By Barry Rubenstein

One of the core competencies of all HR practitioners is training. While not all HR people possess the “stand-up” training skills that others may, HR plays a pivotal role in ensuring that their managers and employees have access to relevant training opportunities.

So what needs to be put in place in order to develop and implement a successful training program? Let’s explore…

• Training Assessment. In order to understand the needs of your organization, a brief training assessment should occur. The assessment can be formal — sending out a detailed questionnaire or less formal — meeting with various managers and inquiring as to the topics that they would like to see covered during the year. While some bristle at conducting an assessment, this is a tried and true method of understanding what your “consumers” want/need.
• Dissemination of Assessment Results. Once the assessment has been completed, it is important to summarize and share the results with relevant stakeholders. In addition, smart HR people, (and aren’t all of us smart!) will send out a proposed training schedule along with the summary feedback. The creation of proposed training topics helps managers see the value that HR brings to the table.
• Training Menu. Your training menu should be similar to that of a good restaurant! Equal portions of soft skills (effective communication, team building, management skills, interviewing skills, sexual harassment training etc), technical skills (software training, engineering training etc), product training (product-specific training). Training choices can be made from the menu based on your company’s training requirements (see below).
• Subject Matter Experts. As part of the development process, HR must work with managers to identify Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). SMEs posses the knowledge necessary to train employees. I strongly suggest that all companies place their primary focus on internal people as SMEs. Why internal people? I would answer this question by stating that there is talent, sometimes hidden talent, within each company. It is important to develop and cultivate this talent. By providing an opportunity for an internal person to contribute to the training process you are working to develop their skills. The second reason comes down to dollar bills! Training can be costly. Internal people do not cost the company additional money. As an HR person, it is critical to develop a training program that doesn’t become a major cost center. Having said this, there are obviously times when it makes sense to send people out to training or to have someone come in from the outside to train.
• Adult Learning. Whether the training is conducted by an internal or an external person, be certain that their training style mirrors the way adults like to learn. There’s nothing worse than a lecture-style trainer for adults. Adults learn best through active participation in the sessions. Breakout sessions, small group discussions, role plays and large group follow up all stimulate the learning process for adults. HR must ensure that trainers utilize this style in order to maximize the learning and your return on investment (ROI).
• Training Requirements/Record Keeping. HR plays an important role in defining the training requirements for your company. In other words, HR can set the stage by coming up with minimum annual training hours that must be completed by all employees. In addition, HR should be keeping records of training that has taken place (a simple sign-in sheet will suffice). Record keeping is particularly important when the company conducts any compliance-related training. OSHA or Sexual Harassment Training for example, are 2 areas where you want to be certain to have documented evidence that employees have attended these sessions.
• Training as a Differentiator. All companies are unique in their own way. How many companies can unequivocally state that their training program(s) are top-notch? Can yours? As HR strives to increase retention and competes with other companies for top talent, it is important to develop your training program to the point where it exceeds your companies’ objectives and that of your competitors.

In summary, HR plays an important role in the delivery of training. Carefully selected training curricula and delivery methodology are important factors in ensuring that your training program is robust, enjoyable and delivers measurable results.