• Corporate Training
  • Knowledge Hub
  • Learning and Development

In this article, we will discuss:

  • What is corporate training?
  • Goals of corporate training programs
  • Why do companies need corporate training?
  • Benefits of corporate training
  • Components of corporate training
  • How to organize corporate training
  • Reasons why training can fail
  • Corporate training trends 2022-2023

What is Corporate Training?

Corporate training refers to employee learning and development initiatives that aim to improve various aspects of an organization.

Corporate training is the remit of the HR department or, in larger organizations, a dedicated L&D team.

Their responsibilities include identifying knowledge gaps and training needs , developing and delivering training programs depending on business needs, and creating long-term education strategies for specific individuals and the workforce as a whole.

This can include onboarding new staff , teaching new skills , reskilling employees for new roles or upskilling within the existing one , or any other scenario where training can make a difference in the workplace.

When successful, corporate training is advantageous for both management and employees .

  • Leadership can improve business operations and enhance workforce capabilities with specific strategic goals in mind.
  • Employees can develop new skills and learn knowledge to progress in their careers.

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Goals of Corporate Training Programs

Corporate training allows organizations to manage the development of their employees.

List of goals of corporate training

While specific goals within corporate training vary depending on the organization (and amongst different employees within the same organization), multiple big-picture objectives are consistently present. These include:

  • Expanding workforce capability – By developing the knowledge and expertise of employees, organizations can reduce skill gaps and expand workforce capabilities. This could be to improve operations, increase productivity, enhance staff agility, or position the business to take advantage of new growth channels.
  • Retaining talent – Investing in staff through corporate training shows the organization cares about its employees and their professional development. This, combined with opportunities for professional growth and internal mobility, allow organizations to hold onto talented employees.
  • Building work culture – Corporate training allows an organization to explain, promote, and instill its workplace culture. This could include big picture core values that help achieve the business’s goals or specific expectations from employees joining the company, such as a code of conduct .
  • Increase organizational performance – Training staff to be better at their job leads to greater productivity. Corporate training costs money, and when done right, businesses see a return on that investment with increased performance thanks to staff using their time more efficiently.

Why Do Companies Need Corporate Training?

Key reasons why companies should make use of corporate training programs now more than ever include the influx of new technology and greater marketplace competition

1. New technology

While new technologies have always facilitated innovation, recent years have seen a significant number of disruptive technologies find widespread use, transforming entire industries.

With automation, AI, and a range of other digital technology leading the way, businesses must constantly train staff to remain up to date and reap the benefits.

Businesses across sectors are looking for ways to integrate new technology and digitally transform their operations. According to Gartner , 87% of business leaders are prioritizing digitalization, and 40% have brought digital transformation projects to scale.

The graph displays the attention to digital transformation: 87% of leaders think digitalization is essential, and 40% of them bring it to scale

Implementing digital tools and taking advantage of advanced analytics requires most organizations to seek new workforce skills. However, finding these skills on the job market is not easy.

A McKinsey Global Survey on the future workforce found that almost nine in ten managers say they are already experiencing a skills gap or expect one in the next five years.

To take advantage of new technology, many organizations are instead looking internally and working to develop existing employees through corporate training initiatives. This approach is met with enthusiastic employees. PWC found that 74% of employees are ready to retrain and learn new skills if it helps them remain employable.

2. Remaining competitive

In the modern business world, there is more competition than ever before, and customers now expect better service. With more choices, businesses are looking to differentiate themselves by offering smooth and personalized customer experiences.

Therefore, organizations must continuously train staff to create the best customer service possible and remain competitive.

A 2022 report from Zendesk highlights the growing importance of customer services:

The numbers show the growing importance of customer services: 60% of consumers stated they expect better service since the pandemic, 73% of business leaders found a direct link between business performance and customer service, 90% of consumers spend more at companies that personalize customer service

To ensure excellent customer interactions, businesses need to invest in corporate training that develops various related skills, including communication, conflict resolution, interpersonal skills, and product knowledge.

Benefits of Corporate Training

Infographic: Benefits of corporate training

1. Employee development

Corporate training develops employees to remove workforce skill gaps and identify new leaders for smoother succession planning .

With constantly updating digital tools, the half-life of professional skills has dropped significantly, from 10-15 years down to 5 years. Employee development allows organizations to train staff on relevant technical skills that meet evolving business demands

Agility is a commonly desired outcome of corporate training.

Developing new hard skills and knowledge allows organizations to pivot when market conditions change quickly. However, corporate training is also vital to enhance employee soft skills, allowing them to better cope under pressure and adapt quickly, ensuring effective decision-making.

3. Motivation and engagement

Beyond giving staff new skills to improve at work, corporate training and investing in staff can generate motivation and engagement. Surveys show that 92% of employees found successful training increases job engagement. Having a motivated and engaged team leads to better business outcomes.

On the other hand, employee disengagement can become a significant cost center. For example, global research by Gallup found that actively disengaged employees waste the equivalent of 18% of their salary.

4. Reduced employee turnover

Boosting employee motivation and engagement are critical factors in reducing turnover. Studies show employee engagement reduces voluntary turnover by 31% .

Further research found that 94% of employees would remain at a company for longer if they invested in their L&D.

Reduced employee turnover helps organizations retain talented staff, maintain consistent operations, and lessen the cost of hiring new staff. The Center for American Progress previously found the cost of replacing an employee can rise to as high as 213% of the employee’s salary.

This doesn’t mean hiring is not a vital part of all growing businesses.

Strong corporate training processes show an organization values its staff and works to develop them as individuals. This can boost the company’s reputation helping to attract stronger candidates.

6. Efficiency and productivity

Corporate training and improving employee performance directly affect a company’s bottom line.

Organizations can see significant ROI on corporate training spending when executed correctly, thanks to greater efficiency and enhanced productivity.

Research by IBM found a 10% productivity increase when a team is well-trained. This leads to a 22% faster rollout of new business processes and products. As a result, corporate training can help organizations drive revenue and growth.

Components of Corporate Training

The image displays the key components of corporate training: 1. Compliance training, 2. Leadership development, 3. Product knowledge, 4. Reskilling and upskilling, 5. General employee development

1. Employee onboarding

Onboarding training aims to integrate new employees within the organization as quickly as possible.

It typically includes general information about the workplace, such as IT logins or corporate policies, and the specific knowledge employees need for their roles, like the resources to complete their responsibilities or the team’s communication channels.

Onboarding is also a great opportunity to impart the company’s core values and culture, setting the expectations for all new workers.

Smooth onboarding procedures can reduce employee stress when joining a new company and hopefully quickly make them feel comfortable in the workplace. For companies, it can help minimize transition time such that employees begin creating value as soon as possible.

Check out our articles on the Onboarding process and Onboarding checklists for more information.

2. Compliance training

Typically part of onboarding, compliance training is a formal program focusing on the company’s policies and rules.

The specifics of compliance training depend on the type of industry and role. However, it generally includes health and safety, a code of conduct, data protection, workplace harassment policy, diversity training, and privacy protection.

Compliance training ensures the baseline expectations regarding behavior are made explicit to all employees. This can prevent employee issues in the workplace and offer the company legal protection.

Check out our article on the Compliance training and discover tips and best practices.

3. General employee development

Employee development refers to training that focuses on improving staff capabilities.

Educating staff is advantageous for everyone involved. For example, helping leadership build a better workforce to optimize operations and assisting employees in their development personally, potentially opening doors to new professional opportunities.

Check out our articles on Employee Development Areas and Employee Development Plan .

4. Leadership development

Leadership development looks to increase the leadership skills within the workforce through various processes. This could be internal via mentorship programs or sending staff off-site for seminars or conferences to develop their leadership capabilities.

Good managers and supervisors look for employees with the potential to excel in leadership roles.

Leadership development helps ensure an organization has ready-made replacements should key staff members choose to retire or leave. Impactful leadership development programs also help retain ambitious and talented employees who can see a clear career path at the company.

5. Product knowledge training

Outside the product team, many others in the company need deep knowledge of the goods or services provided. For example:

  • The marketing team must understand the product to attract future customers
  • The sales team, which directly communicates with the customers, needs to be able to talk confidently about the product and what it can and can’t do
  • The customer service team needs to know the product in and out to help customers with their issue

While this may be harder for certain sectors (e.g., tech, science, etc.), offering product training to everyone at an organization helps everyone perform their role. It can also inspire employees to become more involved and motivated, bring new ideas from unlikely sources, and bring everyone together to improve working relationships.

6. Reskilling and Upskilling

Two closely related ideas, reskilling refers to training employees for a new role, and upskilling is developing new skills for an employee’s existing position.

With the influx of new technology and a reduction in the half-life of skills, both reskilling and upskilling are seeing significant interest.

Reskilling allows employees to retrain and change their profession at an uncertain time when technology is making a growing number of roles obsolete.

Upskilling keeps staff up-to-date on the best practices available to perform their role. Both allow organizations to maintain an effective workforce and adapt to changing times.

The banner for Skills Gap Analysis Guide

How to Organize Corporate Training

Let’s take a look at the various techniques that are common in corporate training:

1. Traditional classroom training

Instructor-led, in-person training is still used in many companies.

While it might not be ground-breaking, it is easily customizable, offers plenty of opportunities for various types of assessments, and has the advantage of being familiar.

It is not scalable, and space is limited to how many learners can fit into the physical classroom, so there are limitations to these types of programs.

2. Virtual instructor-led training

This updated version of the classroom training offers a lot of advantages that in-person training lacks, with relatively few disadvantages.

More people can attend training sessions, as space is no longer limited to a physical classroom.

Sessions can be recorded and reviewed by future learners, and it offers a way for people to continue learning without interruption in the ‘new normal’ of all-remote work.

Although this requires all learners to have the correct equipment and connection speed, one main disadvantage is that learners might feel disengaged with all-online learning, so instructors would have to contend with that. In this type of training, no matter how many learners are involved, you will only have a finite number of instructors, so the training may be less effective.

3. Online learning

Online learning is a bit of a catch-all term and can be used to refer to any resource online that contains educational content, such as online courses, quizzes, games, discussion boards, videos, and assessments.

This has been the fastest-growing area in corporate training, with many companies dedicating a lot of energy to developing their online learning tools, as they are scalable, accessible, and serve the users at the point of need.

For this learning the need in modern technology is essential. Check out more about LMS and its capabilities.

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corporate training program definition

4. Blended learning

This type of learning marries classroom-based and online learning, taking the best of each type and delivering it to the learner.

This approach tends to be the most successful, as it is more scalable, accessible, and flexible, and it is more able to meet the needs of diverse students.

This approach requires a solid infrastructure, learners who are comfortable with technology, and instructors who are able to make the most of this training approach.

Learn more about blended learning in our article.

Reasons Why Training Can Fail

While corporate training has considerable merit, it can be challenging to translate programs into meaningful results. Research shows:

Reasons why training can fail

  • 75% of managers surveyed were unsatisfied with their organization’s L&D capabilities.
  • 70% of employees feel they haven’t mastered the skills they need to perform their role.
  • Only 12% of employees apply new skills learned during training programs top in their job.

There are many factors for the lack of success in corporate training. However, common reasons for failure include:

  • Failing to understand corporate training objectives or improperly analyzing learning outcomes and results.
  • A lack of investment from leadership making corporate training seem like a cost center rather than an opportunity.
  • Corporate training that becomes too generalized and lacks the specificity to make a real difference to an individual in a particular role.
  • Staff are too afraid of failure and unwilling to implement new ideas and approaches discovered through corporate training.
  • Tracking programs (i.e., training credits or something similar) turning corporate training into a box-ticking exercise rather than the learning and application of useful skills.
  • New skills are quickly forgotten if they are not used soon after training.

Trends in Corporate Training

Corporate training challenges in 2023-2024.

1. Great reshuffle

The current state of the job market often referred to as the great reshuffle, is significantly affecting corporate training. The work institute’s 2022 retention report found that in 2021 47 million workers in the US alone quit their job.

2. Changing workforce attitudes

In addition, the perception of employers fell dramatically during the pandemic, dropping 64% between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021.

With the Covid-19 crisis and economic instability, many people now have new priorities in life and are looking for employment that reflects them. Changing workforce attitudes comes during rapid technological change and digital integration.

In 2022, organizations require corporate training that future-proofs their workforce and finds ways to continue generating value in these uncertain times.

3. Changing face of corporate training and L&D

LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report 2022 captures the changing face of corporate training and L&D:

  • 81% of executives are looking to offer greater flexibility to their employees
  • 25% of LinkedIn members’ skills within the same occupation are different from what they were in 2015
  • 25% of LinkedIn members around the world changed roles between October 2019 and October 2022

4. Growing skills gap

Amongst L&D leaders, there is an acknowledgment of the growing skills gap and the need to transform training strategy to meet the moment

  • 46% (up 4% from 2021) say the skills gap is widening in their organization
  • 49% (up 9% from 2021) say executives are concerned current employees cannot execute business strategy given their existing skill
  • 62% say the focus of their work is rebuilding or reshaping their organization in 2022
  • 77% say their remit has become more of a strategic function in their organization

However, many believe corporate training and employee development are the keys to building the workforce of the future :

  • 79% of L&D professionals agree it is cheaper to train an employee for a new role compared to hiring
  • 54% of L&D professionals believe internal mobility has grown in importance since the pandemic
  • Employees who feel their skills are being put to practical use are 10x less likely to leave an organization

The data shows organizations face multiple challenges with a dynamic global market, changing employee priorities, and the need for new digital skillsets. As a result, organizations must look internally and work on their workforce to respond to the moment.

Corporate training has to play a central role in retaining staff and generating the future workforce organizations need. This means designing programs to install new flexible working rules while counteracting the growing skills gap and creating the digitally literate employees needed to adapt and learn new technologies.

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Workplace training

12 minute read

Corporate Training Programs: How to Get it Right for Your Company

Kat Boogaard

Kat Boogaard

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What does a typical day look like for your employees?

If you’re like a lot of employers, your team probably shows up in the morning, grabs their morning cups of coffee, and heads to their desks—where they’ll spend the rest of their days cranking through their to-do lists (between attending the occasional meeting, of course).

Your staff is productive. But, ask yourself this: are they growing ?

No, not growing in a sense of size, but are they growing professionally? Do they have the opportunity to try their hand at new experiences, pick up new skills, and expand their knowledge?

If you can’t confidently answer that question with an enthusiastic, “Yes!” it’s probably time that you look into corporate training programs and the numerous advantages they can offer to your company. 

coworkers-learning-together-corporate-training

What is corporate training?

Here’s the most straightforward definition: Corporate training captures the efforts you make to support the professional development of your employees through organized programs or activities. 

It’s synonymous with other terms that are popular in the employment landscape, such as “professional development opportunities,” “learning programs,” “learning and development initiatives,” and even “ learning culture .”

When you make resources available for your employees to hone new skills and expand their knowledge during their working hours, you’re offering corporate training. As an article for Wyzowl explains, these resources can take shape in many different forms, including (but certainly not limited to):

  • Instructor-led classroom training
  • Interactive methods (like small group discussions or demonstrations)
  • Hands-on training
  • Computer-based and e-learning training
  • Video training
  • Coaching and mentoring

Of course, corporate training is also used to educate employees on the formal policies and procedures of your specific organization (such as your sexual harassment or workplace bullying policies). 

But, as learning and development has become such a point of focus in a competitive hiring environment, the term has since expanded to capture any and all structured learning opportunities you make available. 

Why is corporate training important?

Your staff is busy, and it can be hard to imagine piling more onto their plates. Why should corporate training be at the top of your priority list when there’s so much else that needs to get done? How can corporate training benefit an organization?

As it turns out, making these training opportunities available to your employees offers numerous advantages for your entire company. 

1. Corporate training boosts the knowledge of your workforce

This first one is pretty obvious: when you give employees the chance to learn new skills, solidify best practices, master new pieces of software, and more, they’re equipped with the information and tools they need to do their job better.

Your employees will feel empowered, and you’ll have a smarter, more efficient, and even more productive workforce. In fact, an IBM study found that well-trained teams can lead to a 10% increase in productivity. 

2. Corporate training improves employee engagement

The more your employees feel like another cog in the wheel, the less motivated they’ll be to do their best work. By investing in corporate training and learning opportunities, you prove that you want to support their growth and development as professionals.

In turn, that improves their engagement and commitment to your organizational goals. One report found that 52% of high-engagement companies have employees who spend an average of 31-50 hours learning per year, compared to only 20% of low-engagement companies. 

3. Corporate training reduces employee turnover 

What’s one of the biggest risks of low engagement? High turnover . When employees don’t feel valued or invested in, they run for the hills—or worse, for your competitors. 

That same IBM study found that employees who don’t feel that an organization is providing the development they need are 12 times more likely to leave for another opportunity than those who say they’re receiving enough training.

man-smiling-learning-laptop-corporate-training

How to develop a corporate training program: 6 tips to keep in mind

You’re convinced of the importance of creating a corporate training program to boost quality and productivity, increase engagement , and keep your top talent around. 

But, good intentions aside, actually building the program is an entirely separate hurdle. Here are six important tips to keep in mind as you begin pulling these learning resources and opportunities together. 

1. Determine your needs

There’s no shortage of corporate training opportunities that you could offer. With such a variety available, your smartest starting point is to figure out what your employees need.

Do you have a significant skill gap on your team? Is there a certain program or piece of software that everybody has been struggling with? Those are issues that you could address with a more formalized corporate training program.

Remember to involve your employees in this discovery process. Ask them what they’d be eager to learn (whether that’s through a survey or an informal conversation), so that you can develop programs that support them best. 

2. Set your learning objectives

There are plenty of advantages attached to corporate training, but you still shouldn’t offer it just because . These initiatives should move the needle for your organization, and in order to accurately track your progress, you’ll need to have some success metrics attached to them.

For each training that you offer, ask yourself this: What’s our goal in offering this?

Keep in mind that your objectives can differ for each learning opportunity. You just don’t want to skip the step of actually establishing them, so you can ensure you’re taking steps in the right direction. 

3. Decide on your delivery methods

As mentioned previously, there are tons of different options for delivering training. You could offer an in-person seminar with guest speakers, or you could create an online course that employees can fit into their own schedule.

When you’ve landed on a training program that you know you want to offer, evaluate what delivery method will work best for that content. This is another area where you could poll your employees to get their insight on what they’d prefer.

You’ll likely want to use a mix of delivery methods for your various learning opportunities (you don’t need to stick with just one!). Different content lends itself to different mediums, and that flexibility will help keep things fresh. 

4. Promote your learning opportunities

Learning opportunities can be a huge benefit to your employees—provided they actually know that those opportunities exist.

This shouldn’t be guesswork. Your employees should be able to easily identify, find, and access the training that you’ve made available.

Make sure to actively promote those programs in your team meetings, your company intranet, instant message channels, and more so that employees don’t miss out on chances to expand their skill sets (especially if you’re offering a live training that can’t be accessed later!). 

5. Dedicate time for training and development

Imagine that you make these programs and resources available. Yet, nobody seems to be taking advantage of them. 

Before you start scratching your head, think about whether or not you’ve actually given your employees the time to make use of what you’re offering. If their plates are still full with daily work tasks and emergencies, how are they going to be able to devote adequate time to learning and development?

