How can you schedule staff to ensure they have access to training and development opportunities?

1 Assess your staff's needs and goals

Before you design a training schedule, you need to understand what your staff want and need to learn, and how it aligns with your organizational objectives and strategy. You can use various methods to assess your staff's needs and goals, such as surveys, interviews, performance reviews, feedback, and self-assessments. Based on the results, you can identify the skills gaps, the learning preferences, and the career aspirations of your staff, and prioritize the most relevant and urgent training topics and formats.

2 Choose the right training methods and tools

When it comes to training your staff, you have a range of methods and tools to choose from. For instance, online courses can be self-paced and flexible, allowing your staff to access them anytime and anywhere. Webinars offer live or recorded sessions with information and interaction on a topic. Workshops are face-to-face or virtual sessions with hands-on exercises and group discussions. Mentoring is a one-on-one relationship between a senior and junior staff member, while coaching is a one-on-one relationship between an external expert and a staff member. Platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, Miro, Trello, Slack, Mentorloop, Chronus, Everwise, CoachHub, BetterUp, and Sounding Board can be used to facilitate these different approaches to training.

3 Allocate time and resources for training

Once you have chosen the training methods and tools, you need to allocate time and resources for your staff to participate in them. To do this, you can block out dedicated time slots for training in your staff's calendars, and encourage them to use their personal or professional development days or hours. Additionally, you can incorporate training into your staff's regular work activities, such as assigning projects that require them to apply new skills. Lastly, provide incentives and recognition for your staff's training participation and completion, such as certificates, badges, bonuses, or promotions. This will ensure that your staff are motivated to take part in the training.

4 Evaluate and adjust your training schedule

You need to evaluate and adjust your training schedule regularly to make sure it is meeting your staff's needs and goals, and delivering the expected outcomes and benefits. To do this, collect feedback from your staff on their training experience, satisfaction, and learning outcomes using tools like SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, or Qualtrics. Additionally, measure the impact of your training on your staff's performance, productivity, and quality with tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, or Salesforce. Compare your training results with organizational objectives and strategy to identify any gaps or areas for improvement. Finally, make changes to your training schedule as needed such as adding new topics, changing formats, or modifying time and resources.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?