A good annual training plan links each course to a business priority, fits around your busy periods, and gets reviewed during the year. A plan that is only a list of courses tends to be forgotten by the second quarter.
What the plan should include
The business priority each program supports.
Who attends, and roughly how many people.
Format: in-house, public course, online or blended.
Timing, by quarter or month.
Budget for each item, and who approves it.
How you will check the result.
Six steps to build it
Collect priorities. Start with the company plan and speak to department heads.
Assess needs. Use a training needs assessment to find the real gaps.
Separate must-do from nice-to-have. Put regulatory and safety requirements first.
Estimate the budget. Include staff time away from work, not only course fees.
Schedule around the business. Avoid year-end, audits and seasonal peaks.
Get sign-off. Managers who helped build a plan are more likely to release their people.
Keep it flexible
Hold back part of the budget for needs that appear during the year. Review the plan every quarter: what happened, what changed, and what should move.
Common mistakes
Copying last year’s plan without checking it still fits.
Booking too much training at the end of the year to use a budget.
Not recording attendance and results, which makes next year’s plan harder.
Getting help
We can discuss a plan for the year, built around your priorities and operational schedule. Leaders Training Centre has trained teams from more than 500 organizations, and can build a custom course when an existing one does not fit. Request a corporate proposal.
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