According to LinkedIn’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report , time is the number one reason that employees feel held back from learning. So, if you truly want to prioritize professional development, you need to be prepared to dedicate a chunk of the calendar to it.

Exactly what this looks like can vary. Maybe you’ll choose one full day per month when work obligations are put on the back burner and learning takes precedence. Or, perhaps you’ll opt for a few hours every Wednesday. The important thing is to make sure that you’re penciling in adequate time—otherwise training will continue to be low on the priority list. 

6. Lead by example

Offering training programs is a great first step, but you’ll still be hard-pressed to get employees to leverage them if learning isn’t a core part of your culture.

There isn’t a quick fix for this, as shifting your company culture will require long-term effort. However, one of the best things you can start doing immediately is leading by example .

Make sure that you’re dedicating time to your own development and openly sharing with your team what you’re learning. The more they see you dedicating hours and energy to those initiatives, the more inclined they’ll be to do the same. 

coworkers-learning-together-corporate-training

What to look for in a corporate training solution

Leveling up your company’s corporate training can feel like an overwhelming undertaking, but technology can help make it easier.

There are plenty of corporate training solutions and software options out there (the GoSkills LMS is one of them!) to help you organize content, track progress, and engage your employees in the process. 

Of course, with so many options out there, it can be difficult to figure out which training solution can best meet your needs.

What key things should you be looking for when evaluating your choices? Here are a few ideas. 

1. Easy access and organization

Consider this your golden rule: the easier your solution is to use, the more likely employees are to actually do so. Your learning software shouldn’t be cumbersome or complex. It needs to be user-friendly—the last thing you want to do is provide training on how to access training.

A learning management system (LMS) should get bonus points for things like gamification and social learning. After all, finding a system that’s fun to use certainly doesn’t hurt!

2. Detailed tracking and reporting

It’s not that you want to monitor every single step your employees take, but it is helpful to get the lowdown on things like what courses have been completed, the time it takes to complete them, what tests have been taken, what certificates have been earned, and more.

Look for a program that makes it easy for you to access this sort of reporting, so that you can measure the effectiveness of your training programs (and make adjustments as necessary!). 

3. Flexible training assignments

Not every training you offer is going to be useful or necessary for everyone within your company. That’s why your software should have the flexibility to assign different courses to different teams or people.

That way, it’s easy for everyone to immediately understand what learning opportunities are highly relevant (or even mandatory) for them.

The GoSkills LMS offers all of these features (and more!). Find out more here . 

Is corporate training worth it? You bet

Gone are the days when employees were willing to simply show up, punch in, and crank through their work tasks in exchange for only a paycheck. 

Today’s talent wants to know that their employers care about them personally and professionally, and investing in their growth and development is a surefire way to prove that.

Building a corporate training program is a more formalized way to get that point across. Use this article as your guide, and you’ll continue fostering a team that’s productive, engaged, and committed to your organization!

Start training your team today with the GoSkills LMS . The GoSkills LMS makes it easy for you to support your employees' learning and development, quickly creating customized training programs in a matter of clicks.

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Kat Boogaard

Kat is a writer specializing in career, self-development, and productivity topics. When she escapes her computer, she enjoys reading, hiking, golfing, and dishing out tips for prospective freelancers on her website.

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What is corporate training and why is it important?

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According to LinkedIn, 94% of employees want to work for a company that invests in their professional development . So while corporate training might not by synonymous with fun, the problem isn’t that employees don’t want training. They’re just not getting the right job training. 

So how can you offer your employees a training program that they find valuable? 

Let’s explore different corporate training methods and how to design a program that aligns with your employees’ needs.

What is corporate training? 

Corporate training, or workplace learning, is a set of educational activities provided to employees, typically free of cost. It can cover a range of topics and improvement areas from soft skills to role-specific competencies. Corporate training benefits employees and businesses as it builds intellectual capital and upskills or reskills employees .

The goal of a corporate training program is to enhance your employees’ personal and professional development . It can take place in a one-on-one or group setting, and it’s often led by a knowledgeable instructor.

Some common examples of training courses include: 

  • Compliance training 
  • Technical skills training 
  • Soft skills training
  • Onboarding and orientation  

People often mistake corporate training with   corporate learning . But there are some key differences. 

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A company that values and invests in learning opportunities has a corporate learning culture. Corporate learning is also usually employee-driven. Corporate training is formal training provided by the company .

The goal of corporate training is to provide employees with skills and knowledge. So, it’s a part of corporate learning.

To deliver a successful training program, employers need to align the goals of training with the business objectives. At the same time, the program must be engaging and meet your employees’ needs. 

One of the most engaging methods of corporate training is online learning. It is also called e-learning. 

Preferred by most young professionals, corporate e-learning   is expected to grow by more than 250% by 2026 . And it’s not just employees who find value in online learning. Almost 3/4 of US businesses say that   e-learning gives them a competitive advantage .

Incorporating e-learning into your training is a must. It will help you remain competitive and meet the needs of your employees. 

over the shoulder of a man in a virtual corporate training program

Why is corporate training important?

Investing in the career growth and skill development of employees is essential. Managers and individual contributors alike can benefit from corporate training. It helps keep teams aligned on company goals and positioning their personal growth to feed into that of the organization. 

Employees are also given the space and resources to flourish. With an effective training program, each individual creates a path with attainable goals that they can work toward within the company. In addition to the upskilling they gain, this clarity and vision can also help increase motivation, creativity, collaboration, and retention.

4 reasons many corporate team trainings fail

Corporate training programs are designed for the benefit of employees. But many struggle to see value in them. 

And rightfully so. Stuffy, outdated, and out-of-touch programs have given corporate training a bad reputation. 

Why do many training programs fail? Let’s take a look at four possible reasons.

1. Misalignment with employee needs 

One of the biggest concerns employees have is that they’re taught skills that they consider irrelevant. 

Training that isn’t aligned with your employees’ actual needs will leave them feeling disengaged. They’ll also not see any value in these programs.

Solution:   focus on training that teaches skills relevant to today’s employees. 

2. Information overload 

Trying to stuff too much information in each training session   will leave your employees burned out   and overwhelmed.

Solution:   use microlearning   to make your training more effective and easily digestible. 

Microlearning is an online training that delivers information in short pieces of content. It can be delivered in the form of videos, infographics, job aids, or even a quick game.

3. Outdated training methods 

If you’re still using dull instruction manuals and old corporate training videos in 2023, it’s time to throw them out the window. No wonder employees dread corporate training when it involves outdated methods that put them straight to sleep. 

Solution:   revamp your corporate training from boring to engaging and fun through methods like gamification. 

This popular method gives game-like elements to traditional learning material. This includes badges, points, or levels that employees will work through. 

 A   2019 survey by TalentLMS   found that 83% of employees who receive game-like training   feel motivated . The same survey reveals that gamification   increased employee engagement   and   productivity . 

4. Poor timing 

Employees don’t like corporate training because it’s often poorly timed. They’ll feel obligated to participate in training programs that they end up resenting. 

Solution:   Deloitte suggests   using technology (like e-learning) to deliver personalized training   that aligns with each employee’s schedule. 

Online training can be delivered at convenient times that don’t disrupt the workflow of your teams. 

woman with grey hair and black glasses smiling in a meeting

What makes a successful corporate training program?

Given all of the potential pitfalls of an employee training program, developing a successful program might seem daunting. And to add to the discomfort, there is not one right way to do it. Many factors will define the specific structure and content of each company’s training program.

Here are the top eight considerations to keep in mind when developing a training program :

  • Content relevance: This starts before a single lesson is outlined. First, it is important to understand where your teams need and want to develop. Identifying the teams and individuals that can use certain training programs and tailoring them for each group will get you started on the right foot.
  • Goal alignment: It can be hard to stay engaged in the “what” without the “why.” To keep individuals motivated, clearly draw lines between team and organizational goals . And note how the training helps drive everyone toward these goals. 
  • Learning styles: There are a handful of learning styles that employees can fall into. When designing a corporate training program, be sure to appeal to each of these styles. Provide visual, kinaesthetic, written, and auditory content throughout the training to keep each member engaged and following along.
  • Engaging delivery: Once you’ve taken learning styles into account, also consider the level of engagement of the training. Keeping the content engaging and relatable is crucial for the information to be absorbed. Look for moments to ask for participation or create breakout sessions for groups to discuss key points. 
  • Leadership by-in and advocacy: One quality of a good leader is leading by example. Employees are more likely to complete and engage in the training if leadership shows clear interest and advocacy, too.
  • Time commitments: Bring mindful of individuals’ bandwidth and schedules will be highly beneficial in terms of attendance and engagement. More employees will be able to make the training and focus solely on the program while they are in it.
  • Benchmarking: As with most initiatives, it is important to measure the success of your corporate training program. Try using interviews or surveys to gain insight before and after the training. Also track the quantifiable metrics around each training session, including the length and cost of the training.
  • Maintenance: Corporate training is not a one-time thing. It takes time and care to develop employees. So be sure to check in with attendees and build upon the skills they’re developing between trainings.

What are the main goals of corporate training programs? 

There are many reasons why corporate training exists in the workplace. Let’s explore some of the most important goals of corporate training. 

1. Equip employees with the right skills

Programs like onboarding and mandatory training give employees the skills they need to take on a   new role . This training is usually offered to new employees or existing employees that get promoted to a more challenging position. 

Teaching foundational skills   empowers employees to perform   to the best of their abilities. 

Unfortunately, 70% of employees surveyed by Gartner said   they don’t have the mastery of the skills needed for their current jobs . Do yours? 

2. Reduce skills gaps and provide ongoing learning 

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the need for   upskilling and reskilling   your employees. 

According to McKinsey, 87% of companies worldwide realize   they have an existing skills gap   or will have one within the next few years. 

To address the skills gap , companies need to invest in ongoing training and development programs.

This includes teaching important soft skills like   time management ,   creative thinking , and   resilience . It also means learning new digital skills and keeping up to date with emerging technologies. 

3. Invest in and retain talent

If you’re not actively investing in your employees, you risk losing them. 

According to Deloitte, 42% of employees looking for a new job say   their employer isn’t maximizing their skills and abilities . 

Some training programs   prepare your employees for leadership positions   within the organization. Opportunities for growth and development   increase employee retention   and   supercharge your employee experience . 

4. Create a cohesive company culture 

Initiatives that put employees’ needs as individuals at the forefront   create a culture of belonging . These include   diversity and inclusion   seminars or   mental health   and   well-being training .

Creating a culture of belonging   leads to better performance . It also leads to employees who feel   empowered and valued .

team sitting around a table during a training

Corporate training and career development 

Career development is the ongoing process of learning new skills and knowledge that empower you   to reach your full potential . 

These capabilities can help you navigate critical moments in your career.

Effective training programs are a catalyst for an employee’s career development. 

Growth-oriented training gives your teams the right skills and mindsets needed to succeed. They also prepare individuals to take on greater responsibilities and advance their careers. 

Gallup says companies that invest in employee development   report greater profitability and retention .

One such example is Amazon,   which invested $700 million in employee training programs . 

Before hiring, they offer a subsidized, month-long training and leadership program. According to Teal Pennebaker, this training helps employees “pioneer a career at Amazon.”

Besides their initial training, they have countless upskilling programs. This includes   free career training in robotics   and the Amazon Technical Academy. 

Leading organizations like Amazon understand the importance of investing in employees’   career development .

The 3 types of corporate training 

Corporate training can be delivered in a variety of ways. Here are three of the most popular methods of training today:

1. Online learning (eLearning)

The online modality is becoming the go-to training platform for most businesses. 

In 2020,   90% of companies used e-learning   in their training, and for good reasons. From a business perspective,   e-learning reduces training costs , giving companies a competitive advantage. 

It’s also globally accessible 24/7. It works around your team’s busy schedules instead of disrupting their workflow. 

E-learning allows employees to learn at their own pace.

According to studies conducted by the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD), this increases retention rate by 25-50% and performance improves by 15-25%. 

Is e-learning the future of corporate training?

More leaders are   allowing remote working after the pandemic . So, e-learning will continue to become an important training tool for organizations. 

It’s also the preferred training method of younger employees. Almost half of millennial and Gen Z employees   prefer self-directed and independent learning .

Even though online learning is becoming more popular, there are other training methods to consider. 

2. Traditional instructor-led learning 

Remember gathering in a conference room or a banquet hall with your closest co-workers to undergo training? 

The COVID-19 pandemic has all but pushed traditional classroom training to the curb. 

But the tried-and-tested traditional training method isn’t going away any time soon. In a post-pandemic survey,   54% of businesses said they will return to traditional classroom-style training . 

Here’s why some businesses and employees still find this method effective: 

  • It’s easy to create and deliver. 
  • It’s familiar to all employees, regardless of age.
  • It has a human aspect — learning is collaborative and engaging.

3. Blended learning 

Blended learning is the hybrid of the above two methods. 

Supplementing in-person training with online training combines the best of both worlds. The face-to-face part engages employees to participate and collaborate with other team members. At the same time, the online element is convenient and accessible anytime.

employee-learning-online-corporate-training

How to choose the correct type of corporate training for your organization 

Corporate training is an investment in your team and your company’s future.

By choosing the right type of corporate training for your organization, of course. Here are some tips to keep in mind. 

Perform a skills gap analysis 

To choose the correct type of training, you need to start by performing a training needs analysis. Here’s how: 

  • Define what skill sets are most valuable to your organization. 
  • Consider what skills your company may need in the next 5–10 years. 
  • Evaluate   the hard and soft skills   of your team. 

These steps guarantee that you’re offering relevant training that your employees will value. 

Set clear objectives 

To make sure your training program is effective, you also need to set clear objectives. What do you want your employees to learn?   Leadership skills ? Company policies and procedures?

At the same time, don’t forget to align your objectives with your business goals, mission, and   company goals . 

Accommodate employees 

You can’t choose the best corporate training program without considering your employees. Have you thought about their preferred methods of learning? What about their schedules? 

Like we saw earlier, younger employees prefer independent learning. 

If your team is mostly remote, online learning may be the only way to go. You may even discover that you need more than one type of training, as employees have different learning styles. 

Consider your constraints 

Think about your budget and resources when you’re choosing the type of training you want to offer. 

When you have a smaller budget, hiring an external facilitator whose job is corporate training may not be realistic. In that scenario, an in-house instructor, like a senior employee or manager, may be a better choice. 

Get feedback and measure your results 

Follow up with your team and ask for feedback. Measuring your results helps keep you on the right track. Otherwise, the money you spend on corporate training is no longer an investment but an expense. 

It’s time to rethink corporate training 

Corporate training has been given a bad reputation. But that doesn’t mean your business can’t challenge that belief.

It’s in your power to provide corporate training programs that bring real value to your team. Effective training gives your employees the career development they want. It also gives your company the competitive edge it needs.

Not sure how?   Reach out to a BetterUp coach   to help you get started.

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Maggie Wooll

Thought Leader

7 steps to develop an employee training program that sticks

The path to individual transformation in the workplace: part two, people managers: the antidote to employee burnout, sleep isn’t just a personal issue, it’s a business imperative, the path to individual transformation in the workplace: part one, betterup raises $26 million to democratize professional coaching, shift 2018: reimagining work and bringing more meaning to the employee experience, 6 strategies for supporting employees that actually work, 6 proven ways to create a culture of engagement, similar articles, 6 job training programs that will lead to a career you love, corporate jargon: 7 example phrases to avoid and what to say instead, organizational training: the what, why, and how, tips to develop a remote training program to upskill your team, off-the-job training and how it benefits your team, discover the benefits of leadership training: why you need it, what is corporate learning (it’s not what you think it is), and why is it important, why asynchronous learning is the key to successful upskilling, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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corporate training program definition

What is Corporate Training? Key Principles for a Successful Program

Published on: , january 2, 2024, updated on: .

Written by 

Rebekah Pierce

Jump to section.

Do you feel as though your company's growth has hit a plateau? Does it seem as though your employees are lacking the skills necessary to take the business to the next level? If you're nodding your head, then it's time for your company to invest in an effective corporate training program.

Corporate training is a crucial component in the development and growth of any company. It's not just about teaching employees new skills - it’s about equipping them with the knowledge they need to make informed decisions, work more efficiently, and contribute to the success of the company.

A successful corporate training program goes beyond mandatory training requirements. It's about creating an engaging and interactive learning experience that motivates employees to take ownership of their personal growth and development.

So what exactly goes into creating one of these programs? Let's take a closer look.    

What is a Corporate Training Program?

The purpose of a corporate training program is to teach employees new skills and knowledge that will help them perform better in their jobs. And the best part? It's beneficial for both employers and employees.

You might be wondering why you should even bother investing in one of these programs. The proof is in the numbers - according to a survey by LinkedIn , a whopping 94% of employees said they'd stick around at a company longer if they were given opportunities for career development.

Organizations with a strong culture that emphasize the importance of learning new concepts are more likely to have innovative breakthroughs. And a strengths-based development program can result in employees who are up to 15% more engaged on the day-to-day.

So what should you include in your corporate training program? It really depends on the company and the industry. Some programs focus on teaching employees technical skills needed for their job, while others might offer leadership training or courses in communication and teamwork.

At the end of the day, a corporate training program is a way for a company to invest itself back into its employees' career growth. These programs come in all sorts of formats and styles, and while there's technically no "wrong" way to hold a corporate training, there are some best practices to follow:

The Key Principles of a Successful Corporate Training Program

Now that you know what a corporate training program is - what makes it effective? Here are some key elements to include in designing your plan.

Make sure your training programs are both relevant and actionable. The secret sauce lies in training that’s developed with advice from people who actually know what they're talking about - coaches , training leaders, industry experts, etc.

Nobody wants to sit through a dry, boring lecture. A training program should be engaging and interactive. For instance, the classes in Elevate Academy are delivered in chunks of just 5 to 10 minute segments. Each one has a prompt that requires participants to actually digest and apply what they've learned.

Clear Alignment with Business Goals

Your training objectives need to be aligned to your company's overall business goals. That way, everyone will know that your training isn't just benefiting individuals, but also the company as a whole. If you can't identify what goals to align the training with, it might be time to design or choose another one.

Creative and Tailored to Your Organization

According to McKinsey, the majority (nearly 90%!) of employers admit to having an existing skills gap (or predict that they will have one in the near future). That gap could lead to an $8.5 trillion deficit in revenue within the next ten years. It's not about lacking people to get the job done - it's about lacking people with the right skills.

Because of this, you need to tailor your training program to the specific needs of your organization. Again, don't just mandate training without understanding its ultimate goal - one size does not fit all!

Metrics for Success

Of course, you also need to have metrics in place to measure the success of your program. That means tracking how often employees are engaging with the program and observing changes in employee behavior as a result of the training. Data is your friend.

Incorporates Feedback from Managers and Employees

It's important to get a variety of perspectives on what's working (and not working) in your training program.

This will help you identify gaps you may have missed in designing the training, and show that everyone's opinion is valued.

Continuous Learning and Follow-Up

Keep it fresh and ongoing. You don't want your training program to feel like a one-and-done affair.

By offering new classes each month, and holding live coaching sessions regularly, you'll promote continuous learning and development.

When Should Corporate Training Sessions Be Held?

corporate training program definition

Corporate training sessions are typically held in different scenarios. Here are some times when it makes sense to hold a session:

Did you know that 22% of organizations don’t have a normal onboarding process? Unfortunately, a lack of onboarding can leave employees feeling lost, frustrated, and ultimately unproductive.

