I read Training Magazine's Top 125 and noticed these trends:
Top training insights
- Award-winning companies spend an average of roughly 6% of payroll on training. For a $40,000-a-year employee that's roughly $2,400, which is more than twice the typical spend cited by industry surveys.
- Online training has moved to near parity with classroom training. This trend will continue as delivery costs fall and quality improves.
- Successful training programs do three things: conduct employee satisfaction surveys, help employees create competency maps, and tie management compensation to development of their direct reports.
- Leaders most often want two outcomes from training: clear value and measurable ROI.
- The goal of any training is behavior change that increases productivity and job satisfaction.
- Training succeeds when it is relevant, timely, and immediately applicable.
- The learner must be placed at the center of any training program or system.
- Active learning—role-playing, simulations, team-based and collaborative activities—produces stronger results than passive approaches.
- The biggest training budgets tend to be created by disruptors, innovators, and continuous-improvement-focused organizations.
- All companies can improve how they manage compliance training. Both managers and rank-and-file employees need regular training on harassment, diversity, conflict resolution, and safety.
- Programs do best when they have high completion rates, are adapted to different learning styles, spark a desire for more learning, include coaching, and use active methods.
- Measure success by both quantity and quality of production, customer satisfaction, reduced errors or accidents, and other relevant benchmarks.
- Encourage participation by branding your training, offering awards and rewards, and running contests to build momentum.
- Not all employees should receive identical training budgets. After basic compliance, training investment should be proportional to the value an employee brings; prioritize your top performers.
George Gilder wrote that we are in a knowledge economy. In practice, to earn and retain we have to train, train, train!
If your program includes compliance and safety elements, consider resources on Workplace Safety Training and Risk Management for managing those risks in the workplace.
For sales-focused learning and skills development, see the Sales Development Training Program for ideas on structuring sales training and protection.
Don Phin, Esq. is VP of Strategic Business Solutions at ThinkHR, which helps companies resolve urgent workforce issues, mitigate risk and ensure HR compliance. Phin has more than three decades of experience as an HR expert, published author and speaker, and spent 17 years in employment practices litigation. For more information, visit ThinkHR.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much should a company budget for employee training?
There is no one-size-fits-all number, but high-performing organizations often invest a higher percentage of payroll in training; budgets should reflect business priorities and employee roles.
Is online training as effective as classroom training?
Online training can be as effective when it is well-designed, interactive, and reinforced with coaching or practice opportunities.
How can I measure the ROI of a training program?
Use a combination of metrics such as productivity changes, error rates, customer satisfaction, and completion rates to estimate training impact over time.
What compliance topics should all employees receive?
At minimum, provide training on workplace harassment, diversity and inclusion, conflict resolution, and safety procedures relevant to your operations.