Freelance or employed, what is your plan for upskilling teams in the year ahead? Now is a great time to research industry trends. Then, adapt your training to deliver the desired outcomes. In this article, I cover how to create a training strategy.
What are your Training Priorities?
On a personal or corporate level, it’s good to start your training strategy by pinpointing your priorities. Who would you like to train and why? Consider your ideal candidate and the difference that your training could make for them.
As part of this process, undertake research to identify company, or industry, goals and values. Use this insight to build a picture of training needs. Are your ideal candidates looking to upskill for career development? This might be the case, but training can also be vital for resolving workplace issues, compliance, building awareness and more.
Where possible, identify the desired outcomes for both the business and the individuals you train. This insight is key to developing and promoting your course.
Fill the Gap
The next step in your training strategy is to identify the knowledge, skills and insight that you have. Equally important is to recognise the gaps and find ways to fill them.
Research, collaboration and speaking to individuals with relevant lived experience are all development opportunities. In addition, training for trainers programmes are valuable for expanding your offer. Another option is working towards a widely recognised accreditation which may be necessary for attracting and reassuring your ideal candidates.
Review & Update Your Training Offer
As you start to shape your training strategy, it’s time to review your current training materials. Are your facts, figures and points of reference outdated? Imparting current data and fresh ideas is vital for making the subject impactful and memorable.
If you are getting a little bored by some of the activities, it’s time for change! You need to be excited about the content of your training if you want others to engage. The Resources page on my website includes ‘Training Activity Ideas’ and tips on ‘Boosting Engagement’ which you may find helpful.
Another consideration is the technology you use. Has this been updated to include new features? If so, can you incorporate this into your training sessions?
Tailoring Training to a Different Audience
Can you adapt your training, to make it appealing or accessible to different audiences? Internally or externally, who else would benefit from the learning? Spotting fresh opportunities is a great way to extend your reach. As a result, more people will benefit from self-development.
As trainers, we are well aware of the importance of providing information in a variety of formats to appeal to different learning styles. Is your material accessible to all potential candidates?
I’ve recently been building my understanding of neurodiversity in the workplace. As part of this, I’ve been researching ways to plan and deliver training to make it more inclusive. On the back of this research, I recently delivered a presentation titled ‘Embracing Neurodiversity in Learning Environments’ to an audience of trainers. If this is of interest to you, get in touch.
Promoting your Training Offer
The final stage in your strategy is to plan how to promote your 2024 training offer. Don’t wait for colleagues or interest parties to come and find you. Instead, be proactive and target those companies and individuals that you’ve prioritised.
What is the best way to get their attention? Is it internal communication, email marketing, networking, industry events, LinkedIn, print media or paid ads? Whichever options work for you, the next challenge is preparing a compelling message to launch in January.
The start of the year is a good time to get your message out. That’s because any outstanding budgets are often spent on training before the end of the financial year. Equally, companies are planning for their staffing needs for the year. As a result, they are open to upskilling employees and preparing induction training for recruits.
If you offer open training events, my Resources page also includes tips on ‘How to Fill Your Course’.
Your 2024 Training Strategy
Spend time on your 2024 training strategy now to help you market your offer and encourage managers or clients to invest in your training. Preparing for a mid-January launch is a great way to kickstart your year. It also helps business leaders to compile training offers for staff, along with individuals who have resolutions to fulfil.
If you would like my support in developing your 2024 training strategy, get in touch. For general insight, tips and support, sign up for my newsletter.