For onboarding, it's crucial that new hires receive training as soon as possible. This helps them feel more comfortable and confident in their new role, and speeds up their integration into the company’s culture.

Onboarding isn’t just for new employees, either! If someone is switching roles within the company, they should receive proper training to prepare them for their new job.

Professional Development and Refresh Opportunities

Of course, corporate training isn't just for getting up to speed - it's also about continued professional development. Offering refresh opportunities and professional development programs can help employees feel engaged, motivated, and valued.

Mandatory Programs for Legal Compliance

While not the most thrilling, programs for legal compliance are necessary to ensure that all employees are aware of the regulations and procedures related to their jobs.

This includes topics like health and safety in the workplace and sexual harassment training, among others.

Where Should Corporate Training Sessions Take Place?

As is the case with most things, there's no simple answer to where corporate training sessions should take place.

Many companies swear by face-to-face training sessions, and for good reason. They allow for personal interaction between trainers and trainees, which often results in better retention and understanding of the material. Plus, there's something to be said about the energy and camaraderie that comes from being in the same physical space.

And while many businesses have returned to traditional-style training now that the COVID-19 pandemic has largely ended, there are many areas in which these trainings fall flat. In 2023 alone, corporations spent $101.8 billion on corporate training expenditures.

While that number would indicate that corporations care deeply about employee development - and they absolutely do - workers say that only a small percentage of what they cover in those trainings is applicable on the job.

With the rise of technology, virtual training sessions have also become an increasingly popular option to save both money and time. And with e-learning projected to experience significant growth (it's estimated that the global corporate e-learning market will grow by more than 250% by 2026 ) it's easy to see why.

Virtual sessions allow for greater flexibility and accessibility, as participants can log in from anywhere with an internet connection. They're also often more cost-effective, since there's no need to book a physical space or provide catering.

Don't forget about on-the-job training, either, which can be valuable for employees who learn better by doing. This type of training allows for real-time application of knowledge and skills, which can increase confidence and job performance. Though this format won't work for every kind of training, it can be especially helpful in a skills-focused training program that requires more active participation.    

How to Make Your Corporate Training Program as Successful as Possible

How can you make sure your corporate training program is effective - and you're not just throwing spaghetti at the wall? Here are some tips.

Perform an Analysis of Where Training is Truly Needed

According to recent surveys, nearly half of all employees looking for a new job say their current employer isn't doing everything they can to make the best use of their abilities. By identifying the areas where training is needed, you can ensure that your employees are gaining the knowledge they need to perform their jobs effectively.

To figure this out, you’ll want to conduct a needs analysis. This will help you weed out the skills, knowledge gaps, and other deficits that exist within your organization - only then can you determine what kind of training will be most effective.

Make it Adaptive

To make sure the program resonates with each and every employee, make it adaptive. Identify the unique needs of each person and then use technology, like learning management systems, to create personalized experiences for each individual.

Make it Active

A group of people discussing for corporate training

We all remember the days of sitting in front of a grainy TV screen, watching company-issued training videos on the first day of our minimum-wage jobs in high school. How effective were those videos? Probably not very.

Make sure your training program is as interactive as possible. You can incorporate hands-on activities, simulations, and case studies to ensure employees are engaged and motivated.

Even games can be effective! The majority of employees who tap into game-like training feel motivated, so incorporating things like point systems or friendly competitions can make your training more digestible - and perhaps even enjoyable!

Collect and Analyze Participant Feedback

After each training session, ask for feedback from participants. Use this to determine what worked and what needs improvement.

Limit the Amount of Information You Deliver in One Session

One of the most significant problems with training programs is cognitive overload. Employees can only absorb so much information in one sitting. To avoid this, limit the amount of information you deliver in one session.

Consider microlearning, a technique that delivers short, bite-sized modules of information. Microlearning has been proven to be more effective than traditional training methods, as it allows for better retention and recall of information.

Revamp Your Programs Every Year

Businesses are dynamic, and so are their needs. To ensure your training program remains relevant, revamp it every year. Update its content, incorporate new technologies, and adjust the format to keep it fresh and engaging.

Consider Multiple Learning Styles

Everyone learns differently - that's just what the science says. Some people prefer to read, while others prefer to watch videos or participate in hands-on activities. Consider multiple learning styles when designing your training program. This will ensure that each employee is engaged and motivated to learn.

Be Mindful of Employee Bandwidth

Employees have limited bandwidth, both in terms of time and attention. Don't overload employees with too many training sessions or give them unrealistic deadlines to complete programs or courses.

At the end of the day,  you need to be mindful of how much they can take on - and make sure the training doesn't interfere with their productivity in doing their actual job.

The Takeaway

Investing in a successful corporate training program is not just a "nice-to-have" for companies - it's a necessary component for growth and development.

By providing your employees with the tools they need to succeed, you'll not only see a positive impact on their performance - but also on the overall success of your company.

So what are you waiting for? Give your company the boost it needs by investing in a successful corporate training program. Your employees will thank you, and your business will reap the rewards.

corporate training program definition

Rebekah Pierce is a writer who lives in upstate New York with her husband and son. She has a B.A. in English from St. Lawrence University and an M.S.Ed. in Special Education from SUNY Plattsburgh. A former teacher, her writing work concentrates primarily on education, business, and agriculture.

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Corporate Training Programs

Drive organizational success through online learning solutions delivered at scale. Wharton Online’s corporate training programs are designed for executives to gain skills and knowledge around specific topic areas, from finance to digital marketing, leadership, and business strategy. We work with you to develop specific organizational training learning objectives and connect your employees to our world-renowned faculty, research, and tools.

Learning Solutions for Organizations

We offer three types of online corporate training programs for groups of at least 100 individuals.

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Custom Programs

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Blended Programs

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Group Programs

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Read about the key features of our corporate training programs.

  • Convenience: On-demand access to 100% online course content
  • Flexibility: Coordinate learning opportunities for staff across different time zones
  • Scalability: Establish consistent organizational training learning objectives, and implement training programs company-wide
  • Expertise: Learn from world-renowned Wharton Online faculty
  • Support: Benefit from the support of a dedicated Wharton Online staff member who’s with you throughout the process
  • Community: Become a part of the vast Wharton Online community and private LinkedIn networking group

Our process

1. learn about your company's goals.

We listen to and learn about your organizational training goals.

2. Establish learning objectives

We establish clear learning objectives and choose the most effective Wharton Online corporate training program (custom, group, blended) to meet your goals.

3. Develop the program

Based on your learning objectives and our offerings ,  we develop a program for your employees.

4. Launch the program

Once the program launches, your dedicated course manager regularly checks in and provides bi-weekly updates.

5. Continue improving

As your company’s needs evolve, the program can, too.

Corporate training course topics

All of our online corporate training courses are taught by qualified Wharton professors. Explore our courses below.

Leadership Courses

Leadership and Management »

Strategic Management Certificate »

Leadership in the Age of Digital Disruption »

Managing in the Global Digital Economy »

Technology Courses

Business and Financial Modeling Specialization »

Fintech: Foundations and Applications of Financial Technologies »

Artificial Intelligence for Business »

Industry-Specific Courses

Digital Marketing »

Entrepreneurship »

The Business of Health Care Specialization »

Business Strategy Courses

Achieving Personal and Professional Success »

Business Foundations Specialization »

Business Strategies for a Better World »

Removing Barriers to Change in Organizations »

Custom Company Training Programs

Wharton Online’s custom corporate training programs are designed based on your organization’s needs and our course catalog offerings. We tailor our courses to enhance the learning experience of your employees—such as by adding case studies or stakeholder videos to course materials—and can incorporate your branding into the learning platform.

Customization for custom corporate training programs may include:

  • Curated and custom video content
  • Co-branded learning platform, badges, and other program materials
  • Flexible start dates and duration
  • Progress and engagement reports

Group and Blended Company Training Programs

Group and blended programs are a great way to train your teams. For a group program, we choose a Wharton Online program that fits your organization’s goals—whether that means providing a leadership development program for managers or a professional success program for new hires.

The same is true for blended programs, but you’ll also have access to Wharton faculty through live sessions. Live sessions can help facilitate interaction, discussion, and community throughout your online corporate training program.

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Request more information to learn about group discounts for our company training programs.

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Types of Organizations We Work With

We work with a variety of companies—domestic and global—to develop corporate training programs. Some of the types of organizations we work with include:

  • Retail companies
  • Internet and technology companies
  • Global consulting firms
  • Government and military organizations

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Are you ready to discuss online corporate training programs for your organization? Tell us about your organizational training needs, and request more information today.

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Corporate Training: Definition, Benefits, Best Practices

A guide on the importance of corporate training programs for any business & tips on designing an effective program.

Corporate training is essential to any business, but we often misunderstand it. This blog post will dispel some of the myths surrounding corporate training and give you a clear understanding of what it is and why it's essential. We will also provide tips on implementing a successful corporate training program.

What Is Corporate Training

Defining Corporate Training

Businesses need corporate training because it can help to improve employee productivity and performance. This is because corporate training can teach employees the skills they need to do their jobs effectively. Additionally, corporate training can help improve communication within a business and foster employee teamwork.

There are a variety of different types of training that businesses can choose from. Some common types of corporate training include technical training, leadership training, and customer service training. Each type of training has its benefits and drawbacks, so businesses need to select the type of training that best suits their needs.

It's also vital for businesses to consider why they need corporate training in the first place. For example, some companies may find that their employees are not up-to-date on the latest technologies or techniques. In such cases, company-wide training may be a good solution for improving employee productivity overall.

The purpose of Corporate Training

The purpose of corporate training is to improve the performance of employees within a company. We can do this through various topics, from customer service to sales and marketing. A well-designed corporate training program can lead to increased productivity, improved morale, and reduced turnover rates.

We can deliver corporate training in several ways. Some companies opt for face-to-face courses, while others prefer online learning platforms.

Well-designed Corporate Training rogram

A well-designed corporate training program can benefit employees and their employers. First, it can lead to increased productivity. This is because employees will be better equipped to handle the challenges of their jobs. In addition, improved morale is likely to be associated with successful corporate training programs. This is because employees will feel proud of themselves and their skills.

New employees are more likely to stay with a company if they know extensive professional development is available. Overall, corporate training has many potential benefits for both the individuals involved and the organization.

What Is Corporate Training

The goals of Corporate Training

The three goals of corporate training are to improve employee performance, increase company productivity, and decrease company liability. Corporate training can help to achieve these goals by enhancing communication skills, teamwork, customer service, and more. In addition, corporate training can help reduce risks associated with workplace safety, harassment, and discrimination. So, corporate training is essential for any organization if you're looking to improve employee morale or protect your business from legal liabilities.

There are many types of corporate training available, each with its benefits and drawbacks. Some of the most common types of training include instruction on new software or hardware, learning how to work in a team environment, and improving customer service skills.

Corporate training can be delivered in-house or through a third-party instructor. In-house training is typically cheaper than hiring an outside instructor, but it can often be less effective due to the lack of flexibility and customization options. Third-party trainers offer more flexibility and customizability, but they can sometimes be more expensive than in-house training.

Important elements

Whether you deliver your corporate training or hire a third party, certain elements must be included for success. First and foremost, corporate training must be tailored specifically to your organization's needs. Second, corporate training must provide value beyond just teaching skills; it should help employees learn how to work together effectively and improve their communication abilities. And finally, corporate training should create positive outcomes such as increased employee performance and decreased company liability risks.

The benefits of Corporate Training

One of the main benefits of corporate training is that it can help you to stay up-to-date with the latest technologies. By learning about new software and hardware, you can be sure that you're prepared for any challenges or opportunities that come your way. Additionally, corporate training can allow you to meet other professionals in your industry. This can give you insights and resources that you may not have access to otherwise. Finally, corporate training can also give you an edge over the competition. Knowing more about what's going on within your industry will make you better prepared for upcoming challenges or opportunities.

There are many different types of corporate training available today. Whether you want to learn new skills related to your field or expand your knowledge in a specific area, there is likely a course available that will suit your needs. So please consider taking advantage of this valuable resource!

The different types of Corporate Training

There are various types of corporate training, each with its benefits and drawbacks. Here are some of the most common types:

Education/On-the-Job Training

This type of training can be beneficial for both the employee and the company. The employee will likely learn further information that will help them in their job, and the company will probably save on costs associated with hiring a new employee who already has this knowledge. On the other hand, education/on-the-job training can also lead to complacency in employees. Employees who do not receive regular education/on-the-job training may become bored or uninterested in their job.

Certification programs

Certification programs allow companies to certify employees as experts in specific areas. This can be helpful for businesses as it allows them to trust these employees with more complex tasks and projects. Additionally, certification programs can raise an employee's salary relative to their peers without investing in additional education or on-the-job training. However, certification programs can also create barriers for employees who must meet all the qualifications required for certification. For example, an expert in database management may not be able to pass a certification program focused on database design because they lack experience working with databases specifically.

Onsite training

Onsite training occurs at the company's facility rather than at an external learning institution (such as a university). It is typically more expensive than either education/on-the-job training or certification programs, but it offers several advantages over these other types of exercise.

  • First, onsite training usually lasts longer than any other type of corporate training.
  • Second, onsite training is often customized to fit the needs of individual departments within the company.
  • And third, onsite training allows companies to monitor how well employees learn during class sessions and quizzes (and take appropriate action if necessary).

Disadvantages

However, there are two significant disadvantages associated with onsite training. First, many employers need help to justify investing money into onsite training when they get similar results from cheaper education/on-job training. Second, some employers view online learning platforms such as MOOCs (massive open online courses) unfavorably because they believe they offer little value compared to traditional classroom instruction. On the other hand, others argue that online learning provides opportunities that would otherwise not be available due to geographical restrictions.

How to implement a successful Corporate Training program

In today's business world, employees must be well-trained to succeed. A well-developed training program can help to improve employee productivity, morale, and overall job satisfaction. Additionally, a good corporate training program can lead to business cost savings.

To develop a successful training program, it is vital first to understand the needs of your employees. It is also essential to identify the benefits of training for your company. Once you have determined these things, creating a suitable training program that meets your employees' needs is possible.

One of the most important things you need to do to create a successful corporate program is to identify your employee's needs. This can be done through surveys, interviews, or other means. Once you have identified your employees' needs, developing courses that meet them is possible.

Measuring the results is an excellent way to ensure that your training program is effective. This can be done through surveys or other means. If your measurement results are unsatisfactory, it may be necessary to change aspects of your training program. However, if the measurements show that your training programs are working well, you can continue with them unchanged.

Overall, creating a successful corporate program takes time and effort on behalf of both management and the employees involved. However, by following these tips, you should be able to create a program that meets everyone's needs and maximizes company productivity.

Tips for designing an effective Corporate Program

Designing an effective corporate program can be a daunting task. However, by following a few simple tips, you can ensure that your program is successful.

The first step is to understand your audience's needs. This means understanding the historical and current context of the company, as well as the specific needs of the employees. Once you better understand your audience, setting measurable goals and objectives for your program is essential. This will help you determine how much content you need to create and the most appropriate delivery methods.

Next, it is essential to create engaging and interactive content. This means creating materials that are both informative and entertaining. Additionally, it is crucial to use adult learning principles when designing your program; this will help participants retain information more effectively. Finally, consider using technology to supplement your corporate training program; this can be helpful in engaging participants online or on mobile devices.

Finally, evaluate and revise your training program regularly to maintain its effectiveness over time. By doing so, you can ensure that employees are always up-to-date on the latest changes at work.

Measuring the success of your Corporate Training program

There are many different ways to measure the success of your training program. For example, you can look at how employees feel about the training, whether they can apply what they learned, and how business results have changed since the training.

By measuring these factors, you can improve your program and ensure it is effective. There are also other ways to measure the success of your corporate program. For example, you can look at how much money is saved by using the training instead of hiring a consultant or someone outside your company.

The options for measuring success vary depending on what is most important to you and your company. So choose the most important to you and start tracking progress over time. This will allow you to make adjustments and ensure that your training program is successful.

Overall, corporate training is essential for businesses looking to improve employee productivity and performance. When designing a corporate training program, it's essential to consider your employees' specific needs and the organization's goals. Various types of corporate training are available, so businesses should select the type that best suits their needs. With proper planning and execution, a corporate training program can profoundly impact your business's success.

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Corporate Training 101: The Basics

corporate training program definition

Have you ever heard the famous Benjamin Franklin quote that “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”? He definitely got it spot on. Many organizations support this idea today and consider corporate training an essential part of a company's investment and growth strategy.

In this article, we’ll look at some of the issues that concern everyone who is getting started with corporate training and wants to achieve perfect results. What types of corporate training are available? Why do you need to start training online and how do you do it? What software do you need? How to manage the cost of learning? Here you will find the answers to these and other burning questions. 

What Is Corporate Training?

Corporate training is a means of providing learners with the knowledge and skills they need to perform their jobs at a high level. This is typically the responsibility of the Learning and Development / Talent teams in larger companies and the Human Resources department in smaller organizations. They’re responsible for identifying training needs, developing training programs , and making it available for employees.

Advantages of Corporate Training

Corporate training is critical to the success of any business. Your employees are the powerhouse behind what you do, so helping them increase their knowledge and improve their professional skills will only boost your business. Here are at least four reasons why you should care about this. 

Increased efficiency

Well-designed training that meets employees’ needs makes your workforce more productive and efficient. Over time, these improvements will make your company more profitable.

Increased motivation

Training programs help individuals, teams, and departments unite as a single organizational structure. Employees who know how their job role supports the overall mission and goals of their company can draw a line between “my work” and “my company’s success.” 

Reduced turnover

Surveys have shown that today’s young professionals want more than just a paycheck. Millennials (aged 22-37 years old) particularly value employers that offer flexibility, professional development opportunities, and a sense of purpose. They are likely to change jobs if they are unhappy with their current role.

The tendency to job hop can be expensive for employers. A recent Gallup study found that the cost of replacing workers is at least one-half of an employee’s annual salary. Turnover is preventable, so corporations have a financial incentive to keep workers engaged and productive. 

Building corporate culture

High-quality training aligns corporate values and strategy. Going beyond the basics shows that an organization is willing to invest in its staff over the long term. For employees, robust learning sends the message that “You matter to us.”

Also read:   How to Build a Learning Culture

Types of Corporate Training Programs

Various companies may have several different training programs, depending on their size, diversity, and the specifics of their business. Here’s a list of the most common types of corporate training programs:

1. Onboarding and orientation

This kind of training is hosted right after a newly hired employee comes to the workplace and continues until they are able to work independently. Its main aim is to streamline the new employee adaptation process – help them feel comfortable and become productive faster. 

The onboarding training program is quite flexible but is typically broken down into two main parts:

  • Training for all new hires. It provides the general information about the company, its history, mission, vision, and values, as well as corporate policies and regulations.
  • Specific training for a particular role. This is focused on developing basic knowledge and skills that are necessary for a new hire to acquire for a certain position. 

New Employee Onboarding 101 – Set New Hires Up for Success from Day 1 →

2. Compliance training

Compliance training is often a part of new hire onboarding and has a mandatory nature. It is typically a formal program that is focused on company policies or rules that enable employees and employers to prevent both problems in the workplace and violations of the law. 

