Business training programs are about more than just mentoring new employees — they’re about building a dream team. A solid program can ensure that all your employees are on the same page and motivated to work toward a common goal.

Training is not only reserved for newbies either — you can use it to upskill your existing employees and boost the company’s success. For instance, helping new and current with developing analytical skills through training benefits both.

If you’re wondering if there is a universal recipe for setting up a great business training program, take a look at the following steps.

Assess Your Needs

Why are you starting a training program in the first place? This is the single most important question that will help you determine how to create and execute your plan.

Maybe you’ve tried the “trial by fire” method with your new employees, and it hasn’t proven to be quite effective. In this case, you want to help your workers learn as much as they can before they start working.

Slowing it down and taking some time for mentoring pays off in the long run. That’s why it’s no wonder U.S. companies allocate as much as 11% of their budget for employee training.

On the other hand, maybe there’s a workplace performance problem that you would like to solve. If that’s the case, you need to take a step back and consider what causes the problem in the first place so that you can address it.

Maybe there’s no problem, and you would just like to take your team a step further in the right direction. The way to know which direction to take is best defined by doing a training needs analysis. You can see an example of training needs analysis here.

Be SMART When Setting Goals

Once you’ve assessed your needs, it’s time to set clear learning goals. What knowledge do you want your trainees to acquire? What skills would you like them to obtain or advance?

What matters the most in this stage of program development is that your goals are highly specific. If you start out with only a vague idea of what you want to achieve, how will you know if you have achieved it?

There’s a popular acronym that has become popular in business lingo lately, which can help you define your learning goal more clearly. It conveniently reads — SMART.

Your goal should be Specific — it should be clearly stated and understandable to everyone.

It should be Measurable — you should be able to tell if a trainee satisfies it with ease.

It should be Achievable — you shouldn’t put unrealistic expectations on your employees.

It should be Relevant — you should know exactly why it’s important for your business.

It should be Time-Bound — you should have a reasonable timeframe for completing the training.

Design Training Materials Carefully

It could be tempting to take some generic materials you find online and adapt them for your business’ needs. However, you should know better than this. If you’re going to have a training program, try to make the most of it.

Put yourself in the employees’ shoes. What would be the easiest way for them to take in the new knowledge or skill? How could you engage them, and what exactly do they need to know?

Before you start designing the materials, think about the training approach you will take as it will influence the way you organize your units. Is it going to be primarily instructor-led, or are the trainees going to have much more autonomy?

Think about the structure carefully. Divide the material into easily manageable and logically connected chunks. A wall of text is highly discouraging. Break it down, have lots of examples, and introduce plenty of chances for practice.

Also consider how training materials can be delivered in the best way, not only for theoretical learning but practical application too. For example, simulation-based learning in medical education is an excellent means of taking the stakes out of learning patient care principles and processes; allowing staff to make mistakes now rather than when practicing medicine correctly. If this is useful for a field such as this, you can see how it might benefit your own staff too.

Consider Using a Learning Management System (LMS)

No matter whether you’re planning to conduct the program in person with live trainers or online (or you opt for a combination of the two), you could benefit from a Learning Management System (LMS). This type of software can automate a lot of repetitive tasks, allow you to track the trainees’ progress, analyze data easily, and much more.

This type of platform allows you to distribute materials to everyone in a few clicks, and it makes online learning simple. Even if training takes place in a classroom or conference room where everyone’s physically present, it’s still much better to distribute materials electronically than print out dozens of copies.

You can also use an LMS to distribute tasks and be sure everyone is notified about them in due time.

Evaluate

Once the program is done, you need to evaluate its success and see what you can do to improve it. It wouldn’t hurt to check up on the trainees’ progress even during the training program. It could help you make quick modifications in the following units that will make them better and more easily digestible.

Your number one ally in assessing your program is data or business intelligence. If you’re wondering how to use business intelligence in your training program, you should know that the possibilities are endless. Any data that is measurable and quantifiable can help you identify positive and negative trends and allow you to see where the trainees are lacking.

Another way to measure the effectiveness of the training is to ask the employees about it. Once they’re settled in their new role, you can ask them what they wish they were told or shown during the training.

Improve

You could divide your program into several larger units and make evaluations after each of these is done. This practice will provide you with valuable insight into how to make the next section better, more appealing, and ultimately, more effective than the previous one.

Aside from making improvements on the go, you can use any insights you gain during and after the training to modify and improve it for the next batch of trainees. Business training programs are rarely used only once. Most often, organizations reuse them with each set of new employees.

Naturally, the longer your program lasts, the more fine-tuned and effective it will become. All you have to do is listen to your employees, data, and ultimately, the results.