An essential component of any professional development program is training. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult to provide training opportunities as doing more with less is the new normal. Fortunately, software can help you stretch your resources to capacity, BUT (yes, it is a big but)…   

There is a caveat. Before we address the BUT, let’s start with the “how”. The first step in effective plan creation is to determine your needs. Software can help you effectively evaluate your training needs through…  

1) Mapping

How are you assessing your training needs? Are you performing a needs assessment or are training needs uncovered through a performance appraisal? Is it group-specific? How much downtime will result and how can training be scheduled to decrease operational impact? What is an appropriate budget?

You can’t even begin to answer these questions without a proper map. Mapping training needs ensures efficient planning. Through providing a multi-level view, software can help determine what employees and/or groups need training.       

With map in hand (thanks to your software), it is now time to…

2) Plan Training   

The best software provides planning tools. HR and other managers can now determine budget and plan training. Once planned, registration requests or notifications (if mandatory) can be sent from the software. Training can be planned according to job function or department. 

The map is not the territory; your plan is based upon the map; the territory is active and changes; you will need to adapt your plans to the changes. Fortunately, software can help with…

3) Managing Training Requests

Upon performance review, a manager notices a skill deficit in his/her team, a professional training or conference presents itself with little notice, etc. 

With the appropriate software, managing and coordinating requests is seamless. All stakeholders are notified through the software and communication is centralized. Relevant management can monitor pending training requests, compare them to departmental and overall budgets, and coordinate them with other departments for approval. 

Okay, now you’ve mapped, planned, and are flawlessly adapting to the changing landscape, now you can sharpen your future planning through…

Registration data is now warehoused and readily available across the organization. With the appropriate permissions, a manager can quickly access the data according to his or her preferred level of detail without contacting another department. You want to view it as a department? No problem. You want to look at a specific employee? Go crazy, the software is your personal assistant.

Reports can then be created, from which HR and other departments can adjust training plans, requests, and budgets or estimate future training needs with pinpoint accuracy.     

But wait, first impressions are important, why not ensure your best impression by using software for…

5) Employee Onboarding  

HR Software streamlines the onboarding process through providing schedules and outlines for orientation meetings and trainings. Training articles can be acknowledged and self-directed training modules accessed. The process becomes butter-smooth and the employee can focus on becoming a member of the culture.

The CAVEAT

Software for the sake of software is wasteful and ultimately costs more to implement than not. Therefore, effective consultation is key in ensuring that the solution is appropriate to your organization and integration is flawless. 

With Upsteem, we ensure that your employees stay sharp. Regardless of organizational complexity, our solution will significantly decrease planning and requisition time (both of which result in reduced costs) through providing a centralized platform from which to deploy your ambitious initiatives. 

Powerful? Yes. Complicated? No way! We won’t do it all (some data entry is required), but you’ll be able to with us at your side.   
The question you have to ask yourself, “What can my department do with an extra 1000 hours?”  

Contact us today at the information below to discuss your unique challenges and to schedule a webinar—we’ll get you to that question tomorrow.