These policies and procedures are usually job or industry-specific. Location can also influence what staff should be compliant in and what kind of training is required. For example, compliance training can include anti-harassment and diversity training programs, business ethics, workplace safety, and data protection and privacy training. 

Compliance Training: Definition, Theories, and Examples →

3. Hard skills training

No matter how professional your staff members are, there’s always room for improvement. Hard skills are a core of employee development because this kind of training helps employees to improve the skills they need in their role to become even better professionals. For example, a graphic designer who has mastered Photoshop can go further by learning how to work in other design applications, or a programmer who is great at coding in CSS and JavaScript, can undergo further training to learn to program in Python. Employees need to train on a regular basis to stay current with the latest developments.

4. Soft skills training

How your employees behave is equally important to what they know – that’s why soft skill training should not be overlooked. Studies have shown that by mastering soft skills, employees can positively affect the company’s success and increase ROI.

Soft skills relate to interpersonal relationships and involve things like communication, problem-solving, and decision-making. They help employees to interact effectively and harmoniously with their colleagues and customers. They are important for bringing new clients, improving customer service, and building a solid team.

Soft Skills Training: How to Organize It in the Workplace → 

5. Product knowledge training

Product knowledge is a skill where your team members fully understand and can confidently speak with customers about what you offer: its features, benefits, uses, and costs. This training is often included in the onboarding program for new hires. It also can be useful for employees who need to refresh their knowledge on the company’s products and services, and is conducted when a new feature or a new product is introduced so that the staff is always up to date. 

Good product knowledge training is a sure way to improve both sales and customer satisfaction metrics in the company.

Product Knowledge Training: the 5 Best Ways to Launch It →

How to Organize Corporate Training

So, how can an employer create a high-quality learning program that works for all employees? The best corporate training meets the learner at their point of need. Corporate learning should be available on demand and delivered in a variety of ways.

Here are four common types of corporate training you can use in your company. Let’s look at how they differ and what benefits and drawbacks they each have.

1. Instructor-led classroom training 

Traditional classroom-based training is the very definition of “old school” learning. And it’s not going away any time soon. A 2018 survey by Training magazine found that 32% of organizations use it for almost one-third of their overall training.

  • Familiar to all participants
  • Relatively easy to deliver
  • Easy to customize
  • Supports a variety of assessment types
  • Easy to create and maintain
  • Higher cost-per-learner than other methods
  • Requires dedicated space and instructors
  • No standardized learning experience
  • Quality can vary depending on instructor
  • Limited number of learners per session

2. Virtual instructor-led classroom training (VILT)

VILT puts a 21st-century spin on traditional learning by moving the classroom online. VILT software allows instructors to deliver lectures, show videos, conduct break-out sessions, lead discussions, and observe learner performance. Virtual sessions can be recorded and accessed for review at a later date.

  • Eliminates need for classroom space
  • Builds on familiar learning experience
  • Makes learning accessible to participants regardless of location
  • Supports a variety of activity types
  • Can be recorded for future review
  • Less costly over time
  • Users may feel disengaged
  • Requires experience with technology
  • Requires a dependable high-speed internet connection
  • Tech glitches can kick out learners
  • Instructors may need upskilling
  • Higher up-front costs to create

3. Online learning

Online learning has become the “new norm” for corporate training. Between 2002-2018, corporate use of online learning grew by 900% . The term “online learning” can include any number of learning products, including eLea rning or microlearning modules, g ames,  assessments,   learning activities,  videos, and d iscussion boards

Supporting materials, such as job aids and learning documents, can be saved in a .pdf format to create content that is both digital and accessible to learners.

  • Globally scalable and accessible
  • Standardizes a common learning experience for all participants
  • Accommodates unlimited learners
  • Meet learners at point of need
  • Preferred learning method by many younger professionals
  • May take longer to develop than ILT
  • May require ID to upskill the technology and content development process
  • Bandwidth can affect access to content
  • Lack of face-to-face interactions
  • May intimidate learners who are not technologically adept

4. Blended learning

A blended learning approach combines classroom-based training and online learning into one curriculum. Bringing these two methods together can create a learning experience that captures the best of each method.

  • Greater opportunities for learner collaboration and connection
  • Increased accessibility to learning
  • Flexibility for participants to complete assignments
  • Can increase engagement and interest for many learners
  • Requires a solid technology infrastructure
  • May challenge learners who are not technologically inclined
  • Instructors and IDs may need upskilling
  • Less motivated learners may struggle to complete work without instructor support

Assess your existing training to see if you are using the best training methods for your organization. To get a better understanding of which method is best, read our article about workplace training methods . 

Why Pick Online Training

If all your classes are still instructor-led or you’re just looking in the direction of corporate training, it’s time to make the move to online learning. We have already covered some of the advantages of eLearning above. But the biggest reason to opt for it is that online learning is simply more effective. Here is some evidence for you:

Reasons to choose online training

How to Start Training Online

The first thing you need to do is define your overall learning needs and expectations, set up training goals, and identify your audience. In this case, a smart idea is to ask some questions that will be the basis of what’s called a training needs analysis. To get a shortlist of questions, read our post on how to develop a successful training program . 

Once you identify your big-picture needs and set objectives, you can focus on the curriculum and course details. Incorporate your findings into a corporate training roadmap that details your overall vision, wants, and needs for learning. 

It’s also important to consult with your IT department to see what software you need to get started with eLearning (we’ll discuss how to select training tools a little bit further on).

If you’re ready to move forward and need more information about how to start training online, read our guide on launching a new eLearning project . 

How to Choose Online Corporate Training Software

You’ll need a new set of digital tools to design, develop, and manage your online training. Let’s look at the basic software that will get you started.

Learning management system

A learning management system (LMS) is your platform for managing training. An LMS is a well-organized system that will:

  • manage and store courses;
  • provide learner access to content; 
  • assign, deliver, and track results.

Think of your LMS as “mission control” for all of your company’s training. A corporate LMS should allow you to quickly and easily update courses, while also providing robust tracking and reporting functions. 

To learn how to choose a learning platform, see our LMS selection guide and a guide on how to create an LMS RFP .

iSpring Learn LMS

{PROGRESS_BAR}

Automate corporate training and improve employee performance.

Authoring tool

Let’s say you have an LMS to manage your corporate training. But what about the learning content? If you’re going to create online courses in-house, you’ll also need an authoring tool. 

eLearning authoring tools are typically offered as a package or “suite” of tools to create a variety of eLearning content types, from simple courses to interactions, assessments, videos, and games. They can vary in complexity and ease of use, so be sure to try out the software before you buy it. To delve deeper into the process of software selection, download our guide on choosing an authoring tool . 

If you’re new to online training, you’re likely to opt for an authoring tool with a simple design and user-friendly interface. 

For example, with iSpring Suite , anyone can start building e-courses right away – no prior experience necessary. And, with this authoring toolkit, you can create different kinds of eLearning content, including slide courses, quizzes, video tutorials, conversation simulations, and interactions. 

See how an eLearning course created with iSpring Suite looks:

corporate training program definition

Check out eLearning demos to see what else you can do with iSpring Suite. 

How to Improve Online Corporate Training with iSpring

We’d like to offer some tips to help make your corporate training even more effective using iSpring Learn LMS and the iSpring Suite authoring toolkit.

Tip 1: Add personalized learning paths

Use baseline testing to measure the skills each new hire has already mastered. If an employee can successfully prove their knowledge, you can “pass” that learner out of a training class. This will allow your employees to use their training time to develop new skills, instead of just repeating what they already know.

With iSpring Learn, you can also create customized learning paths by mixing and matching multiple content items. You can combine various courses, quizzes, video tutorials, and other materials into one compound course and specify if the order of chapters is strict or flexible, set the completion date and the completion conditions for chapters and courses.

Personalized learning paths in iSpring Learn LMS

Learning paths in iSpring Learn LMS

Tip 2: Conduct webinars

Are you ready to make your classroom virtual? An LMS that allows you to host webinars makes it easy to schedule live training sessions, invite learners and track their attendance. 

As for iSpring Learn LMS, it is integrated with Zoom web meetings. Webinars can be conducted from almost any internet-connected computer or tablet, right from your iSpring account. During a broadcast, you can share your PowerPoint presentations, video, screen and even take polls and get instant feedback from your employees.

Hosting webinars in iSpring Learn LMS

Webinars in iSpring Learn LMS

Tip 3: Offer learning certification

Learning certification programs are a great way to recognize personal achievement. They can also become an important differentiator for career advancement.

With iSpring Learn, you can set the parameters for any kind of certification program. Once a learner successfully completes all program activities, the LMS will automatically issue a certificate in the learner’s name. You can even customize a certificate with your proprietary branding and upload your template onto iSpring Learn.

Learning certification in iSpring Learn LMS

An example of a course completion certificate 

Tip 4: Build a blend of different learning experiences

Today’s learners expect their training to be more than lectures and tests. When building your curriculum maps, consider how you can use different content types to engage your learners. Use iSpring Suite to include elements such as:

  • A short video to welcome your learners;
  • Job aids and manuals in the form of e-books ;
  • An interactive game to assess learners’ baseline competency level;
  •  An eLearning module or lecture;
  •  A tutorial with a step-by-step demonstration of a process or procedure;
  • A hands-on activity , game or skills demonstration; 
  • A final assessment.

Tip 5: Make learning a game

The idea of “gamifying” learning has been a hot topic among instructional designers for some time now. A well-crafted gamified learning experience challenges learners through engagement and interactions.

Gamified learning experience

The iSpring Suite can turn your existing PowerPoint presentations into games with customized questions and interactions.

Tip 6: Practice your team’s communication skills

This is especially critical if you’re going to train customer service and sales staff. With iSpring Suite, you can create realistic conversation simulations with branching, assessments, real-life characters and locations.

Also read:  Retail Sales Training – How to Move It Online

This is how a dialogue simulation looks:

corporate training program definition

Managing the Cost of Online Corporate Training

Implementing an online learning strategy will require some hard dollar expenditures. Research conducted by Brandon Hall Group found that LMS costs account for about 38% of the average learning technology budget. 

What’s the pricing model for LMS services?

LMS providers typically price their product in one of five ways:

  •   Pay-per-learner : a fixed price for a fixed number of learners
  •   Pay-per-active-learner : a fixed price for the number of learners who used the LMS during the billing cycle
  • Pay-as-you-go : pay only for the features you use
  • Subscription : a set price, based on the number of features selected
  • Open source : free access to the LMS program; you are responsible for setting up, customizing, and hosting.

Work with your business partners to determine the best pricing strategy for your organization. The chart below provides some general guidelines for pricing.

For a detailed analysis on how to choose the best LMS pricing for your organization, read our LMS Pricing Guide .

How to save money on LMS costs

LMS providers offer an almost endless array of capabilities and options. A new LMS customer can usually save money by purchasing only the services they know they will use in their first year, and by closely monitoring the size of their learning audience.

Have a plan (or at least an outline of ideas) for how you will roll out online learning to your audience of learners. Decide which pricing model makes the best financial sense for your organization, then approach LMS providers to discuss how their products can serve your needs. Ask each provider:

  • When (or how often) can you change your pricing plan?
  • What are the baseline costs for your pricing model?
  •  Do they charge set-up fees for new customers?
  •  What kind of training or customer support do they offer?
  •  Will they meet or beat a competitor’s price?

Focus on your essential needs first. Avoid paying for extras that will not add value to the learning experience, or that are out of step with your corporate learning strategy.

The Bottom Line

We hope this article has answered most of your questions about corporate training. If you still have any questions, please add them in the comments section below and we’ll be happy to help you find an answer.

for your mission-critical project

The right LMS to deliver your training faster

Content creator:

Helen Colman

She enjoys combining in-depth research with expert knowledge of the industry. If you have eLearning insights that you’d like to share, please get in touch .

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  • L&D Strategy

Corporate Training: A Strategy for Success

corporate training program definition

4 min reading time

corporate training program definition

Emma O'Neill , Product Marketing Manager at LearnUpon

Corporate training is in a new era. Gone are the days of ad hoc learning that was only done when it’s absolutely necessary. That’s a practice that just doesn’t cut it anymore. Organizations are opening their eyes to the incredible opportunities training programs have for them. And with the emergence of great technologies and rising interest in the measurable impact of training, the advantages are now more attainable than ever before.

To understand the real benefits and implications, let’s discuss corporate training for your business. We’ll illustrate:

  • What modern corporate training looks like
  • Our tips for success

What is Corporate Training?

Corporate training is the strategy of providing learners, internal and external to your organization, with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. By furthering their success, you are, in turn, facilitating the success of your business. Notably, this type of training is no longer just about training your employees (although that’s still important), it allows you to reach external audiences – your customers and partners.

Modern Training

With corporate training evolving, the idea of a corporate university is becoming more ubiquitous. This university trains one or more of your audiences with whatever training your business wants to provide, and it’s all done harmoniously. You can also offer certified courses.

Through your university, your learners are automatically awarded certificates after completing a course. It creates a “badge of honor” they’ll be proud of. Here’s an example of a Corporate University, the typical training that’s offered, and the benefits experienced:

  • Employee Training : What usually springs to mind when talking about corporate training, employee training is becoming increasingly common. Employee onboarding , product or service training, role training, upskill training, compliance and more, it’s a crucial part of a business’s progress and growth. It’s been shown to increase efficiency, improve retention deliver happier customers and much more .
  • Customer Training : Newer on the scene, training customers in a more formal, strategized way is becoming increasingly ubiquitous for businesses. Used to support customer onboarding by training them on how to use a product or service, it’s benefits are great. The results vary from reducing customer support queries to improving retention to increasing upselling.
  • Partner Training : Done concurrently with your partners and customers or just to partners alone, this type of training is used to prop your partners up for success. Again, it features onboarding , product or service training, and it’s used to build a partner enablement strategy .

How to Develop a Corporate Training Program

Building a corporate training program is a smart move. Starting a formal training strategy for your business can be intimidating, especially if you’ve got a lot of people and audiences you want to train. Here’s some advice on how you can implement one:

Start somewhere

Our biggest tip: start somewhere. If you have multiple types of training you want to deliver, we suggest diving in and starting where you think it will benefit your business most. Perhaps you start by setting up employee training. First, you set up your compliance training, then a 6-week onboarding strategy for new hires, then product training…and so on. It’s gradual, achievable, and builds training momentum.

From here, you can decide the next training and development steps for your organization in a manageable way.    Most, if not all, organizations have some form of training happening. But creating a corporate training program formalizes the process. It makes it measurable. Therefore, it’s important to consider how your business is going to take sporadic training sessions and convert them into a more defined training strategy.

How to deliver the training

You have lots of options here. And it’s up to your business to decide what’s best. Here are some ideas:

  • Face-to-face/classroom-based training: A more traditional approach, it works well for smaller business looking to train employees in one location. However, it’s not suitable for customer and partner training or easy to manage for businesses with employees in multiple locations.
  • Learning management system : Purpose-built to deliver training, an LMS is a scalable and efficient way to deliver training to your employees, partners, and customers.
  • Blended learning : A combo of the above two, it’s using traditional training and technology to deliver a more holistic training experience. For example, webinars are a great choice here as you can deliver a more intimate training style at scale to any audience you wish.

Implementing training is important, but it’s only valuable when you have training goals to measure its success. With each type of training your business starts to deliver, you need to decide and set achievable goals. For a business implementing employee training, it could be to improve employee retention by 25%.

For customer training, it could be to increase product adoption by 15%. Whatever it may be, make sure it’s a target that you can measure to identify the tangible impact corporate training has on your business.

An eLearning strategy for your business

Great corporate training is all about implementing a strategy that works for you and your learners – whoever they may be! Done right, with the best tools and with training aligned to specific goals, it’s sure to deliver value for your business.

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5 min reading time

3 min reading time

SnackNation

21 Trusted Corporate Training & Development Programs Proven To Benefit Employees In 2024

corporate_training_program

Employee training can effectively add years of experience to someone’s skill set, giving both individuals and companies the growth they desire.

The best corporate training programs benefit both team members and business owners alike.

As Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company and peerlessly shrewd business leader, once said,

“The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.”

Making the most of internal talent is a smart business strategy, saving oodles on recruiting costs and turnover shrink. Companies end up with employees who want to stay at their jobs and who are also growing better at their jobs. It’s truly a win-win scenario.

Page Contents (Click To Jump)

Benefits of Corporate Training Programs

In addition to generally boosting company-wide competencies in ways that fuel progress toward business goals, corporate training programs can also provide a ton of company-wide benefits.

These programs can…

  • Target any performance metrics you want to hit , whether you’re looking to address challenges or meet stretch objectives.
  • Improve retention , saving companies tons of money that might be wasted on turnover. (After all, who wants to leave a company offering so many professional development opportunities? Millennials for one , favor jobs that help them develop new skills.)
  • Help employees , just by participating in the program, develop communication, and collaboration skills, and other soft skills that bring halo benefits to the entire company.
  • Boost your bottom line and profits with higher-performing sales teams and enhanced efficiencies. (One case study found that a training program increased a restaurant’s business by 4%.)
  • Help companies fill executive teams with internal talent trained to excel in specific roles.
  • Motivate employees by cultivating their self-efficacy , which in turn can give them the confidence to perform better.

Are you ready to see how a structured corporate training program can benefit your goals?

You’re in luck. We’ve partnered with Outback Team Building , a leading provider of effective and focused employee training, and interviewed their Head Facilitator Lyndon Friesen at Outback Team Building to give you first hand insight about 21 corporate training skills you can cultivate at your company.

Find out for yourself why past training participants call Outback’s programs informative and inspiring, relevant and thoughtfully put together, the best training session they’ve ever been a part of, and precisely the dialogue they wanted to have to take their team’s performance to a new level.

  1    Team Communication Training  

team_communication

Communication that delivers clarity and alignment of expectations and team objectives is the hinge that swings the large door of positive business results. Effective communication is crucial for productive debate or dialogue, collaboration, and unity towards team goals. Team commitment has an opportunity to come to life when effective communication has occurred. Our need in business to go faster has led to many of us making incorrect assumptions of others words and poor interpretation of their intent which is a great recipe for missed business outcomes. -Lyndon Friesen, Head Facilitator at Outback

Why employees benefit from this corporate training:

This interactive training empowers employees to practice seamless communication and all the advantages that come with it. They’ll be able to master conflict resolution, send clear emails and messages, and use both verbal and non-verbal techniques to improve how others receive them as well as their ideas.

How does the business benefit from this type of corporate training:

This training strengthens team building throughout an organization. With master communicators leading projects, companies will see marked benefits in productivity, problem-solving, and even engagement. Employers won’t need to follow-up or check in on projects as often because they know their teams are working effectively together.

  2   Effective Habits for Working Remotely  

working_remotely

Skills training in remote work gives employees what they need to feel effective and connected while working far from friends and colleagues. It helps employees overcome the distractions, frustrations, and anxieties that could otherwise bar them from doing their best work.

When employees undergo this kind of training, companies will feel it in the form of skyrocketing remote productivity and teamwork with the resilience to withstand the distance.

  3   Collaborative Team Dynamic Training  

collaborative_team_training

This training enables employees to feel the joy of not just working with, but also truly being a part of a team. As they learn how to adjust their communication styles and build trust, they’ll finally understand why some people say that teamwork makes the…you know the rest.

