Hello
This is a new one for me, so I would really value some of your tips and advice in this area.
Firstly, working with a group of 150 employees, I am looking for a good tool to record and manipulate data about their training needs into a training plan. (The HR software sytem used does not appear to have relevant module for such analysis)
Secondly, without a huge budget, what would your advice be for translating this information into an effective training plan?
May sound like a simple challenge to some of you, however as I've never really been involved in this area, I would love to learn from some of your experiences.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sarah
Sarah Jennings
2 Responses
Training plan spreadsheet
Sarah
I think for the scale you are thinking of you might be best to develop your own spreadsheet system.
Probably the simplest structure for this is to have employees on the vertical axis with a coding that allows you to group them by type (type of role, grade, team they belong to, etc.). And along the horizonal axis the competencies or categories of training needs.
This will allow you to see how many people have a particular need, what needs each team have and so on.
It may not be sophisticated but it could be worth doing for a year while you clarify exactly what you need from a system and get more chance to shop around.
To look at and try out the different systems why not go to one of the major exhibitions. They are usually free.
Graham
Horses for courses
Once you’ve got a better handle on the needs and how you plan to meet them, etc. you might look into tools like Moodle (which is a free learning management system), but there is no point in getting really sophisticated tools before you know what you actually want to use them to do.
Your staff complement is quite small, so the previous commenter is right to suggest that you make creative use of existing tools, such as spreadsheets. If you know how carry out some of the more advanced features like filtering and pivot tables, you could use these tools to identify training needs and draw up a plan and a strategy based on the info this yields. Alternatively, an Access database is also a helpful resource, if you know how to design robust queries.
I advise you to work closely with line managers on a mutual support basis. Get them to feed you the info that comes out of reviews about training needs, which can then be followed through as a part of your organisation’s performance management process.