Employee Training Template for Team Leaders

This employee training template for team leaders is a fundamental planning tool that should be incorporated in any new team-leading role. It is critical for the new pro making the transition from “trainee” to “leader,” as this document will not only be his or her guide, but also an valuable resource when it comes to evaluating employee performance and understanding the company culture.

In this article, we will walk through a basic six-step template of employee training and development. We’ll help you create a clear, effective employee training plan designed specifically for your team leading role.

With some elements that you can use in your own employee training framework, this following below template provides you with an overview of what each section should include and why it’s important.

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Employee Training Template (PDF file, 148Kb)

1) Analyze Employee Training Needs

There are many methods to gather data about staff performance. I personally use 3-4 methods in my working environment. Below I give 6 basic methods that help analyze training needs. Note that none of the methods is to be applied alone. They combine each other and hence should ideally be used together.

1. Observation. This method of staff training needs analysis lets evaluate a worker’s performance through first-hand review and observation. You’ll want to perform the role of a non-participating observer to watch the worker and evaluate his/her performance. You need to have certain criteria for measuring performance. The advantage of this method is that direct observation and analysis provides you with real-time and first-hand knowledge so you can better understand all performance problems the worker encounters.
2. Interviewing. During an interview you meet your employees face to face and discuss their impressions of performance. Both individual and group interviews will help you explore the employee’s responses and vision regarding their performance. You can also request for suggestions and comments. The advantage here is that you gain a full understanding of the employees’ performance deficiencies and establish personal relationships with potential trainees.
3. Questionnaire. This technique is close to interviewing. A questionnaire includes a list of critical questions about performance and training needs. You share questionnaires among your personnel and gather their responses soon. The advantage is that through questionnaire-based interviews you communicate with each staff member to gain a big picture view of the environment. You obtain a better understanding of what performance problems need to be solved.
4. Appraisal Review. An appraisal review is a periodic interview with a worker to question this worker regarding the duties and training needs the worker thinks are critical to performance. Appraisal reviews help identify the needs, variations and penetrations that your employee training plan should include. The reviews are conducted for every employee individually. In such a way you can to uncover the causes of weaknesses in the individual performance of every worker. These weaknesses represent areas for future staff training.
5. Problem Solving Conference. Through organizing periodic problem solving conferences you can communicate with personnel to analyze their understanding of the working environment. It’s recommended to involve an external consultant in such conferences for moderation purposes. During a conference your workers express their feelings about the company and outstanding issues. Current problems highlighted by workers will evolve into potential areas for improvement and training.
6. Job Analysis. One more critical method for identifying training needs is job analysis. Such an analysis lets you perform a detailed examination of 1) performance elements (tasks and activities) that make up an employee job or role, 2) working conditions, and 3) job requirements (skills, behaviors, knowledge). The analysis helps determine the most efficient methods of doing a job, understand how to reach enhancement of the employee’s job satisfaction, and figure out how to match job-specifications with the person-specifications.

2)Establish Employee Training Objectives

The goals of your employee training program are specific and based on the needs of your company. Another firm may have other goals. For example, a trading company wants to increase sales and conversion through staff training, while a consulting firm intends to improve its service through improving the quality of knowledge of the consultants. Both organizations can get customer care training but have different objectives.

Meanwhile, there are common objectives of the training process for most business organizations. Below I list such objectives.

• Improving staff productivity and effectiveness through training employees so that every worker develops and utilizes their talents, skills and potential.
• Providing development for the management team to ensure their commitment to the accomplishment of the firm’s strategic goals and objectives.
• Reducing staff turnover through improving employees’ engagement and motivation.

3) Select Employee Training Methods

Your next step is to select methods that could help you satisfy the needs and objectives of your staff training template. There are multiple methods; some of them are best but require more effort and resources. Each method may be effective in a particular environment only. You should be careful when choosing between the methods. Please note the listing below is not prioritized. I just list the training methods alphabetically. It is all up to you to decide which method(s) is more important and relevant to your specific training environment.