Interventions to try to “fix” dysfunctional teams are tedious, expensive, and ineffective. With this training, companies simply make an initial investment and then sit back as teams work well together and even have the wherewithal to navigate speed bumps that do come up.

  4   DiSC Assessment Training & Discovering Your Workstyle  

corporate training program definition

Students learn simple truths about themselves, things that might be surprising or even enlightening. Equipped with this newfound insight, employees can better plan their work and communication strategies to set themselves up for success.

Classroom training in DiSC profiles doesn’t just give each assessed individual insight; it also gives companies insight into the range of profiles represented in different teams. This will help leaders better anticipate challenges and potentially gain a deeper appreciation of each employees’ unique abilities and development opportunities.

  5   Impactful Presentation Skills  

presentation_skills

Employees gain more than presentation skills during this training; they gain the confidence to get up on stage and dazzle a crowd. Instead of shying away from presentation opportunities, they’ll embrace them.

This training gives companies peace of mind that employees will represent them on all occasions with grace, charm, and the kind of impact that attracts collaborators, clients, and funders.

  6   Coaching Fundamentals

coaching_fundamentals

When leaders have this training, employees get the kind of developmental attention that’s corrective without being critical. Employees get the feedback they need to truly succeed.

From this training, businesses gain an entire fleet of leaders who understand their own leadership styles and also know how to deploy those styles to give the kind of positive and negative feedback that inspires and enables employees to succeed.

  7   Conflict Resolution

conflict_resolution

This training helps fill employees’ interpersonal skills gap, showing them how to take responsibility for their behaviors, recognize brewing conflicts, and resolve trouble before it becomes debilitating.

Lost productivity and spiking turnover no longer have to be the stuff of employers’ nightmares. This training allows them to rest assured that employees have the ability to resolve their differences without escalating to major blow-ups or requiring mediation.

  8   Confident Decision Making

confident_decision_making

In real-time decision making, the only feedback most people receive comes along with the results of said decisions. But what if that feedback is negative and the decision was important? Through this training, employees get to prepare in a safe environment for the big game, those decisions that could impact forever their companies and their careers. They’ll pinpoint exactly what areas to focus on the next time a real-life decision comes along.

Effective leadership demands trust and delegation. When employees have the skills they need to systematically make logical, informed decisions, companies can confidently delegate more decisions and know that they don’t even have to be involved. Their trusted collaborators have this on lock.

  9   Emotional Intelligence

emotional_intelligence

IQ states, you are smart in a specific topic, therefore I want to listen to you . EQ (Emotional Intelligence), says you understand me, therefore I want to follow you . Effective team dynamics are often flattered with positive KPI’s in relation to retention and engagement, collaboration, trust, and an overall positive culture. Behind all this are leaders who lead with EQ not power or ego. EQ is the ability to be aware of how your words, actions and behaviors impact the people around you. -Lyndon Friesen, Head Facilitator at Outback

This training gives employees the priceless gift of self-awareness. They’ll understand in what ways they need to improve their empathy and even regulate their own behaviors. They’ll enjoy closer, more meaningful, collaborations, and relationships as they make positive modifications to their daily interactions.

Some data suggest that emotionally intelligent people perform better at work. By training employees to be more emotionally intelligent, companies benefit in turn with optimal performance across all their teams and departments.

  10   Situational Leadership Styles

situational_leadership

This training gives employees empathetic and aware leaders that know how to detect and meet their needs in a variety of contexts. Employees get bosses who can help with absolutely anything.

Businesses get leaders who know how to coach, help or direct their team members through challenges or toward goals. Employers get teams that are now flourishing under standout leadership.

  11   Authentic Leadership

authentic_leadership

Training in this area helps talented leaders dig deep and find their deep sense of authenticity and purpose.

Authentic leaders are inspirational leaders. When leaders build their authenticity in this training, the people they lead get the kind of fearless leaders they know they can count on to support them in their pursuit of goals both big and small.

This training leaves the business with authentic leaders that don’t just inspire employees to do their best today, but also make them stick around in the long run, strengthening the company as they build new skills and maybe even become authentic leaders themselves.

  12   Practical Time Management

practical_time_management

Perfect for everyone from new hires to senior leadership, time management training has valuable takeaways for all roles and all levels.

Employees will feel like they actually have more time. Given the practical tools they need to prioritize tasks and enhance their work rhythms, employees will feel proud of all they can accomplish.

Businesses get employees who know how to elevate their most important tasks. All the most mission-critical work gets done and that beautiful cost-saving sense of efficiency will soar.

  13   The Power Of Negotiation

power_of_negotiation

There are numerous great negotiation models that litter the internet today. However the principles of great negotiation always includes following: coming from a place of meaning, knowing what your organization needs and why, expanding the ‘pie’, and understanding the position of the person opposite of you. -Lyndon Friesen, Head Facilitator at Outback

During this training, employees gain skills that used to seem as out of reach as superpowers. They’ll learn to influence other people and also how to stop emotions from coloring, and sometimes ruining their negotiations.

Businesses know they can call on anyone to best represent the company’s interest when partnerships, deals, and other collaborations call for seasoned negotiators.

  14   Performance Management Fundamentals

performance_management_fundamentals

This training helps busy managers, including office managers , pull themselves away from day-to-day needs, and consider the big picture strategies they can deploy to help their teams succeed.

This training leaves employees with managers who can also be mentors, allies who notice their individual strengths and help them shine.

Companies enjoy the benefits of a solid enterprise-wide management style. Managers nurture relationships, lead employees to optimal performance, and also build the kinds of relationships that fuel retention rates .

  15   Active Employee Engagement

active_employee_engagement

Employees benefit from the fruits of this training by deepening involvement with their work, their co-workers, and their goals.

Employers get to capture all the benefits that come along with employee engagement , including increased profits and lower absenteeism.

  16   Effective Meetings

effective_meetings

Employees get to spend less time sitting in meetings and the time they do spend will be effective, purposeful, and safe from those notorious meeting hijackers who can derail the intentions of an entire group.

Businesses benefit from the beautiful fact that employees waste less time in unnecessary meetings and enjoy more fruitful and less frustrating collaborations.

  17   Productive Feedback & Performance Reviews

performance_reviews

Feedback that is viewed as a ‘gift’ is our goal. If it’s viewed as a gift, which it is, your feedback will produce the desired change. Two crucial pieces need to come together for this to be viewed as a gift (1) trust in your intent, competence, and character and (2) explicitly communicated expectations and objectives that are owned by the individual. This trust and alignment of expectations and objectives lends itself to quantum leap growth in the individual as they embrace and implement the feedback given to them. -Lyndon Friesen, Head Facilitator at Outback

Employees benefit from a standard set of techniques with which they receive feedback and reviews. This standardization makes it easier for them to absorb the feedback and adjust when needed.

By giving employees compliance training in feedback and review expectations, companies end up with performance reviews and feedback mechanisms that run smoothly, efficiently, and painlessly.

  18   Accelerated Selling

accelerated_selling

Employees get the tools they need to reflect on and improve their sales methodologies, ultimately making more sales and more commissions.

A well-trained sales force can bring more profits and more clients to the business. When the sales team is equipped with the best tactics and properly incentivized , the company benefits from the results.

  19   Building Strategic Teams With StrengthsFinder

StrengthsFinder

Employees get priceless insights into their own strengths, strengths that might not be readily apparent. This comes along with newfound confidence, energy, and motivation.

These training sessions infuse companies with all the amazing work that follows employees’ self-realization of their strengths and talents. Increased motivation and vigor drive employees to work harder and take on new projects for the benefit of all.

  20   Self-Discovery With Myers-Briggs

myers_briggs

Employees gain invaluable insight into their own minds and personalities. They learn how certain elements of their personalities affect their professional interactions and also how to leverage their strengths and preferences to succeed.

This exercise also gives businesses insight into the work situations and activities that motivate employees . Companies can subtly adjust environments and assignments so they can inspire the best performance from employees.

  21   Creating Mission, Vision, and Values

mission_vision_values

Vision, mission and values creation or refinement rarely feels like a great use of 2-5 days of time. ‘We don’t have the time’ is likely the single largest excuse we give to others in our lives. We have become programmed that the only valuable work is urgent work and then we wonder why we didn’t arrive at our desired destination. The debate, discussion, and conflict not only creates clarity of our vision, mission and values but tremendous ownership. This ownership leads a leadership team down the path of then creating a successful strategic plan which is cascaded throughout the organization with passion and belief. -Lyndon Friesen, Head Facilitator at Outback

Employees get to flex big-picture strategic skills they never get to use in the day-to-day.

Companies get invaluable input and potentially priceless ideas that could actually inform or transform the mission and direction of company strategy in surprising and positive ways.

People Also Ask These Questions About Corporate Training And Development Programs

Q: what does employee development mean.

  • A: Employee development means the active process of empowering employees to enhance and improve their skills and talents.

Q: Why is corporate training important?

  • A: Corporate training is important because it provides a path for companies to meet their goals by empowering employees with skills and knowledge. Corporate training programs are essential to employee success and therefore also essential to overall company success.

Q: What is a corporate development program?

  • A: A corporate development program is a systematic plan through which companies pursue goals and objectives by providing employees with ongoing opportunities to develop their skills and talents.

Q: How do I introduce an employee development program?

  • Assessing the skills you need or want employees to develop
  • Finding or designing a training program that targets these skills
  • Offering and also evaluating the success of the program

Q: What types of skills are practiced in a corporate training program?

  • A: Through corporate training programs, employees practice skills ranging from performance management to time management. In fact, companies can design a corporate training program to target any skills they believe will bring value to their company.

Q: What is the meaning of corporate training?

  • A: Corporate training means that companies have developed clear strategies for helping employees develop new skills. The terms “corporate training” and “corporate development” may be used interchangeably, but typically training focuses on teaching new skills while development focuses on optimizing existing ones.

Q: Why do companies invest in employee training and development?

  • A: Companies invest in employee training and development programs to meet their goals and objectives. These companies recognize that employee success is also their success. For example, by making a modest investment in an accelerated selling training program , companies can give employees a varied skill set designed to optimize sales and that could end up multiplying their original investment.

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Very informative post. I really do hope and pray this stuff works.Thank you.

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It does, I’m sure! The post shows many benefits of Corporate Training Programs and I guess – after COVID-19 hit us so hard – it’s the perfect time to talk about “soothing” activities for the workforce. Great article!

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We agree with you Fred! Now is the perfect time to go the extra mile to support your workforce and enhance the employee experience.

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Leadership Training and Development: A Complete Guide

In this guide, we cover what is leadership training, why it's important, and how to develop an effective training program for your corporate leaders.

David Oragui

Last Updated

April 26 2023

Leadership training is a must for every company because it is one of sure-fire ways of building effective leadership, and delivering exceptional business results.

Each organization has a unique culture and, therefore, a unique concept of leadership. However, as Vroom and Jago (2007) observe: 

“ Virtually all definitions of leadership share the view that leadership involves the process of influence ”

Without a doubt, great leaders are capable of influencing others in many ways. 

They are a source of motivation and inspiration; a powerful force that drives positive culture changes and keeps teams moving forward. 

But, the question is, can people learn to be leaders? 

And do existing leaders need ongoing training?

Let’s define leadership training.

What is Leadership Training?

corporate training program definition

Leadership training and development helps identify high-potential individuals that are likely to become leaders and extends the capabilities and knowledge of individuals who already perform leadership roles. 

Leaders may need training in both soft and hard skills, depending on your organization’s current challenges. 

For example, new and coming leaders may need to develop skills such as listening, conflict resolution and time management, so that they can step in their role. 

Senior leaders, on the other hand, may need training to keep up with new trends and technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, so that they can better define the company’s overall vision. 

Why Invest in Leadership Development and Training?

The first compelling reason is growth. If your leaders are not committed to constant personal and professional development, your organization will eventually stagnate. 

This was articulated in the Law of the Lid, the first lesson of John C Maxwell’s The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership , which states that leadership ability is a lid to the organization’s effectiveness. 

The second compelling reason is change management. According to a recent report by Harvard Business School , three powerful forces are redefining the nature of work and create a need for leadership training:

  • Rapid globalization : By 2025, the majority of the Forbes Global 2000 public companies will be headquartered in emerging markets. This will require leaders to develop new skills to overcome physical and cultural boundaries and lead teams across borders.
  • Rise of remote workers : Within a decade, half of the US workforce will comprise of contractors and freelancers. Leaders will need to learn not just how to manage dispersed teams, but also how to engage and unite them.
  • Generation gaps : Gen Y (Millennials) and Gen Z are rising to leadership positions and bringing in new ideas related to work and learning. This puts pressure on traditional leadership approaches and requires training to overcome differences. 

Finally, the third compelling reason to invest in training leaders is the leadership gap—the fact that organizations are struggling to fill leadership positions.  

purpose of leadership training and development

These reasons make leadership development not just important, but also something to include in your ongoing employee training .

What Leadership Skills Should Your Organization Develop?

Whether an office manager or a senior executive, great leaders need a foundation of soft skills to help them positively influence the behavior of co-workers and team members. Below are the essential leadership skills.

  • Listening : This is the ability to redirect your focus from yourself to others and actively work to understand their needs. Leaders have to be great listeners because this helps them build trust with their team.
  • Loyalty : Good leaders put the success of their team first. As Arnold H Glasow said, “A good leader takes little more than his share of the blame and little less than his share of the credit.”  
  • Respect : An essential trait of effective leadership is communicating and acting with respect and integrity. This helps establish a leadership style based on working together instead of giving orders.
  • Reliability : If team members perceive their manager as a reliable partner who is always on their side, they will be more motivated.
  • Initiative : Leaders have to be proactive—to set direction for the team, to work towards meeting the company’s goals, to anticipate problems and suggest alternative solutions.
  • Passion : A great leader is dedicated to the success of the team, understands what motivates them and knows how to encourage them to be at their best.
  • Enthusiasm : Leaders need to be positive, energetic and encourage others to adopt the same attitude. This helps get buy in for their ideas and motivate workers to come up with creative solutions when working through a difficult problem. 
  • Accomplishment : Being a great leader means being an example to the team, always coming up with new solutions and testing every possible option before saying that something can’t be achieved.
  • Strategic thinking : Leaders should be able to step back from the daily grind, connect current tasks with long-term goals and focus on the results, not the process.
  • Support : A great leader should be readily available to answer any questions and resolve any issues employees might face. 
  • Honesty : To be successful, leaders have to learn to be authentic and adopt a “what you see is what you get” attitude—consistency between words and actions.

Some people naturally possess many of these qualities and some don’t but, in either case, management training is needed to develop a successful leader. 

How to Create an Effective Leadership Training Plan

1. develop a culture of learning.

Your leadership development initiative won’t get employee and executive buy-in if your organization doesn’t value learning and development . That’s why the success of any corporate training program depends on your culture of learning (or lack thereof). 

One of the ways to create a corporate learning culture is to enable knowledge sharing . Recognize and reward the employees who are working to develop new skills and encourage their peers to follow suit.

2. Define learning objectives

First, consider the leadership gaps that your organization may face—either in recruitment or succession. Do you have difficulty hiring or promoting new leaders? Are any senior leaders expected to retire soon? 

Second, take into account your organization’s strategic objectives. For example, if you’re planning to expand in a new market, you may want to focus on developing the right leaders to meet this particular goal. 

Third, reflect on the leadership traits and skills that your organization values. Understanding what your best leaders have in common will help you decide what your future leaders should be learning. 

Finally, pinpoint your audience. Is your training for managers? For senior executives? Or for rising leaders? This will help you determine what methods and activities to employ.

3. Create the right mix of leadership training methods

Certainly, each leadership program requires a tailor-made plan that fits with the organization’s unique corporate learning needs. 

What is common to the best programs, though, is that they use diverse learning methods. Here are the ones used most often:

  • One-on-one learning . For example, pairing senior executives with leaders who have just taken on a new role can be very effective, especially if your goal is knowledge transfer or succession. This was confirmed by Dr Sydney Finkelstein, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, who studied world-class leaders for 10 years to determine what sets them apart. In a recent article for Harvard Business Review , he says, “One big surprise was the extent to which these star managers emphasize ongoing, intensive one-on-one tutoring, of their direct reports, either in person or virtually, in the course of daily work.”
  • identify employees with leadership potential 
  • train future leaders to understand group dynamics
  • tackle real-world challenges 
  • enable leadership team development—those already in management can form a peer group to help each other develop new skills, improve interpersonal communication and break functional silos
  • Self-directed learning . It’s true that leaders can’t grow in isolation but self-directed learning has its place in your training. This form of corporate learning and development can, for example, be used to teach soft skills such as communication techniques and strategic thinking. 

The advantage of self-directed learning is that participants can progress at their own pace, using the provided learning materials, guidelines, exercises and self-assessment tools.

4. Include experiential training

In a recent article , Paul O'Keefe, Leadership Development expert at Edge Training Systems, emphasizes the importance of experiential training for leaders stating " leaders cannot be created or fabricated. They can, however, be developed and nurtured – which is what your leadership program should do. As you build your program, consider situations you can pose to your participants that will push them to grow and learn .”

Enabling leaders-in-training to practice what they have learned creates those “a-ha” moments when they understand how specific skills or knowledge can be used in a real-world situation. 

If they are currently employees, this could mean placing them in charge of a big project; if they are middle-level managers, it could mean shadowing an executive.

Whatever the case, it’s important to enhance your real-world practical exercises with continuous feedback, coaching and mentoring. 

5. Define success

As with any other type of corporate learning and development, your training needs a definition of “success”. So, before launching your program, determine how you will measure its impact. Some key indicators you may want to track are:

  • The number of participants who successfully completed the program
  • The number of participants who were promoted 
  • What peers say about each participant’s leadership development (you can use an employee evaluation form such as the 360 Skills Assessment for this)
  • Whether the employee’s responsibilities increased 
  • Whether the leadership skills you taught helped employees become more effective at their current jobs

Understanding these areas will help you assess the effectiveness of your leadership skills training and create a better roadmap for future initiatives.

Now that you have the main components of a leadership development program, let’s explore specific training ideas and activities.

Leadership Training Activities for Employees

Leadership training activities should focus on preparing employees to move from managing self to managing others. An emerging leader development program can include:

  • Self-assessment exercises to build self-awareness and identify areas of improvement
  • On-the-job training such as taking charge of a functional project to increase responsibility and accountability.
  • Mentoring and coaching from experienced leaders to help the employee become familiar with the organizational management and leadership style.
  • Group activities to allow emerging leaders to grow together, connect across organizational functions and develop a management mindset
  • Remote training  programs  will most likely become an emerging trend after the COVID-19 crisis. By creating an online corporate training program you enable employees that are on a leadership track to learn at their own convenience.

The way you structure mentoring, coaching and on-the-job training depends heavily on your learning objectives, so it’s something that will be unique to your organization. 

As to self-assessment exercises and group activities, we’ve listed the most effective ones below.

Self-Assessment Exercises

Feedback: start, stop, continue.

leadership training activities for managers

Suggested by (Cserti, 2018), this activity focuses on providing and accepting constructive feedback—two of the most important leadership skills. Start, Stop, Continue is suitable for teams that have worked together for a while. The goal is to receive feedback from co-workers by asking what to start, stop and continue doing.

Explore your values

This group exercise enables individuals as well as the entire team to reflect on their values.  

