An employee training plan template can significantly streamline workflows for HR professionals, trainers, and digital adoption managers.
In this article, we’ll outline an employee training plan template that can be put to work right away, so you can…
- Focus on more important tasks
- Have a go-to checklist that streamlines employee onboarding and training
- Simplify your workflow
- Create a training plan that can be measured and improved upon over time
Additionally, having a template can improve the employee experience by ensuring that training programs stay on track and deliver tangible results for each worker.
Let’s get started by explaining what the training plan template is and how to use it.
A Done-for-You, Ready-to-Deploy Employee Training Plan Template
We’ve divided the training plan template into several sections.
It is not necessary to include every section – instead, just focus on the ones that matter most to you.
1. Assess
The first step when creating your checklist, or template, is to understand the purpose of the training program.
In most cases, this will only need to be done once, when first designing the training template.
During this stage, trainers should understand and assess the purpose of the training plan – after all, that purpose will be used to define the training template’s goals.
- Business strategy
- Organizational needs
- Departmental needs
- Training needs
- Employees’ individual needs
Assessing each of these areas will help trainers define the content that will go into a training program.
For instance, if an organization is adopting Salesforce in order to improve sales performance, then the training strategy should focus on maximizing employee productivity as efficiently as possible.
2. Set goals
With the information collected above, it is time to set goals.
Following the same example laid out above, an organization that wants to improve sales numbers would define a set of training goals that include metrics such as:
- Performance
- Time-to-competency
- Productivity quota
- Proficiency levels
These goals will act as guiding beacons for the actual training plan (covered below).
3. Develop a training strategy
A training strategy will articulate the overarching approach used by the training plan.
For instance, companies aiming to improve sales performance may articulate a strategy based on digital adoption solutions.
However, most training templates incorporate several components, not just a digital component.
For that reason, trainers should include sections such as:
- Human training
- Online training
- In-app training
A strategy, along with the other steps covered above, help lay the groundwork for the actual training plan.
4. Outline the employee training plan template
With all of the preliminary data in place, it is time to actually create the employee training plan template.
This template should include:
- Specific steps in the training journey. A single step, or action item, would be, for instance, “have the employee conduct a product tour for Salesforce.”
- Stages that encompass those steps. Stages are longer-term phases that encompass several action items. The onboarding stage, for instance, would focus on early-stage training, such as software onboarding steps, such as product tours.
- Goals for each step. Goals should include tasks and, when necessary, performance metrics. If an employee is required to take a test, then the goal should also include, for instance, a minimum grade in order to mark the task as complete.
Include steps such as:
- Explanation of the training program. One of the very first items to include on the template is an explanation of the training agenda. This explanation will help employees learn what is in store and what is expected of them.
- Workplace tours. A tour of the workplace usually takes place during new hire orientation on the first day of work. These tours are essential first steps in any training process, since they help employees get the “lay of the land” and better understand the context that they will be working in.
- Product tours. Product tours familiarize users with a new product, usually in under a few minutes. These take place within an application and are implemented using DAPs.
- Product walkthroughs. Product walkthroughs, or software walkthroughs, are in-app training sequences that take users through a series of tasks automatically. These walkthroughs are becoming more and more common, thanks to DAPs, which can alleviate much of the training burden from human trainers and technical support staff.
- Offline training schedules. An offline training schedule should include: meetings with mentors, classroom training sessions, workshops, training sessions with coworkers, and other relevant training schedules. This section of the template should be customized to meet the needs of individual employees.
- Online training schedules. Online training, such as webinars, video courses, and other online training materials, should also be tailored for individual workers.
Also, each step in the employee training journey should include a description and a set of goals that relate back to the previous steps.
5. Optimize
Trainers should not be afraid to adjust their template over time.
Each time the training plan is executed, they can learn from the experience, then use that information to make further enhancements.
A general optimization approach could look something like this:
- Collect data
- Learn
- Improve
- Rinse and repeat
For best results, track training performance through DAP software analytics, training tool analytics, and other similar data sources.