1. Delegation – you consider delegating specific tasks and jobs to groups of workers who are never or rarely involved in doing these jobs. In such a way the workers gain a chance to check and exert their abilities in a new field. The method is best for high-performing environments.
2. Interdepartmental Teamwork – you can try to create an expert group and then involve this group in the work of another department they are not concerned with. Interdepartmental teamwork help people from different departments to work as a single team and exchange their experience and knowledge for training purposes.
3. Temporary Job Transfers – this method of employee training lets workers gain valued experience from job transfers on a temporary basis. An employee assigned to job transfer collaborates with various specialists from other teams, departments and even companies.
4. Work Shadowing – this technique means certain employees follow or “shadow” the work of other employees for a certain period of time. The idea here is that work shadowing helps improve knowledge, skills and expertise through first-hand observation.
5. Demonstrations – you may include this mentoring method in your staff training template if your company can and wants to arrange practical demonstrations for training purposes. It is a cheaper mentoring method, so most likely the company will want it.
6. Orientation – this technique of employee training entails the process of new personnel assimilation and socialization through 1) gaining employee commitment, 2) reducing employee anxiety, 3) sharing the right understanding of the organization’s goals, and 4) providing introductory training exercises. It is a necessary method, and you must have a new employee orientation program.
7. External Seminars and Conferences – leaders of the marketplace, business giants and government agencies like to organize external seminars and conferences to explain attendees best practices of management. You can use this opportunity to develop your staff.
8. In-house Workshops – as an alternative to external seminars and conferences you can try to organize in-company training workshops with internal or external trainers and mentors involved. It is a popular technique in organizations that carry out effective HR management.
9. Distance Learning – using computers, Internet, e-learning programs and distance education software your workers are enabled to obtain new education and develop their skills. Note that most distance learning providers give certification.
10. Learning Manuals – perhaps it is the cheapest way to train personnel. Just document and share printed copies of user guides, manuals and instructions among your staff.
11. Self- development – along with learning manuals, self-development is a cheaper way for your company to get its workers trained. All you have to do is to ensure your staff is motivated to perform training exercises and tasks personally, with high commitment.
12. Webinars – it is a kind of online training and distance learning. An employee can register for the participation in a specific webinar. Your company will have to pay for this staff training opportunity.
13. Training Games – games are a way of involving workers in solving problems and developing their skills. Through business and team building games in a group you can increase the group’s commitment to work and improve their understanding of best practices.
14. Classroom Sessions – it is a traditional way to get workers taught and trained. Such sessions can be organized either inside the company or by involving an expert trainer from the outside.

4) Determine Types of Employee Training

The main purpose of your employee training is to raise the efficiency and effectiveness of your workforce. It can be various in its character, but the most popular methods are interactive, passive and active.

There are many more methods of training, yet they fail to achieve their goals if not used properly. Such methods include storytelling and role playing. Even though they imply human interaction, they fail to achieve their goals in the absence of a well-developed and supported employee training template.

4.1. Interactive Training

It is the most effective way to train your employees. Interactive training allows direct participation and discussion between you and your subordinates. This kind of employee training is great when applying an interactive session like lectures or speeches, workshops or conferences and seminars or webinars for your staff’s training needs.

4.2. Passive Training

It involves observing only. Passive training is a great way to share printed materials, papers and articles among your workers. Yet, such a type is not beneficial for learning new skills and developing abilities. It should be used in cases when your goal is to provide general information to your employees. It is not recommended to use this method if your goal is to improve individual productivity.

• formal documentation;
• memos and other written materials;
• pamphlets, leaflets, booklets and brochures.

4.3. Active Training

It is a kind of staff training that stimulates your workers to participate in the learning process. Active training methods allow you to teach skills and knowledge through activities such as games and simulations. It is a great way to teach your team members what they need to know. Interactive and active training types are best for group discussions and group learning.

• computer games;
• simulations;
• workbooks;
• other activities that create an interactive atmosphere and force the workers to actively participate in the training process;

5) Create an Employee Training Schedule

• schedule the training series around a quiet time in your company and communicate this to your staff;
• be sure to consider holidays and vacations of your workers and adjust the schedule accordingly;
• include a buffer time for unplanned events or circumstances, like bad weather or interruptions;
• provide enough time for each training method as every employee is motivated by different approaches. One individual may be highly motivated by games while another one prefers external seminars. So, never rush through the schedule.

6) Determine Training Materials

• make the training materials are available in different formats (for instance, in an extended employee training Excel sheet and a simple printable PDF);
• provide the training material with suitable language for your workers;
• include links to related websites or other literature your workers may find interesting.

It may seem that creating an employee training template is a difficult thing to do. Yet, it is actually not hard if you know what you need to include and what elements must be excluded. With the information presented in this article, you will be able to develop an effective training program that will successfully bring your team members up to the necessary level of knowledge and skills.

Good Luck!