Each employee has to write on post-its ten things they value the most in their lives. Then, the post-its are shown to everyone and participants only have a minute to choose the top three values. The idea is to act intuitively instead of over-thinking and trying to select “the right” values.

Leadership pizza

This leadership development activity enables self-assessment. Employees first list the skills, qualities and attitudes they consider crucial for leadership and then assess their own development in these areas.

Group activities

This game challenges the participants’ creativity and problem-solving skills. Divide the team in two groups and ask them to imagine that they were on a ship that has just crashed on a desert island. The objective is to figure out how to escape with the help of a handful of items. 

Leaders you admire

This activity helps employees understand what leadership characteristics are important to them and, potentially, what skills they would like to develop as leaders. 

The setup is simple. Divide your team into groups (five people at most) and let each group discuss in privacy. The task is to choose a famous leader to represent the group and discuss his or her qualities with the rest of the team.

Shoot for the moon

This team activity is focused on creative thinking. All you have to do is present a problem and ask employees to brainstorm crazy, innovative ideas. You can discuss a real-world problem like a current company project or an imaginary problem like building the first hotel on the moon. 

Leadership Development Activities for Managers

When training supervisors, managers or directors, the focus shifts from developing to enhancing current leadership skills. At this point in their journey, leaders typically aim to become better at influencing others, operating strategically, bringing teams together and leading other leaders.

Leadership development programs for middle-management often features the following types of activities:

  • Learning from exposure . This technique enables managers to deepen their insight by connecting with senior executives in their organization and industry experts. 
  • On-the-job training to practice solving high-level issues or understand other business functions.
  • 360-degree assessments to identify areas of improvement and how they show up to others.
  • Coaching and mentoring from higher-level leaders or executives to gain a deeper understanding of the business. 
  • Providing coaching or mentoring to emerging leaders. This helps strengthen important leadership skills for managers such as interpersonal communication skills. 

Two of these approaches deserve more attention—learning from exposure and on-the-job-training.

Learning from exposure

According to Deloitte , exposure is a key practice to embed in any corporate training and development program. 

It’s especially useful in corporate management training because it helps these leaders gain more perspective on the business and the industry. 

Some of the activities in this area include joining professional or industry associations, creating internal leader networks, participating in round table discussions and accountability groups.

On-the-job training

This enables managers to expand their technical skills and business knowledge. The activities that could be organized include:

  • Action learning to practice solving high-level business problems together with leaders from other functions.
  • Volunteering a board role in an industry association to build connections and practice influencing a large organization.
  • Taking on a strategic project assignment to practice leading other leaders and their teams.
  • Taking on a cross-functional or cross-level assignment to develop new skills and gain experience working across business units.

Leadership Development Activities for Executives

Unlike managers, C-suite leaders are not expected to manage groups of employees. 

Their day-to-day job is making strategic business decisions. That’s why corporate training for these leaders should focus on developing a vision for the future and driving action through entire business units.

 Senior leadership development programs can include the following types of activities:

  • Individual executive coaching to help solve complex business issues and advance personal development.
  • Executive team coaching to enable the top-level leaders to identify their shared vision and work in alignment.
  • 360-degree assessments to identify one’s leadership style and potential areas of improvement. 
  • Executive education programs to stay current on the latest technological advancements and gain critical industry-specific skills.

Corporate leadership development and training is critical to any organization that wants to dominate its industry. 

With the rapid pace of change in the business landscape, companies need to find a sustainable strategy to continuously develop new leaders and enhance the skills of the current ones. 

A successful leadership training program is rooted in a strong culture of learning and sharing knowledge. The rest is getting clear on your learning objectives and choosing the right activities for your current and future leaders. 

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How to Shape an Impactful Corporate Learning Strategy

  • Sandy Walker
  • February 23, 2023

corporate learning program and strategy

By definition, something that’s “impactful” makes a mark on people. It may change their minds about something or cause them to act differently than they had. How can you shape an impactful corporate learning strategy? And, more importantly, why does your company need to do so? Read on for those answers, as well as other insights. 

What is corporate learning and development?

Corporate learning and development refers to the process of improving the skills, knowledge, and abilities of employees within an organization. This is typically achieved through various learning and development programs, such as training workshops, e-learning courses, coaching, mentoring, and professional development opportunities. 

The goal of corporate learning and development is to enhance the performance and competitiveness of employees, while also preparing them for future roles within the company. It helps employees acquire the skills necessary to meet the evolving needs of the business, and supports the overall success and growth of the organization.

What is a corporate learning strategy?

A corporate learning strategy is a comprehensive plan for improving the skills and knowledge of employees within your organization. It outlines the goals, objectives, and approach for corporate learning and development activities, and provides a framework for aligning these activities with the overall goals of the business.

A well-designed corporate learning strategy takes into account the current and future needs of your organization, as well as the learning preferences and styles of employees.

Some key elements of a corporate learning strategy include:

  • Assessing the current skills and competencies of employees.
  • Identifying learning and development needs and gaps.
  • Defining learning and development goals and objectives.
  • Choosing appropriate learning and development programs and methods.
  • Integrating learning and development activities with business goals and objectives.
  • Measuring the effectiveness of learning and development programs.

By having a well-designed corporate learning strategy, your organization can improve the skills and knowledge of your employees and support their overall success and growth.

How corporate learning drives competitive advantage

Corporate learning can drive competitive advantage in several key areas that affect short-term performance and long-term competitive strength and viability.

Improved employee performance 

By providing employees with the skills and knowledge they need to perform their jobs more effectively, corporate L&D initiatives help your employees improve their overall performance and productivity. This is a win-win for your company; studies indicate that productivity increases efficiency and profitability in an organization.  

Increased innovation

By investing in employee development, organizations encourage a culture of continuous learning and improvement, leading to increased innovation and the development of new ideas and processes.

Attraction and retention of top talent

In light of massive workplace changes driven by the Great Resignation and a global work shortage, retaining talent is now more important than ever. A recent study by LinkedIn shows the integral role corporate training plays; 94% of workers polled said they would remain with their employer longer if that employer fostered their individual development. 

Enhanced organizational flexibility

Establishing a culture of learning provides a framework that prepares your company to react quickly and efficiently to market changes. Workforces that have already developed a diverse range of skills and knowledge within the organization are ready to adapt when changing markets present new opportunities.

Improved customer satisfaction

By supplying employees with strong skills for delivering excellent customer service, corporate learning contributes to improved customer satisfaction and helps your company build a strong reputation as one that cares about service. 

Verified contribution to ROI

Every aspect of your organization should contribute to ROI, right? Not so long ago, however,  L&D teams had a hard time verifying that their activities actually enhanced the bottom line. Now thanks to the development of software with LearnOps capabilities , corporate education and learning professionals have the capability–and the responsibility–to show that their activities contributed to ROI.  

Overall, a strong corporate learning program can help your organizations stay ahead of the competition by developing the skills and knowledge of your employees and positioning the business for success in the future.

7 challenges in corporate training 

Corporate learning challenges come from internal and external sources. Here are several of the most pressing issues:

Lack of buy-in from employees

Some employees view corporate learning as just another obligation, rather than an opportunity for growth and development. 

In some cases, their view is understandable. Consider the traditional top-down approach to learning that initiates in the C-suite, is administered in a one-format-fits-all session, is evaluated very subjectively and then never followed up. Is it surprising that employees fail to engage whole-heartedly when they weren’t asked for input about the training they feel is necessary or the format that works best for them. 

Today’s L&D teams must meld C-suite training goals with the needs and desires of employees, and then verify that the training is both enjoyable and effective.

Time and budget constraints

Corporate learning can be time-consuming and costly, and many organizations struggle to allocate sufficient resources to their learning and development programs. 

According to research from Brandon Hall Group’s 2021 study , 40% of companies polled had seen budget cuts in L&D, while 47% of L&D managers said that a lack of resources hampered the effectiveness and efficiency of learning and development 

Difficulty in measuring impact

Measuring impact used to be very difficult. Training sessions were “graded” subjectively, immediately after the training ended. There was little to connect the dots between “good” or “excellent” scores from learners who completed the training and a contribution to ROI.  

Measurement can still be challenging, and L&D teams are increasingly feeling pressured by their executive teams to measure–and verify–the impact learning has on the company, according to a 2022 survey by LEO Learning and Watershed . It can be difficult, but L&D teams must find a balance. 

Keeping up with technology

The world of work is constantly changing, but the rate of change, especially since the pandemic, is astounding. Corporations that want to thrive will absolutely have to commit to keeping up with technology.

A study by Indeed.com bears this out. In its list of  20 in-demand job skills , the great majority of jobs near the top of the list deal with technology. As a result, L&D teams will have to master the technology themselves and then develop training programs that enable their learners to master it as well. 

Limited access to training

Another pandemic-driven change is the huge increase in the number of employees working fully– or partially–remotely. Some employees, particularly those in remote locations or working flexible hours, may have limited access to corporate learning programs, making it difficult for them to participate.

Resistance to change

It’s true that change is the only constant. It’s also true that change often brings difficulties, perceived or actual. A Harvard Business Review survey compiled the top reasons respondents gave for resisting change. Particularly relevant to corporate education and learning are the following:

  • Loss of control
  • Fear of being incompetent to handle the change
  • Increased workload
  • Excessive uncertainty

Additionally, some employees could resent any change that disrupts their daily routines, even if the change is training that equips them to do their job more efficiently.

A Changing Workforce

Today’s workforce spans four generations–from Gen Z to Baby Boomer–with marked differences. Creating cohesion, respect, and inclusion is a challenge. 

Beyond that, there are changes spawned by technological advances, a global labor shortage, and social expectations. L&D teams need timely and adaptive training initiatives to address these issues. 

Despite these challenges, corporate learning remains an important component of a successful organization. By addressing these challenges head-on and continually adapting and improving their programs, organizations can overcome them and drive continued success and growth.

Designing an effective corporate learning program

Designing an effective corporate training is central to achieving the desired results. Here are some crucial steps to designing a corporate learning program:

Assess learning needs

Begin by assessing the skills and knowledge your employees already have, and identify the areas where they need additional training. 

A thorough training needs analysis provides a starting point. It identifies knowledge and skill gaps in your company and then addresses details such as who needs training, what type of training will be the most effective, and when the training should occur. 

Set clear goals and objectives

Once you have assessed the learning needs of your employees, set clear goals and objectives for your corporate learning program. 

A SMART framework –in which goals are specific, measurable, assessable, relevant and time-bound–guides your learning and development team to establish goals that will provide what learners need and contribute to the KPIs of your company, because they align with your overall goals and objectives.

Match the training format to the learner and the learning situation

Today’s training formats vary widely, spanning everything from workshops, e-learning courses, coaching and mentoring to on-the-job training. These formats provide the opportunity to match the learning format to the learners and the situation to a far greater extent than was economically or technologically possible before. The effective L&D team identifies and implements the training format that best suits the situation. 

Create engaging content

Ensure that the content of your corporate learning program is engaging, interactive, and relevant to your employees. Increase retention and completion rates by delivering the content in a way that learners find interesting, even compelling. 

Interactive units, small-group training sessions that feature the storytelling concept, content that’s mobile-friendly–these all enhance learner engagement–and engagement enhances memory and satisfaction. 

Provide opportunities for practice and application 

Encourage employees to apply what they’ve learned. (This applies to your L&D team, too.) For example, allow sales reps who just completed a training course in conflict resolution to practice the skills they learned by handling actual complaint emails or calls under the guidance of a skilled rep before handling the task alone. Practice and application are the best ways to reinforce learning.

Evaluate and measure impact

Regularly evaluate and measure the impact of your corporate learning program. The importance of evaluation and measurement is growing geometrically, and it’s not only due to the pressure of being able to measure the ROI of L&D –although that certainly exists. 

Today, as corporate learning directors are increasingly invited to strategy-level meetings, they are expected to produce KPIs that verify L&D contributes to corporate goals. Additionally, expenditures for L&D are significant. According to the 2022 Training Industry Report published by Training Magazine , corporations spent more than $100 billion on training in 2021-2022.C-suite members and other stakeholders want to know that the funds are contributing to corporate advancement. 

As a result, models like the Kirkpatrick Model now provide a framework for measuring the effectiveness and efficiency of corporate training efforts.

Continuously adapt and improve

The world of work is constantly changing, and your corporate learning program should evolve with it. Adapting “midstream” used to be difficult. Evaluation, if done at all, was done after the training ended. L&D teams were hard-pressed to know what needed to be changed until after the fact. 

The development of collaborative and interactive software allows learning teams to evaluate programs and adapt quickly so that training stays relevant and impactful.

By following these steps, you can design an effective corporate learning program that helps employees develop the skills and knowledge they need to be successful in their roles, and also contributes to the overall success and growth of your organization.

Adopt a LearnOps approach

Effective and efficient learning needs a function with mature operations behind it. Without strong learning operations within the L&D department itself, processes, technology, and efforts become scattered and disparate.

Add in the need to show the impact of L&D’s output and an increasing need to work more closely with the business, and the pressure is on.

LearnOps is a framework, approach (and now a tech category) that enables L&D teams to manage their end-to-end operations effectively. From stakeholder satisfaction to doing more with less and getting the data needed to show L&D’s impact, LearnOps is a solution to many of the industry’s ongoing challenges. Check out LearnOps software to see how it works. 

The role of technology in corporate training

Technology plays an increasingly significant role in corporate learning, since it’s evolving so rapidly and provides planning, actuating, and evaluation options unimaginable even a decade ago. 

New programming languages, databases and interactive applications–among other innovations–comprise a learning and development tech stack that offers effective and relevant ways for employees to acquire knowledge and skills. Some of these include:

Technology has made it possible to deliver learning content in a variety of formats, including online courses, video tutorials, and interactive simulations. This provides employees with flexible and convenient access to training materials.

Mobile learning

A 2020 Training Industry article ,noted in several ways, how mobile learning is more effective for corporate training, both for learners and the organization. 

For learners, mobile learning makes training more accessible, less restrictive as to location, and easier to adapt to their life situation.The organization benefits from mobile learning because it meets the needs of remote workers, and is also more engaging, easier to manage and less expensive than traditional classroom learning.  

Virtual and augmented reality

Virtual and augmented reality technologies allow learners to “experience” learning rather than “do” it. Immersive learning experiences allow employees to practice and apply new skills in a simulated environment, effectively combining traditional learning with on-the-job training.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning

Much-discussed and increasingly conspicuous, AI and machine learning techniques now provide personalized learning experiences that match employees with customized content and resources based on their unique needs and preferences. These capabilities enable a level of individual learning that was impractical–or impossible–previously. 

Social media learning opportunities

Social media and learning activities now intersect, thanks to discussion forums, wikis, online communities, Q&A platforms, and other avenues that workers rely upon for information. (For example, 94% of Gen Zers use social media ; 50% use it every day.) These platforms provide opportunities for employees to collaborate, share ideas, and learn from each other in an atmosphere that feels more social than educational.

Data analytics

Technological advancements now provide tools to collect and analyze data on employee learning and development activities at all levels and from all departments, branches or divisions. 

For example, key learning operations analytics include stats like: the number of learning requests received, completion rates, trainer competence, and adherence to budget. Quantitative data analytics enables your organization to track the effectiveness of your programs and act quickly to make necessary improvements.

In today’s corporate world, technology plays a pivotal role in corporate learning by providing organizations with new and innovative ways to deliver training, engage employees, and measure the impact of their programs. By incorporating technology into your learning and development strategies, your organization can support your employees as they grow in competence and enhance their competitiveness in the marketplace.

Shape an impactful corporate learning strategy with the help of LearnOps®

Impactful corporate learning strategies:

  • Focus on improving the skills, knowledge, and abilities of employees within an organization. 
  • Drive your company’s competitive advantage.
  • Discover ways to overcome the challenges inherent with corporate training and development.
  • Foster the design of effective learning programs  
  • Utilize technology to provide training that benefits both learners and the corporation.

Cognota’s LearnOps software enables you and your L&D team to shape an impactful corporate learning strategy. You’ll have technology that’s interactive and comprehensive. The platform lets you manage everything from intake to post-training analytics, and enables you to verify that you met your training objectives and contributed to your company’s KPIs.   Get started for free or speak with sales to learn more.

  • Tags: corporate learning , corporate training program , Learning and Development Strategy

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How to build a culture of continuous improvement with corporate learning programs

By CYPHER Learning

How to build a culture of continuous improvement with corporate learning programs

Corporate learning is a community-based approach that provides upskilling and professional development to employees and teams. Because corporate employee training has the potential to increase productivity, improve team culture, and create new career opportunities, it has a tangible impact on people’s lives.

In fact, 58% of employees say professional development contributes to their overall job satisfaction. Although investing in a training program requires money and resources, the payout is significant on a micro and macro level.

When companies invest in corporate training , they can attract and retain top talent, create growth-driven cultures, and stay competitive through innovation. If you’re ready to improve your organization’s corporate training strategy, let us show you why a robust learning and development program is the missing piece of the puzzle.

What is corporate learning?

At its core, corporate learning is an initiative that seeks to teach, train, or equip an organization’s employees with valuable knowledge required for job performance. According to Indeed, corporate learning is :

“...a systematic approach to educating employees. Businesses and organizations use corporate learning programs to introduce new ideas to employees and explore new solutions. Corporate learning includes both the training of employees and a company-wide approach to gathering knowledge for the purposes of improvement.”

As this definition highlights, a corporate learning plan is both individual and organizational. Individual employees can learn valuable skills that will serve them well after leaving the organization. But the organization as a whole also benefits from hiring well-trained workers who actively contribute to the broader team environment.

Benefits of corporate learning—how it influences everyone

From the top down, a company’s corporate training strategy impacts everyone. Learning and development leaders benefit from modern corporate training programs that go beyond the basics by catering to the way real people learn and grow.

From identifying growth gaps to incentivizing developmental milestones, let’s take a closer look at some of the ways corporate learning benefits the entire business ecosystem.

Identify areas for growth and development

Training helps leaders easily and quickly identify skill gaps or red flags that would eventually impact performance. As team members go through modules, areas for improvement within the organization become more apparent.

By evaluating the needs of each employee, companies are better equipped to design targeted training programs that enhance specific skills and boost core knowledge. As a result, employees start to become more productive in their roles while developing skills that align with where the company wants to go and grow.

Improve employee engagement and participation

When employees feel they’re continuously learning, there’s a higher chance they’ll stay more engaged and committed to a single organization or business unit.

Corporate learning contributes to a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction because employees are often exchanging work time for new knowledge and skill sets. Such personal growth results in a more positive impact on job performance, satisfaction, corporate loyalty, and even personal relationships.

Hold everyone accountable to a higher learning standard

With corporate learning, teams also benefit from a more steady culture of accountability. When employees feel (and know) that their own personal development is crucial to where the organization is headed, stronger job dedication takes root.

A higher level of motivation also promotes a corporate culture of continuous improvement. If you want to build a company of high-performers who get the job done, expect to encourage better business (and revenue) outcomes along the way.

Incentivize growth with professional programs

Incentivizing happens when leadership inspires employees to take on new challenges as a way to earn or pursue higher opportunities. Companies can encourage employees to step out of their comfort zone, learn new skills, or take the lead on challenging projects that push their professional capabilities.

