Step-by-Step Guide To Organising a Corporate Training Session

Saying the words “corporate training” is enough to induce a yawn from employees. However, training is a crucial HR function for all corporate organisations. Training employees must not be limited to onboarding new employees. While it targets your employees, training and development activities can improve various aspects of your organisation.

As the HR or learning and development head of your organisation, encouraging effective corporate training can help you identify the gaps in knowledge in your team. This further helps develop and deliver business goal-oriented training programs and create long-term educational initiatives for all. Whether you want to onboard employees or help them become a mentor in their field, training is the way to go. Like learning, training is a continuous and evolving process for any organisation.

So how do you deliver an effective and engaging corporate training experience?

The structure of a training plan is not set in stone, it can be modified and adapted to suit your company’s needs. To help you design yours, we’ve designed a step-by-step plan for HR and training managers to refer to before organising a corporate training initiative.

1. Outline the Training Objectives

Before you begin your corporate training exercise, outline the learning goals clearly. You can measure the outcomes through evaluation and feedback. Whether you want to assess the attendees on the learning outcomes or not is a choice you need to make before deciding on the training objectives.

If your organisation has limited support and assistance in conducting training, it’s best to reach out to a professional HR firm. Whether you seek HR training in Birmingham or Bristol, professionals from HR firms offer relevant training courses to fulfil your training needs.

2. Break Down the Training Subjects Into Sections

Create learning modules for each subject you plan to teach to streamline the training. Not in any particular order, some common corporate training subjects are:

Compliance Training

Corporate compliance training is a crucial training exercise. It helps you inform employees about your organisation’s rules, regulations, policies or adherence to any laws. It’s a must for all employees to actively participate in compliance training.

Organise compliance training sessions with the help of your in-house experts or seek external help. In matters of security and regulations, it’s best to contact experts for the job.

Some common compliance training topics applicable to most organisations include:

IT Compliance Training

IT managed service providers in the UK train your workforce to stay compliant with various IT tasks. Additionally, with these experts on board, your employees know whom to contact for any IT-related queries or concerns. IT support services can assist companies through a range of services, from 24/7 IT support to IT audits and health checks.

Workplace Safety Training

Safety at the workplace cannot be put on the back burner. Whether it is about fire safety or how to provide first aid, all organisations, irrespective of the industry, need to train their workforce in safety.

Data Protection and Privacy Training

If you are a part of a large IT organisation that handles copious amounts of data, then a module in data protection and privacy training is a must. Your workforce needs to be trained to cautiously handle the collected and stored data of employees, customers or third parties.

Workplace Anti-Harassment Training

You can organise training sessions that cover topics like bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment at the workplace and teach them appropriate response and intervention strategies.

Diversity and Inclusion Training

Designing a diversity and inclusion training program can help break any preconceived notions and barriers surrounding gender, age or background.

Employee Support and Stress Management

Making sure your workspace is stress-free is essential to creating a welcoming atmosphere. Organising seminars and workshops on effective ways to manage workplace stress can greatly benefit both your workforce and your organisation.

Identify the workplace pain points your employees face and address them. Some of the common stress areas may include:

Financial Duress

Sometimes the stress may originate from an issue beyond the office, like a financial crunch. If possible, your organisation can step in and offer payday loans or salary advances as options to ease the financial load of your employees. Going the extra mile for your employees in times of stress can go a long way in maintaining a strong relationship and goodwill with your workforce.

Time Management

Teach employees ways of effectively handling their time at work. Train them to organise their day first thing as soon as they start by defining their work priorities and setting time limits.

Flexibility

The constant struggle to achieve work-life balance is perhaps one of the greatest stressors for employees looking to balance their personal and professional lives. By understanding their situation, train them to adapt to alternate models of the standard 9 to 5.

Employee Onboarding

HR is the first point of contact for any new employee joining an organisation. An employee onboarding process is the key to setting the tone of the relationship between the company and the new employees. Integrating training into the onboarding process can be helpful in more ways than one.

Typically, the onboarding procedure entails actions like:      

• Company Policies
• Distributing a welcome pack
• Setting up a workstation
• Orientation session
• Basic training programme

The onboarding process can be time-consuming for certain roles. It can be a long and enduring process for certain large organisations with lateral hiring or mass hiring needs. Weigh your options according to your requirements.

Employee Growth and Development

As your business evolves, so will your team. Continuous learning and development can help your employees grow, while helping your organisation embrace a culture of growth, foster engagement and boost morale.

Identify employees that need upskilling to help them boost their skills. Leadership training through coaches and mentors can hone potential leadership skills in your employees. With intensive training in the right environment, you can groom bright talent into future leaders.

3. Design A Schedule

After you have chalked out your training sections and topics, chart out a timetable. Sit down with your team to create a training calendar covering the training topics spread across weeks or months, depending on the extent of your training. Filter down the events of the day of training. Leave ample time for comfort breaks, tea/coffee intervals, and lunch. Don’t forget to include time for a Q&A at the end of your session.

4. Collate Training Materials and Session Space

Draft a lesson outline for each of your sessions. Pick your preferred training mode, from PowerPoint presentations, videos, slides, or a combination of all three. You can also encourage an interactive discussion or role-play among the attendees to make the sessions more lively and engaging. Organise take-home material like worksheets and handouts if necessary.

Shortlist your space for holding the sessions. Will you be conducting them inside the office? Or have it at an outside venue? Ensure you have all the materials, tools and assistance to conduct sessions smoothly.

5. Evaluation and Feedback

The only way to improve your future training and development sessions is by gathering honest feedback from all the attendees. In a series of planned sessions, ensure you take feedback at regular intervals and not just at the end of all sessions.

If you plan to incorporate evaluations, quizzes, tests, essays and practical exams are some ways to understand the effectiveness of the training sessions. With the help of evaluation, you can gauge whether or not your trainees have successfully acquired the appropriate skills or the required knowledge. 

To Sum Up

Organisations face multiple challenges in a globally evolving market, focusing on the growing need for new skill sets and considering employee priorities. Training and development activities allow organisations to look internally and work on their employees.

Following these steps can improve business operations and align your workforce towards strategic corporate goals. Targeted upskilling and reskilling help your employees progress in their careers as well as put your company on the trajectory to success.