Corporate Training: Developing Successful Programs for Your Company

The success of an organization is primarily defined by the quality of its talent, and it is the responsibility of human resources (HR) to recruit, interview, hire and retain the best talent; help ensure its professional development through corporate training; and foster an atmosphere of commitment, motivation and ownership. Consulting with senior management on strategy, HR links employees to the organization’s management. AMA has practical, proven programs and services that can help human resources professionals fulfill these duties, particularly in terms of acting as gatekeeper for corporate training programs to ensure the best and most appropriate talent development.

What Does Successful Corporate Training Look Like?

To be successful, both in-person and online corporate training must be relevant and actionable for the end user. It must also align with team and organizational goals as well as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), as the underlying reason for corporate training is to help support business results. In order to maintain motivation to effectively apply training, programs must also be creative and engaging for employees. The employee should consult with their manager before and after the training so that its application can be discussed and assessed.

Common Challenges to Getting Started

In establishing an appropriate and effective training program, HR must find the right development resources and ensure they will align with organizational goals. Skill gaps and development opportunities must be identified so the training can be chosen that will close those gaps and optimize opportunities. Training success parameters should be established and monitored so that performance improvement can be proven post-training.

Creating a Workplace Training Program

In seeking to provide a corporate training program, HR professionals may seek external programs for companies, or consider creating their own training program for their workplace. In addition to identifying the training need, the content and delivery methods must be considered, as well as the skill and experience requirements of the trainer.

Identify Training Needs or Skill Gaps

To identify training needs within the organization, the HR professional needs to engage with team leaders and managers in order to assess employee skill and development needs on their respective teams. An appropriate methodology should be agreed upon, such as an established skill assessment for individuals or entire teams. They can consult with an external training provider such as AMA for appropriate assessment resources and approaches.

Develop Learning Objectives

Based upon the results of the skill assessments, appropriate learning objectives must be defined that will close skill and development gaps. KPIs need to be established so that the success of the training can be properly evaluated. As a simple example of this, a learning objective might be “improve employee customer service skills.” The corresponding KPI for this objective would be “assess customer service improvement by measuring customer service ratings.”

Be Mindful of Adult Learners

In addition to straightforward training on specific skills and competencies, adult learners will better retain that information when its principles are demonstrated through real-life examples and scenarios. Since every learner brings varying levels of experience and knowledge to the training situation, actionable takeaways can help them bridge the gap between new knowledge and performance improvement. In this way, the overall impact and efficacy of the program can be enhanced. Real-life application practice will also enable the learner to incorporate the training in achieving the desired on-the-job goals.

Consider the Types of Corporate Training Programs

The specific development needs established by the organization determines the type of training that should be selected. High-level skill areas are often referred to as either soft skills (e.g., communication) or hard skills (e.g., project management). Some commonly recognized specific training areas include:

• Management & Leadership Training
  In order to lead teams to desired levels of performance, managers and leaders must build skills in motivation, coaching, performance evaluation, team-building and more.

• Technology Training
  Specific hard skills fall within this broadly defined area, and may include such disciplines as information technology and similar technical topics.

• Business Skills Training
  Skills that speak to business acumen, general analytical skills and other business basics fall into this type of training area.

• Communication Skills Training
  Being able to communicate effectively with other professionals including co-workers, managers and clients; expressing thoughts clearly in writing or verbally; and developing presentations, interpersonal skills and more are included in the realm of communication skills.

• Team Building Training
  Effective methods of collaboration, conducting team meetings, bridging age and cultural gaps, developing team synergy and more are skills that are incorporated to build stronger teams.

HR professionals may wish to work with a qualified training company to ensure the training program(s) chosen is most appropriate for their organizational needs. They can also help coordinate training in different skill areas, for different professional levels, and help choose the most effective and appropriate training delivery methods.

Consider Training Method Deliveries

Choosing the right training delivery method(s) is crucial to the results achieved from the training. Common delivery methods include in-person classroom training or live online training, either through open-enrollment programs or on-site delivery (which can also be customized to the organization’s needs) and on demand programs.

Decide Between Internal vs External Training Programs

In deciding between internal and external training programs, the HR professional should consider the respective benefits of each. While internal training may be beneficial to satisfying immediate training needs, external training from a recognized training leader offers tested content, proven learning methods, qualified trainers and effective measures of success.

Finalize and Develop Training Materials

After skill gaps and development opportunities are formally assessed, finalize your research and your specific goals. Then choose the most efficacious type of training solution that will help you develop or identify the exact content and training materials needed. Based on the organization’s desired timeline for the training, an appropriate launch date and rollout process for the training can then be determined.

Implement Trainings

Launching the training program will allow for immediate information gathering, both from participants and their managers during and after training, so that the success of the program can be evaluated.

Measuring the Success of Your Training Program

It is crucial to measure the success of your training program in order to verify whether it has achieved the organization’s desired goals. There are multiple ways to determine a program’s success, from formal to informal.

Before undertaking the evaluation, attempt to determine how long the training should be “live” so that the results of the evaluation can be as realistic and accurate as possible.

The training evaluation should at least include the following:

• Employee feedback and surveys
• Quizzes to evaluate skill mastery
• Comparison of employee performance to the pre-determined KPIs

If the training has not achieved the desired success, the program should be re-evaluated, and if necessary, the decision should be made to pivot to another training solution.