If an employee steps up and conquers new milestones, consider rewarding that growth and responsibility. While not every training program can or should offer financial compensation as a perk, think about other ways to incorporate tangible recognition (like shout-outs or extra PTO) into your corporate training goals.

Build community with learning pathways

When employees experience training as part of the collective team, they often enjoy a stronger, more connected sense of community within the organization.

To ensure these relational benefits become even stronger, tailor learning pathways to the needs and interests of different employee groups based on things like interest, role assignment, or common aspirations. This tactic inspires more collaboration and knowledge-sharing and leads to a sense of camaraderie. With the right platform to speak up, employees get a chance to share their own unique learning experiences, personal knowledge, and ideas.

Skills gaps among employees—responding respectfully

As leaders get to know their teams through training, it might become clear that certain employees bring specific skills or pre-existing knowledge to the table.

But what happens when teams recognize that some valuable skills are missing among the group? In learning and development, this is often referred to as a “skills gap.”

A professional skills gap describes the disparity between the skills an employer expects their employees to have and the actual skills employees possess. This mismatch makes it challenging for employers to fill open positions, according to BambooHR . There are a few different ways that skill gaps show up in the corporate context .

  • Staff to staff: Team Member A has desirable skills, knowledge, or experience that Team Member B lacks. Training among individual team members can help resolve the disparity. Learning goals, groups, and paths can provide additional insights.
  • Employer to employee: A corporate employer has skills standards for a given position, and the new hire lacks those skills. Corporate training may be needed to ensure that everyone on a team understands expectations and is up to speed on performance.

How to identify professionals’ skills gaps in corporate training

Identifying skills gaps prior to training doesn’t have to be a matter of guesswork. Tools like initial interviews, employee assessments, and strategic onboarding initiatives make the process more beneficial (and courteous) for everyone.

Initial interview process

Conducting thorough interviews with new employees is the first step. During these scheduled times, ask open-ended questions that allow each candidate to honestly identify their own strengths and weaknesses. For instance, if a potential new hire mentions they are not very comfortable working remotely or serving on a hybrid team, you might explore training opportunities to sharpen their remote workplace skills.

Active assessments

Assessments such as personality tests and exams that measure personal strengths are important for initial identification. These tools allow HR team leaders to build comprehensive hiring profiles based on objective third-party metrics.

By securing an objective set of personality and skills results, you’ll be able to quickly spot opportunities for additional training or support. Plus, when you know how team members learn best according to their personality type, you can adapt flexible training programs to specific learning styles.

Real-world application: CYPHER identifies skills gaps with assessments and measures progress and performance with real-time insightful analytics. Trainers and leaders quickly see where individuals and teams stand across an entire organization.

Onboarding process

During the onboarding process , new employees are often overwhelmed with information. By going above and beyond to provide transparent access to learning modules, managers and leaders can identify areas of concern early—while making it easier for new employees to get up to speed.  Mentors or new employee “coaches” can also be helpful during onboarding, as they may be able to closely monitor training and spot notable performance gaps. If your organization relies on mentorship as a training protocol, always equip mentors with the right tools and strategies to ensure peer-to-peer training is as effective as possible.

Close the gaps with corporate learning programs

Once you identify workforce skills gaps, addressing them in a timely manner is crucial. Well-designed corporate learning programs (including sessions, workshops, and digital courses), effectively help employees level up in certain areas.

To ensure these programs are as personable and human-centric as possible, leverage feedback, interviews, and onboarding surveys to guarantee that expectations are in line with reality.

Customization, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to learning, is ideal for eliminating skills gaps and giving every individual the tools they need to succeed.

Suitable learning strategies for all levels

Within corporate training environments, innovation is crucial. Today’s digitally minded learners expect more than a slide deck and lackluster presentation.

A multi-channel, forward-thinking approach is your best bet for creating corporate training initiatives that are memorable, engaging, and relatable.

Blended learning options

A hybrid or blended learning format combines traditional classroom training with virtual components, enabling learners to access training from anywhere. Instructors can also leverage blended learning to change the experience – from coaching, presentations, quizzes, forums, and more.

Online learning platforms (LMS)

Online learning platforms are also known as Learning Management Systems (LMS). These platforms offer a centralized learning solution, especially for fully remote learners. With an LMS like CYPHER, corporate training managers can ace multiple processes: course design , delivery, management, assessment , and even certification .  Instructors are also able to leverage various LMS features, such as gamification, social learning, and personalized learning paths, to keep learners motivated and engaged.

Tracking employee progress can help employers see the impact of corporate learning. A modern and capable LMS becomes one of the most important tools in the corporate trainer’s tech stack if they want to level up their organizations.

Design your corporate training programs easily

Enterprise teams have unique motivations, budgets, and timelines for implementing corporate training programs. Regardless, learning and development should contribute to a corporation’s results—not take away from it with tedious implementation.

With CYPHER, course creation for employee learning is quick and simple - and can be done in minutes. A few clicks lead to the creation of all different types of course styles. Consider the ways in which different methods (instructor-led, self-paced, blended, or micro learning) suit your needs and learning style. Plus, the various options can then be customized to meet the needs of specific learners.

Support multiple career pathways

The ability to personalize content is helpful for supporting employees at all levels of skill development and growth. Plus, training that supports multiple learning pathways has tangible impacts on the business as a whole. When more employees feel supported, equipped, and engaged, retention and career progression become more predictable.

Use gamification for better engagement

Learning should feel fun and competitive to ensure that the material is memorable. With CYPHER’s gamification abilities, it’s easy to create engaging content. With CYPHER’s AI 360 bundle, Copilot can automatically create games mapped to specific competencies. Learners can earn points and badges for completing tasks while learning valuable skills. Gamified elements and activities boost learner outcomes and help employees retain more valuable information.

Evaluate learner performance and competencies

It’s easy to mark a course as “complete” without ever truly absorbing the information. How can enterprise organizations avoid this? By clearly assessing performance and having access to important evaluation metrics in real time.

It’s vital that all business leaders and learning and development professionals have a way to accurately measure training ROI . CYPHER has been recognized as one of the top 2023 LMS platforms for monitoring ROI in corporate employee training.  

Access revolutionary corporate training methods

If you want to create a win-win scenario for employees and your organization, it’s time to look at training as a way to drive business success.

At CYPHER , we’re using innovative AI technology to disrupt the corporate training industry and put more power, personalization, and learning potential at your fingertips. Are you ready to join the corporate training revolution?

Jump in by scheduling your free demo today.

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What is corporate training and development.

Definition of Corporate Training

Corporate training, also known as Corporate Education or more recently Workplace Learning, is a system of activities designed to educate employees. While it helps employers, it is also beneficial for employees as it helps them obtain and hone knowledge and skills to progress professionally and personally.

The responsibility of training the workforce is generally taken on board by Development or Talent teams in larger corporations and Human Resources in smaller companies. They are required to identify topics and needs of the training programs and make them available for employees. They have a responsibility to build the strategy and roadmaps of employee experiences and journeys.  There is a common stigma around corporate training programs, where employees often struggle to see value in them because they are designed to highlight gaps or are very specific and only relevant to current positions. Hence, the role of L&D now is evolving to enable ongoing learning rather than control it .

Only 1/3 of talent developers would be willing to recommend their own programs —they know there is room to grow.

Workplace Learning Today

Better workplace learning is more in demand than ever. According to a survey conducted by LinkedIn , 94% of employees stated that they would commit to staying at a company longer if the company invested in their development. Complimenting this statistic is the fact that 90% of top management also believe that investing in their employees’ career development is a positive requirement for the growth of the company. That settles it then. Both the employees and employers see the importance in the career development of their workforce. What next? Creating 'standardized' training programs for all your employees will sure, present information in front of them but that does not guarantee transfer of knowledge and employee engagement that will translate into growth for the company.  More importantly, your employees have varied roles, experience, knowledge, & abilities. Designing your training program to be specific to each one of them will improve learning efficiency and increase ROI. Well-structured L&D programs build the desired knowledge and skills that will impact individual employee performance and increase job satisfaction, which often results in higher employee retention.

“People bring their whole self to work and they take their whole self home every day." - Jennifer Yi Boyer, ACT

What's a good training program?

Undoubtedly, every individual has their own idea of what makes a 'good training program'. The truth is there isn't a unique model of what constitutes the ideal training program. However, some things remain standard in all good training programs –no matter the industry, the employee size, the purpose of the program, the geography and demography:

  • Relevancy and Need - The experience and information you offer your employees must be relevant, timely and applicable to their daily job activities. It should help them expand their knowledge, skills and should be easy to digest so they learn quickly and can implement what they learn. It is also imperative to correctly identify who needs to be trained, what topics and skills they should to be trained on. For example, if you have unsatisfied customers, you may need a customer service training for your sales team. However, if your company is going through a merger process you might need to train managers on Change Management.
  • Alignment - Anything you train your employees on must be aligned with your organizational goals. Don’t ask your employees what training they want or need instead, focus on what are the business outcomes and then identify the capabilities needed to achieve those outcomes. Then you can decide collectively what specific skill sets are needed by your employee base and the the types of learning experiences you need to create.
  • Goal oriented -   When structuring training programs, ensure they are goal oriented and the Key Performance Indicators chosen paint a wholistic picture - time, cost, effectiveness, quality and quantity of the program.
  • Manager Input - Manager involvement is important to increase employee engagement in learning. A survey conducted by LinkedIn, noted that 56% of employees would spend more time on their training if their manager directed, or recommended, them to a specific program that directly they believe will improve their skills.
  • Creativity -   Workplace learning is evolving to a place where adding fun, bite-sized and relevant activities to training is becoming increasingly popular to increase employee engagement. Moving away from traditional trainer style learning, or online learning experience similar to flicking through a powerpoint presentation, will allow you to explore more creative possibilities.
  • Post training - Organizations spend thousands of dollars each year on employee training with little knowledge of whether it's "working". Incorporating post training follow ups, such as short lessons or activities to review new concepts learnt or face to face feedback sessions, can help ensure concepts are understood and actively practiced.

Objectives of training programs

There are a number of reasons and motivations for an organization to develop a training program. Listed below are the most common objectives of training programs:

Career and Personal Development

Arguably the most common objective of training programs is to help employees in their current roles and prepare for future ones. Topics range from being very specific to job positions to soft-skills like leadership.  Career development as a whole can be looked at from two perspectives: the employee and the employer. The company’s main aim is to increase its employees productivity in order to achieve business goals, which is generally done by ensuring "the perfect marriage between the job and the person". On the other hand, for the employee, both career and personal development are very important. Whilst 'career development' helps them meet goals, get promoted and even get higher remuneration, 'personal development' results in work satisfaction and makes them feel valued as individuals outside of work.  A substantial difference between career and personal development is the fact that not all companies are willing to invest in the personal development of their employees as much as they are with career. Personal development can include training courses that don't have a direct correlation to the job being done, for example investing in health and wellbeing or personal interests like cooking. There is evidence to suggest that investing in the 'person' often attracts and retains employees and drives better business performance. A quick breakdown of what career and personal development programs enable:

  • Providing employees with career growth opportunities aligned with company objectives, goals and strategies
  • Upskill or maintain knowledge of current job related tasks
  • Develop personal skills and abilities for soft skill topics to plan for personal growth
  • Enhance or obtain education, abilities and skills for duties unrelated to current job to achieve self-set goals and career objectives
  • Better community members and happier individuals
Employees are tuning out of corporate training, saying “it is wildly out of sync” with how people learn. —Deloitte

Onboarding: New Employees or New Roles

Training programs to onboard new employees are often underestimated by companies. According to a recent survey, it was observed that 22% of companies do not have a formal onboarding program while a good 49% believed to have a ‘somewhat’ successful process.  New employees generally take some time to become productive as they tend to be more stressed, anxious and definitely feel a disconnection from the rest of the team. It’s also observed that 33% of new employees are likely to look for a new job in the first six months of starting and a good 22% will change within the first 45 days .   A good onboarding process helps manage the emotions experienced by most new hires, reduces the costs of employee turnover and increases general productivity. An employee that goes through a well structured onboarding process is 58% more likely to continue to be with an organization after three years. 

Mandatory Training

Some companies have company-wide training programs from time to time, designed to educate their entire workforce on specific topics. The variedness of these programs depends of course on factors like the company location or industry in which it operates. Programs include updating employees on regulations & policies, discussing occupational health & safety, diversity, workplace etiquette, and more. For example, public sector employees often require to take occupational health and safety training, and some industry legislations require both private and public companies to deliver sexual harassment training to their employees.  

Types of training programs

Whatever modes and mediums you use to deliver workplace training, make sure they are interesting. There is nothing worse for an employee than having to go through a compliance training that they ‘have’ to do, and also happens to be 'boring'. 

Face-to-face training

Traditional Possibly the most commonly used training method (which mimics the widely used teaching method used in education institutions). This type of training accounts for on an average 42% of an organization's training hours . It involves a trainer physically teaching multiple employees in a ‘classroom’ type of experience, usually with a powerpoint presentation as a visual aid. No doubt this style of training comes with its perks - the most notable being personal interaction. It sets up the opportunity for employees to ask trainers questions that may otherwise go unanswered in other modes. More importantly, it allows for relationship building between the employee and the trainer and among the employees learning together. However, what it does not allow for is practice and scalability, and is often quite costly. It requires an instructor to be present at all times and may get difficult as more and more employees start to join –limited the personal interaction (which is this methods' biggest advantage). From a trainers point of view, it gets challenging to cater to the needs and speeds of each participant as they don't learn at the same pace. In any case, if this is your preferred method of training, endeavour to keep the morale and energy high by incorporating shorter sessions, breaks and allow for dedicated discussion and practise times. 

Interactive This method takes the traditional classroom style training to a whole new and exciting level by incorporating group and interactive activities. This involves smaller group discussions, role playing, case study reviews, demonstrations and even games. One in three employees say training is often uninspiring and discourages creative thinking, so this approach is recommended to increase overall engagement and develop much needed soft-skills.    Interactive training can be effective as it encourages transfer of knowledge in all directions allowing participants to learn and share information from each other and helps keep the energy high. However, some people who are not outgoing, quieter or introverted may get lost in the shuffle. So it is recommended you consider all types of trainee personas when including activities so they all feel involved and maximise learning.  A great (but a little old) example of an interactive training program is Pixar’s in-house training initiative. The video below explains this concept in detail:  

On the job training

On the job training dives straight into the practical, skipping all concepts and theory. It allows employees to get hands on experience of their roles quickly - often from day one. 52% adults believe this is the best way to learn, ie., through active learning. This type of training can boost information recollection and improve knowledge retention as some employees dislike hours of training lectures.  However, others prefer to understand the concept first before directly diving into the practice. It is recommended to evaluate which employee would benefit from this method. Another way to incorporate this method without actually going all in is having your employee shadow someone (in a similar role as them) while they work. 

Online learning training

Online learning is gaining popularity with more organizations turning towards this type of training. 77% American companies offer some level of online learning as a readily available career development tool. Online training programs are easier to scale as newer learning technologies can help understand the behaviour, learning journey of each and every one of your employees taking the program. You can use online learning platforms like Smart Sparrow to incorporate interactive and adaptive elements in your online training programs.  Employees are understandably busy with their job activities and hence this delivery method can help them learn in their own time and at their own pace. Whilst online learning can restrict the personal connections that a face-to-face training program can provide, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities from infinite practise to shooting planets. Also face-to-face time can be used to address misconceptions or weak points, surfaced by real-time learner data. If you want to maintain the trainer interaction consider blended training as an option. As the name suggests, blended training is a blend or combination of online training and ‘classroom’ style in person training. Some training topics are covered in person whilst the others can be completed online. 

“Companies with engaged employees see 22% greater levels of productivity and outperform those without engagement by up to 202%.” — Gallup

2018 Workplace Learning Report

The Rise and Responsibility of Talent Development in the New Labor Market by LinkedIn Learning.

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Corporate Training and its effect on your company

10 Statistics on Corporate Training and What They Mean for Your Company’s Future

How to Improve your Learning and Development Program

This ebook shares tips to help streamline business processes and enhance employee efficiency while ensuring standardization and uniformity across modules.

Creating effective training programs requires you to select strategies that will allow evidence of successful learning in your employees. Below listed are a few ‘innovative’ strategies that you may consider. Please note that every organization’s requirements vary and hence consider possibilities that are most suited to your needs.

Active Learning

Probably the most challenging task for a Learning & Development team is to engage employees in compulsory training programs. Constantly reminding employees to complete mandatory programs is not something L&D teams enjoy doing. How much can you push? Consider Active Learning as a means to engage your employees in training programs. Active Learning, also known as Pragmatism or Experientialism, emphasizes on the real-world applications of knowledge, which promotes learning through experience and not simply through concepts.  Having a core strategy that encourages employees to not simply soak in concepts but actually practice them makes for a promising training program. It is important however, to focus on things that are immediately relevant and applicable for people in their day-today jobs and train them for future jobs. For departments that deal with sensitive information or where wrong or uncalculated actions can result to catastrophic outcomes, it is imperative to progress from simple training concepts. This can be looked at as ‘Safe training’ so people can try out new behaviours in training without the fear of repercussion or making decisions that might be career limiting, it lets them experiment without any judgement and educates them in the process. For example, a financial advisor dealing with millions of dollars would benefit from trying a few different economy scenarios in their training process and learning from their successes and failures. Furthermore, they would be better equipped to face such a scenario in the real world.  Basically, it’s about understanding and experiences how different behaviour will play out when you practice them. You want to maintain self-esteem, give realistic experiences and support them when the experiments don't work out the way you wanted to. Simulating environments helps in creating a ‘safe place’ for your employees to trial them. Active learning helps cement new information, so employees successfully transfer new skills when they go back to their job.  

Assessment with a Purpose

If you struggle or want to maximise the training programs you create, start by asking yourself a few questions “what do people bring to the table”, “what are the gaps”. Revisit your current workforce’s strengths and weaknesses and assess their need for the programs you currently offer or what to potentially offer. This strategy will help you to create courses that are absolutely required.  The strategy you implement should be appropriate to the goal of the business and be supportive of the training process. In planning for assessment, you will also need to consider how the outcomes will be recorded, while ensuring that there is sufficient and appropriate information collected for making an 'on-balance' judgement of the standard achieved by the employee at the end of the training program.  Tapping into learner analytics, which many online learning platforms provide, allow you to measure the effectiveness of your training programs and report ROI to executives. Real-time data is critical. You can use that information to pinpoint where learners are doing well and where they’re having trouble, so you can continually improve existing material instead of making guesses about what’s working or starting from scratch.

Create an environment in an outcome that drives success and productivity.

Adaptive Learning

In the era of technology, companies are looking to automate and personalize their training programs via more online learning training. Agreeably, it will never replace the personalisation that a face to face setting offers, but today the technologies that exist that can, to some extent, bridge that gap.  Digital guided active learning (aka adaptive and active learning) allows training to me more “personal”, meaning your employees will only learn what matters most to them, what’s important for them and at the speed and place they’re most comfortable learning.

  • For example you can have one experience that adapts to different employee roles, staying relevant across different business units.
  • Online environments can reinforce what has been taught, allowing for application and practice of skills
  • The online medium allows companies scaling training programs and augment sessions in order to alleviate reliance on instructor led training (ILT)
One size does not fit all.

