Employee training programs improve the skills of your teams and increase their motivation which, in turn, improves results.
Quality continuous training contributes to the valorization of the human capital of a project, increases its competitiveness and allows the evaluation of talents, thus becoming a pillar of company management.
Aware of its importance, we have prepared this article in which we delve into the definition, in addition to sharing with you some essential points on how to develop them.

What are employee training programs?
Employee training programs are comprehensive and systematic human resources (HR) strategies that focus on training a company’s employees to update, recycle or improve skills and competencies to increase productivity.
Therefore, these training plans must assess the objectives, needs, techniques, content and evaluations necessary to train people in order to optimize the use of resources.
This type of training (which often makes use of strategies such as the kaizen method), if continuous, allows companies to adapt to fluctuating economic contexts that require high competitiveness in the short, medium and long term.
To be effective, employee training programs must be planned initiatives aimed at improving the skills of your human capital, but also the knowledge, competencies and performance, while respecting the needs of the company.
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Types and examples of employee training programs
There are several types of employee training programs. In terms of training development, they can be:
- Internal or outsourced through an external training company.
- Classroom or workshop style, i.e. theoretical or more practical.
- Individual or group.
- On-site or off-site.
In each case, the objectives and content of the training are adapted to the needs to be met.
Here are 2 examples that illustrate the above.

Onboarding training
An onboarding plan is essential to integrate new employees, build their confidence in the project and make them productive quickly.
To achieve this, the program usually includes all the necessary information:
- Company history, vision and mission.
- A detailed job description of the employee’s responsibilities, but also a commitment to support their career plan.
- Protocols, policies and procedures.
- Presentation of teams to improve the work climate.
Technical training
Technical training allows teams to be kept up to date with the knowledge, tools and methods that enable them to improve their performance.
In this sense, reskilling and upskilling are very useful:
- Reskilling. Focused on the employee acquiring new skills in a different job position.
- Upskilling. Based on increasing the skills, knowledge and competencies of a person in the same job.
Benefits of employee training programs
At this point, you can assume that the benefits of employee training programs are several.
- It allows you to identify the training needs of a project in an integral way, i.e. in terms of skills, competences and knowledge.
- It favors the reduction of gaps between employees in order to increase promotion possibilities, promoting equal opportunities as well as inclusion.
- Identifies optimal methodologies to develop skills acquisition.
- It increases the return on investment in training.
- Proves to be an effective tool for an organization’s internal talent assessment.
How to develop an employee training program?
If you are wondering how to train employees, training programs are a value proposition for them and translate into positive results in the long run.
Here is a quick guide to developing an employee training program.
Set up training needs
The first step is to identify the needs of your teams in relation to the requirements of the industry in which you operate and integrate them into your development objectives.
Some of the techniques you can use are:
- Observation. Observing the employee at his or her workstation allows you to identify mistakes and shortcomings.
- Enable anonymous questionnaires.
- Incorporate group methods such as role-playing or gamification to assess power skills such as decision-making or creativity.

Identify the knowledge, competencies and skills to be developed
An employee training program must consider the training dimension in all its complexity, taking into account 3 aspects that must be improved to achieve greater productivity:
- Knowledge. The knowledge your teams need to acquire.
- Skills. The technical skills they need to develop.
- How to be. The skills your people need to strengthen.
Set the goals
As with any project, defining the specific objectives of any training is a step that requires special attention.
The employee training program must be designed as a roadmap that must reach the milestones you set in an evolutionary way.
Plan all aspects of training
The management of an integral training of these characteristics must include:
- Type of contents needed, both theoretical and practical, as well as the supports and channels in which they are going to be distributed.
- Resources that will be needed to carry it out.
- Definition of the target audience, i.e., to whom the training is addressed.
- Training modality. For example, whether it is individual, group, blended, online, offline, etc.
- Duration of the program and timeline of the milestones to be achieved.
- Location of the training. You must assess whether it is a classroom or distance training.
Ask your employees to participate
One way to maximize the results of a training process is to involve the student from the very beginning. This active role also improves their learning capacity.
Work so that your employees understand the advantages of the training plan and consider it as part of the emotional salary.
Select professional and objective appraisal methods
Evaluation is key, both for the employee to monitor their progress, which motivates them and for the company to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of their trainings.
It should measure factors such as the degree of management, efficiency and profitability of employee training programs.
In this aspect, technology will become a great ally in both process automation and data analysis.
At Smowltech, we have created a series of proctoring plans that provide you with reports on the progress of the training program and ensure that remote evaluations are secure. Request a free demo and discover the solutions and tools we can offer you to help you drive your training to excellence.
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