development for emerging talent
• According to research from Gartner, 70% of employees have not mastered the skills they need for their jobs today
• Axonify found that one-third of employees receive no training – of those who do receive training, 43% reported it to be ineffective

These results should be disappointing to HR managers and training managers, especially given the costs associated with recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and training.

Clearly, effective training is critical to maintaining a high-talent, highly motivated, high-performance company.

The solution: An employee training plan template

Employee training is no walk in the park.

Each employee has his or her own needs, career objectives, job duties, and skill requirements. Meeting these needs can be daunting, to say the least.

If only training were as easy as filling in the blanks on a premade template…

In fact, it can be.

Yes, it’s true that training should always be personalized depending on the new hire’s role and responsibilities. However, following this employee training plan template offers a number of benefits for the HR professional.

Programs can be developed more quickly, more easily, and they usually generate better results. And, as you’ll see, it will make it easier to create a personalized training program.

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7 steps for developing an employee training plan template

1. Based on the employee’s role, create a set of goals for the training.
What do you want them to know and achieve by the time they are finished with onboarding? Include job-specific goals and any goals specific to the manager or employee personally.

2. Create a calendar with realistic timeframes and set milestones to keep the trainee and trainer on track.
Share this calendar and discuss the timeline and goals with the new hire in the very beginning. Be flexible and adjust as necessary.

3. List the employee’s goals and create training objectives tailored to that person’s needs.
Find out what they hope to get out of the role, and provide relevant training/development opportunities. This type of personalized career development can greatly enhance employee productivity, loyalty, and engagement.

4. Pair them with more senior employees in the company who can serve as a mentor.
Another way to improve engagement is through mentoring. Such a relationship can greatly improve employee engagement and career prospects.

5. Offer different modes of learning to suit individual preferences and learning styles.
Different people have different preferences when it comes to learning modalities – offer options including audio, video, text, and interactive learning solutions. Digital tools that offer contextual learning are the most effective for maximizing knowledge retention and minimizing the “forgetting curve.”

6. Match the employee with the appropriate digital learning platform.
While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to training, tools equipped with machine learning and artificial intelligence go beyond personalization to ensure each employee gets all of the support they need. In-app training provided by Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs), streamline training and offer many benefits across the board.

7. Periodically check in with the manager, with employee feedback throughout.
Don’t wait until the end of the training period. Otherwise, employee concerns may go unnoticed and grow into bigger problems later on.

Naturally, these 7 items can be supplemented by any others that you see fit.

By themselves, they form an excellent starting point for creating your own template.

To use this template effectively, paste these questions into a program of your choice, such as:

• A spreadsheet
• Trello or another task management program
• Your project management software

Whichever workflow you use can easily be customized with this template, making it easier than ever to build an effective training program.

Preparation is the key to success

HR professionals and training managers have enough to juggle as it is.

Making use of an employee training plan template will add structure to the onboarding process, making training that much easier and more effective. With this template, you can be prepared and simply adjust as needed.

On top of that, it will become much easier to create a program that is unique to the individual.

Personalized training programs based on this template will deliver far better results than generalized programs that apply the same to everyone.