What Is a Training Plan?
A training plan is a document that details the strategy and specific steps needed to
accomplish a goal or an objective. You can create a training plan for nearly any
undertaking, such as a business or creative project, team development, staff or new
hire training, or a personal endeavor (such as a running a marathon). Regardless of
the objective, training plans hold you accountable for intentions, actions, tasks, or
activities that must be completed en route to a larger goal.
Many different business roles can make use of a training plan, including trainers and
instructors, managers, staff, employees, IT, support representatives, or the entire
organization. Colleges and universities also frequently use training plans to track
their progress toward a goal.
What Is a Training Action Plan?
A training action plan is a document that you create prior to the training plan, and
lists only the actions necessary to achieve a particular goal. As opposed to a training
plan, a training action plan does not include strategy or scheduling information. To
learn more about action plans and to download action plan templates, read
this article.
Benefits of a Training Plan
Building a training plan can help ensure the success of the project, onboarding, skill
building, or other objectives you aim to achieve. By providing a road map to success,
a training plan ensures that you accomplish tasks and meet milestones along the
way to your overarching goal. In addition, a strong training plan can offer the
following underlying benefits:
Aid you in preparing objective, needs, strategy, and curriculum to be addressed when
training participants
Improve trainer and training participants’ experience by providing a clear plan of
action
Ensure that each training session is well planned, helpful, and inspiring
Gain much needed expertise and experience, which can help you achieve your goal
Ultimately, these benefits can make it easier to accomplish your goals. Training
plans play a vital part in making your organization more profitable, beating the
competition, and creating a thriving work culture.
How Do You Design a Training Program?
Before you write your training plan, you’ll need to do some strategic thinking and
create a program structure that reflects both the needs and abilities of your
workforce and your goals. Designing a training program will vary based on the
industry and type of undertaking, but some general tips can apply to any workforce
training:
Identify Training Needs: In order to design an adequate training program, you
need to know your needs. Perform a training needs assessment in which you identify
your goals, the tasks required to reach them, and the training activities that will
support them.
Set Learning Objectives: Once you have identified your needs, define what you
want your workforce to achieve from an educational perspective. What do you want
your employees to learn? How will you tangibly test knowledge growth?
Create Training Materials: In most cases, providing your trainees with materials
of some sort (be it physical or online documentation, or quizzes, games, etc.) will
greatly enhance their learning and retention. Get creative and find useful ways to
increase the “stickiness” of your training curriculum.
Implement the Training Plan: Next, you have to execute the plan you’ve
designed. Make sure to document progress, and note any problems or inconsistencies
that arise. Use a training plan template (included above) to document and support
implementation.
Repeat Steps as Necessary: The goal of any training plan is to increase
knowledge and skills, and you can’t rush the learning process. Take your time and
ensure that everyone is getting the deep learning and practice that they need to be
successful.
Evaluate Training: This is a key element to the long-term success of your training
plan. Elicit feedback from participants and managers, and refine your design for
future use.
How Do You Write a Training Plan?
Just as the design of your training plan will vary based on your organization and
specific goals, so will the documentation of your training plan. The templates
included in this article offer a range of structures and styles, but you can customize
all of them to fit your needs.
If you want to create your own document, here is a basic list of what to include in
your written training plan:
Objectives: List your goals, and make sure they are measurable and specific.
Duration: Ideally, your training plan should be flexible, offer an approximate,
realistic duration of the plan to give participants an idea of what to expect, and aid
managers in evaluating performance. Some training plans include multiple future
dates at which to measure performance (for example, 30, 60, and 90 days).
Venue/Facility: If you are hosting a workshop, include details about the venue and
facility, such as directions and special instructions.
Dates/Times: If there are specific meeting times that staff needs to attend, make
sure to list them on the plan.
Activities and Learning Strategies: Depending on how comprehensive your
training plan is, consider including a section where you detail the activities and
knowledge areas in which you hope to see improvement. However, not all training
plans require this level of detail.
Milestones: Include room to mark key milestones, as well as space for dates and a
signature if applicable. You might also want to include a section to rank
accomplishments or competencies along the way.
Approval Signature: Include a space for the manager or lead contact to sign off
once the training program is completed.
Train and Retain Your Best Employees with Smartsheet for HR
Creating a training plan is just one of the many responsibilities HR professionals
have. They simultaneously play referee, coach, and quarterback for successful
companies. That's why they need the right tools to help them streamline work
processes to focus on what matters most, their people.
Smartsheet is a work management and automation platform that enables enterprises
and teams to get from idea to impact - fast. Leading HR professionals rely on
Smartsheet to help manage everything from simple onboarding tasks to complex
change management, recruiting, and benefits and retirement tracking.
Use Smartsheet to maximize ROI on recruiting activities, stay on top of budget and
streamline internal planning and coordination. Streamline process and paperwork,
maintain an auditable database without added effort, and grow your business with
better informed, more productive employees.