Tip: How to group learners for personalization When developing training relevant for every employee, break employees into groups with similar needs. From your groupings, you should be able to understand the context in which your employees work — and then you’ll be able to provide training that impacts their day-to-day. Here are some grouping possibilities:

  • Department (e.g. marketing, sales, customer success, project management, engineering)
  • Role (e.g. executive, manager, associate, contributor)
  • Function (e.g. customer-facing, internal-only, mixed)
  • Location (e.g. San Francisco office, Sydney office, remote worker)
  • Number of months/years with the company (useful for one-time onboarding training materials)
  • Language (e.g. is there first language the same as the head office)
  • Style (e.g. are they mostly in the office, or work remotely, or is mostly out meeting customers/facilities)

Training strategies infographic

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The Future of Organization Training

By 2025, millennials will constitute more than 75% of the workforce . This is a digital audience that has only ever known a world with technology in it - they want ease of use, innovation, creativity and flexibility. It will be more important than ever to focus on training programs that are a reflection of all these characteristics.  There is a strong move towards flexibility in the workplace, not only in terms of location but also the structure of job assignments. The employees are getting more vocal in their demand for training of fundamental skills sets that are transportable across departments and industries. There will be an added requirement of ‘21st century’ skill sets and social emotional learning component with the next generation employees because these are people that have grown in the digital age and interaction from social perspective is very nuanced to a virtual environment. Researchers have observed that these people haven’t acquired these skills. The bottom line will be the necessity to create a training program that looks more like the future than the past. 

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Corporate training: how to do it and what are the benefits

  • 19 June 2023

Corporate training: what it is, how to do it, its benefits, and the types that exist.

If you are looking for information on how to organize corporate training, you are in the right place. In this article, we will explain what corporate training is , how to implement it effectively, and the benefits it brings to your company .

Table of content:

Introduction: corporate training is a fundamental activity., but how to organize corporate training effectively, phase 1: collect and analyze employees’ training needs, phase 2: choose the right training method for the company, corporate training in e-learning: the advantages, blended training: definition and advantages, classroom training: pros and cons, phase 3: engage employees, phase 4: monitor learning and evaluate training in the company.

Let’s start with an axiom that will serve as the cornerstone of our analysis: corporate training is strategic . No ifs, ands, or buts.

Corporate training enables employees to acquire new skills and update existing ones , thus improving their productivity and the quality of their work. Moreover, corporate training serves as an important source of motivation for employees, who feel valued and appreciated by the company.

Putting people at the center of the company is the starting point to understand the importance of corporate training. We recommend watching this video before continuing with the reading:

To answer this question, we need to consider the 4 essential phases for designing and managing training effectively in a company:

  • Define objectives and type : Firstly, it is important to define the training objectives. This includes identifying the specific skills, knowledge, or behaviors that need to be developed or improved through the training.
  • Choose the type of training : Next, choose the training format that best suits the company’s needs and employees’ preferences. For example, training can be delivered in a classroom setting or online, depending on the requirements and feasibility.
  • Involve employees : It is crucial to involve employees in the process of designing and implementing the training. This can be done through surveys, focus groups, or individual discussions to understand their needs, preferences, and areas of interest. By involving employees, you can increase their engagement and motivation to participate in the training.
  • Monitor and evaluate : Finally, it is important to monitor the outcomes of the training and evaluate its effectiveness. This can be done through various methods such as assessments, feedback surveys, or performance evaluations. By collecting data on the training’s impact, you can identify areas for improvement and make adjustments to enhance the quality of future training programs.

By following these steps, companies can ensure that their corporate training initiatives are aligned with organizational goals, tailored to employee needs, and continuously improved to maximize their effectiveness.

To effectively organize corporate training activities, it is necessary to start by collecting information through surveys, one-to-one interviews, and focus groups in order to accurately analyze employees’ training needs .

These training needs can be divided into 3 macro-categories:

  • Organizational needs (influenced by business objectives);
  • Professional needs (dependent on hierarchical position);
  • Individual needs (personal development requirements).

The analysis allows Training & Development Managers to define the objectives of corporate training and plan the subsequent steps. It helps design training courses by identifying the tools and appropriate methods of delivery (which can take place in classrooms, outdoors, or through e-learning platforms ). Finally, it enables the measurement of results and the effectiveness of the training provided.

Identification and analysis of corporate training needs and employee training needs.

This strategic approach allows you to create personalized training programs and maximize training effectiveness.

Tip: Always remember to monitor the results and ROI (Return on Investment) of the training to evaluate its effectiveness. This will help you make any necessary corrections and improve the quality of the training programs.

As you can see, corporate training is a fundamental investment for the success of the company and its employees. Organizing it in the most effective way possible and evaluating its effectiveness are the keys to obtaining maximum benefits.

Identifying the most suitable training method is a crucial and delicate phase that can determine the success or failure of the training project. The right methodology will allow you to achieve the objectives and effectively address the training needs .

Types of corporate training: e-learning, blended learning, classroom-based training.

What types of training can be used in the company?

Now let’s explore the training methods you can use in the company for the growth and development of individuals . You have three types of training available: e-learning, blended, and classroom-based.

  • E-learning is one of the most cost-effective and efficient options for companies that want to provide training courses to their employees. Thanks to technology, it is possible to offer real-time training that is flexible and accessible wherever there is an internet connection.
  • E-learning training courses can be customized to meet the needs of the company and its employees. They can be accessed anytime and anywhere, allowing employees to take courses independently without interrupting their work activities.
  • E-learning training i s capable of providing immediate and accurate feedback on employees’ progress. The power of technology!

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  • Blended training is a type of training that combines various approaches, including e-learning and synchronous training in the classroom or via video-conferencing . This training method allows for the optimal utilization of the advantages offered by both methods, providing a more comprehensive and personalized learning experience.
  • Blended training enables employees to attend in-person classroom sessions while also accessing course content online, offering greater flexibility and the opportunity to learn independently.
  • Additionally, this training method fosters a more collaborative learning environment , promoting interaction among employees and the exchange of ideas and experiences.
  • Furthermore, blended training allows companies to reduce training costs without compromising the quality of the training provided.
  • Classroom training, also known as in-person training, is a synchronous training method conducted in a physical classroom setting under the guidance of an i nstructor or tutor (ILT – Instructor-Led Training). This training method allows participants to interact directly with the instructor and other learners, offering greater interactivity and a more collaborative learning environment.
  • Classroom training also allows for a greater focus on the training content and the opportunity to delve into concepts in more detail, thanks to the ability to ask questions and receive immediate answers. Additionally, classroom training is particularly useful for courses that require the use of specific equipment or tools, which can be made available to participants during the training session.
  • However, classroom training can be costly and require significant logistical organization , such as booking a meeting room and preparing teaching materials, as well as the need to have all participants physically present in the same location.

In this regard, always keep in mind that modern corporate training is digital, and therefore technology integrates into classroom training as well, thanks to innovative solutions for digital learning that enhance and improve the effectiveness of traditional training. Contact us to find out how .

Engagement is the keyword, the “secret” ingredient for the success of any corporate training project .

As we mentioned at the beginning of this post, it is essential to involve employees (from the outset) in defining learning paths and choosing courses in order for corporate training to be effective. The goal is to stimulate interest and participation in the training.

engaging employees in training is the key to success.

To stimulate and cultivate learner engagement, it is important to communicate the objectives and benefits of the training clearly , highlighting how it can contribute to professional and personal development.

Creating an inclusive and stimulating environment and context where people feel encouraged to share their ideas and actively participate in training significantly promotes engagement. In short, Social Learning and Engagement are two inseparable friends!

In this regard, to maintain a high and consistent level of engagement and interest, remember that you can adopt a Gamification strategy to make training more engaging and motivating . Thanks to modern digital learning technologies and the right e-learning platforms , this can be easily achieved!

Finally, never forget to collect feedback regularly to assess the effectiveness of training programs, involving employees in the evaluation process to achieve continuous improvement.

In summary, employee engagement in corporate training not only increases the likelihood of success but also contributes to creating a culture of learning within the organization.

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To monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of corporate training, you can use various methodologies. One possibility is to conduct pre and post-training assessment tests to measure the acquisition of knowledge and skills by your learners. Additionally, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, it is useful to gather direct feedback from participants through surveys or interviews to understand their perceptions of the training quality and its applicability in the workplace.

monitoring training is essential to evaluate its effectiveness and return on investment (ROI).

It is also important to evaluate the application of the acquired skills by observing changes in behavior and employee performance.

Using continuous monitoring tools (such as creating regular reports on the training administered in the company) helps identify any gaps or areas for improvement in the program and make necessary corrections.

Finally, it is essential to involve managers and supervisors in the evaluation process to gather different perspectives and obtain a comprehensive view of the training’s impact on the organization. Continuous monitoring and evaluation ensure a process of continuous improvement and allow for adaptation of training programs to the evolving needs of the company and its employees .

Corporate Training and Smart Working

With the adoption of hybrid , remote , and smart working , corporate training has become even more essential to ensure that everyone feels comfortable and productive in the new way of working and in the new work environment .

Employees who work from home or in smart-working need to be regularly trained to acquire the right skills and face the new work challenges.

e-learning for employees working remotely or in a remote setting.

Corporate training can be delivered in various ways, such as online courses , webinars, or streaming videos. Video conferencing software , collaboration tools, and smartphone apps can also be used to allow employees to participate in training wherever they are (anytime, anywhere). For this reason, it is essential to have an e-learning platform capable of managing and integrating all these training methods for employee development.

In summary, corporate training is crucial for companies that adopt hybrid remote work and smart working, and organizations must be able to provide appropriate and tailored training support to ensure that everyone can perform their work to the best of their abilities.

Corporate Training Embedded in the Flow of Work: Learning in the Flow of Work

According to Josh Bersin , an analyst in the field of corporate training and development, organizations are now adopting a new strategy for corporate training that involves integrating training into employees’ daily workflow. This new strategy, called “ Learning in the Flow of Work ,” is based on the idea that training should not be a separate activity but should be integrated into employees’ daily tasks.

according to Josh Bersin, embedded learning in the workflow is the winning formula.

Bersin argues that this new just-in-time corporate training strategy is particularly effective in meeting the needs of today’s workers, who prefer more flexible and personalized learning experiences.

Furthermore, training embedded in the flow of work creates a continuous learning environment and provides employees with real-time relevant learning content to address the constantly changing business demands. Bersin suggests that integrating training into employees’ daily workflow can be achieved through the use of technology and solutions for digital learning , microlearning , and artificial intelligence .

In summary, according to Josh Bersin, Learning in the Flow of Work represents a new strategy for corporate training that allows organizations to meet the needs of today’s workforce and improve the effectiveness of training by integrating it into employees’ daily workflow.

In conclusion:

Corporate training is strategic and should be organized and managed correctly, using the right strategy to define needs and objectives to be achieved; choosing the appropriate training methods (e-learning, blended, or classroom-based); involving employees; and measuring and evaluating the delivered training.

Modern digital training technologies allow for the creation of a modern and continuous learning ecosystem for all employees, including those working in smart-working or remotely. This way, you can embed training into the flow of work for a truly effective just-in-time training experience.

If you want to improve your corporate training and implement successful e-learning projects , please contact us . We are here to help you.

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What is Corporate Training? Types and benefits

January 17, 2021 | By Hitesh Bhasin | Filed Under: Human Resources

Corporate learning is defined as activities that are specifically designed to educate the employees in an organization. It is also referred to as workplace learning, as it helps the workplace obtain skills and know-how and hone them for personal and professional growth and development.

Table of Contents

What is Corporate Training?

The responsibility of corporate training lies with the Human Resources department in the smaller companies and the Talent teams in larger organizations. They are entrusted with identifying the needs of the training programs and making them available for the workforce.

Corporate learning has emerged as the new in-demand trend in recent times. LinkedIn conducted a survey where 94% of the employees expressed their desire to work for a company that invested in corporate learning and development programs.

Types of corporate training programs

Types of corporate training programs

The various types of corporate learning and training programs that will felicitate organizational advancement and employee development are as follows-

1. Leadership skills and management development 

The employees will remain with a company if they have a chance to ascend to managerial positions. This is the best way to retain talent. The fact of the matter is that the employees with the best skill set might not have natural managerial and leadership skills.

It becomes essential to provide corporate learning and training programs to these employees for a supportive work environment. Leadership skills training programs include improving communication skills, collaboration techniques, setting goals, forecasting, behavioral interviewing, development coaching , conflict resolution, priority management, team building, etc.

These programs are meant for all types of the workforce, from senior leaders eligible for such positions to emerging leaders at lower tiers.

2. Ethics and harassment 

Employees at all levels, from the lowest to highest, are offered a basic training course on workplace ethics and harassment. It helps to keep the workplace environment safe and sound. A comprehensive program is always beneficial for an organization.

3. Customer and client communication skills  

Improving communication skills is essential for achieving business goals and objectives. Healthy company culture is, to a great extent, dependent on such skills so that the employees can deal with both customers and clients effectively and keep them happy.

Corporate learning and training programs put the onus on related skills like sales training, customer dealing, active listening , non- verbal communication , presentation skills , writing techniques, virtual communication, etc.

4. General safety and emergency procedures 

This type of corporate learning and training programs offer a broad overview of emergency and safety procedures and save lives during crises and emergencies.

5. Cybersecurity protocols 

If employees are negligent, it can cause a severe breach in important data and information. This type of corporate learning and training program trains employees on cybersecurity basics to not make any mistakes down the line.

It includes avoiding email phishing and setting strong passwords. The program encourages employees to steer away from common strategies and focus on unique identification methods like a separate PIN or strong passwords that will not decode.

It also teaches the employees how they can avoid the chances of Phishing so that the hackers are unable to get hold of important documents.

6. Soft skills  

Soft skills are considered precious in a workplace environment as people with such skills can complete tasks that other employees cannot do.

Soft skills training and learning programs include improving emotional intelligence, career attributes, attitudes , personality traits , communication skills, social skills , and people skills.

It plays an essential role by helping the employees to deal with clients, customers, colleagues, working in teams, and navigating the rough waters of the workplace environment.

7. Time management  

This type of training program helps to improve productivity in the workplace. It also assists in prioritizing work projects, developing strategies, multitasking, meeting deadlines, and scheduling work for optimal efficiency.

How to organize corporate training workshops?

It is the responsibility of the organization or the employer to create corporate learning programs that will work for all the employees in the organization. The best ones can meet the learners at their point of requirement very easily. Some common types of corporate training services that can be used by an organization are as follows-

1. Instructor-led classroom training 

As the name suggests, Instructor-led classroom training is one of the traditional types of training in a classroom with an instructor or a teacher presenting the materials to the students or the learners. The advantages of this type of training are

  • It is considered beneficial for complex topics as it is easy to create, maintain and deliver
  • This learning looks familiar to most of the participants
  • It is easy to customize
  • It supports various assessment types
  • The instructor is at hand to answer specific queries by the employees

The disadvantages of this type of training are

  • There are a limited number of students in every session
  • It is a time-consuming training method
  • The quality of learning is dependent on the instructor
  • The average cost is very high compared to other methods of learning programs
  • There is no standardized learning experience associated with it
  • This type of training is dependent on dedicated instructors

2. Online Learning 

eLearning or corporate training online is one of the easiest ways to connect with many employees in a single session.

The advantages of this type of corporate training programs are

  • This type of training programs are accessible and scalable on a global scale
  • An unlimited number of learners can access it
  • It is the preferred mode of learning by the younger generation
  • The standardized learning experience for all the learners
  • Bandwidth can be an issue in accessing content
  • It takes longer to develop
  • The lack of personal interaction can be a hindrance at times
  • Proves intimidating for the learners who are not techno-savvy

3. Virtual instructor-led classroom training (VILT) 

The VLIT or virtual instructor-led classroom training assist instructors in showing videos, lead discussions, and deliver lectures through virtual means. These sessions can be recorded and accessed at any time.

The advantages of this type of corporate training process are

  • There is no need for space or a separate classroom
  • It proves less costly with time
  • Is easy to record for future reference
  • Learning is accessible despite the constraints posed by demographics

The disadvantages of this type of training business are

  • Lack of user engagement
  • Is a nightmare for people who are not techno-savvy
  • Needs a high speed and dependable internet connection for good connectivity
  • Proves costly at the time of its creation
  • Instructors need regular upskilling

4. Blended Learning 

Blended learning is an approach that integrates both online learning and classroom-based training into one subject.

The advantages of this type of training are

  • It is accessible and scalable on a global scale
  • The opportunities for learner connection and collaboration is high
  • There is flexibility for completing assignments
  • Solid tech infrastructure is compulsory for this type of training

Why pick corporate training online or eLearning?

Corporate training online or most organizations prefer eLearning in recent years as it has proved its worth.

Important benefits include

  • Higher revenues
  • Employee engagement
  • High employee retention

Starting online training

Define your overall expectations and needs, identify your audience, and set up training goals if you are interested in online training programs.

Focus on the course details to get an idea about the curriculum and then create a corporate learning and training roadmap that will include needs and wants for learning and overall vision .

Strategies to boost corporate training ROI

Important strategies include

  • Include customized training programs. Generic programs are cheap, no doubt but not so effective, whereas a specific and tailored process can be an immense help in organizational growth later on.
  • Create a high-impact training and learning program that is focused, relevant, and engaging. Customized learning solutions help in improving and increasing behavioral change and skill development. This type of training program includes case study scenarios etc. for effective learning.
  • Include simulations and gamification as it will provide the learners with a safe environment to practice the necessary steps and even fail without undue consequences. This type of training and learning programs saves time that would have been spent on mentoring and additional training.
  • Focus on customized Onboarding so that the transition is smooth for the employee. It will ultimately lead to employee retention and lower the chances of turnover and attrition .
  • Keep on updating your existing solutions to maintain high-quality content through multiple delivery models. Reusing content will decrease the initial investment and result in a lower cost peruse.

Customized eLearning solutions are an essential means of achieving organizational objectives. It aims for employee retention, skill development, and behavior modification.

Corporate training benefits

Corporate training benefits

Important benefits of workplace learning are described below

  • One of the benefits of workplace learning and training is increased efficiency. Specific and well-designed training can fulfill the needs of the workforce, make required improvements and boost the level of efficiency
  • Effective training programs provide innumerable opportunities for learning to the employees.
  • Corporate learning and training offers the framework to develop strengths
  • It helps to identify weaknesses and make suitable amendments through the required corporate learning and training programs
  • Corporate learning and training helps an organization to create an ideal employee with high employee performance and productivity
  • Providing training and learning opportunities in the workplace is one of the best ways to keep the employees engaged.
  • Professional training and development programs address issues like skill stagnation, fatigue, and de- motivation so that it can help in employee motivation and engagement
  • Workplace learning and training programs have proved an important tool in minimizing the instances of attrition. Training is one of the best possible keys to professional development . When an organization is willing to provide it to its workforce, it will lead to a high rate of employee retention.
  • Applicants are on the look-out for organizations that offer corporate learning and training options. This is an important way for organizations to hire and retain important talent
  • One of the benefits of workplace learning and training is that it reduces the high cost associated with the HR department by retaining employees
  • Continuous learning and evolving help the organization in gaining a competitive advantage over its competitors.
  • Workplace training unites departments, teams, and individuals in a single thread. It helps the employees in realizing that their successes, as well as the company’s growth, are interlinked
  • An effective training program is considered beneficial as it lowers the rate of employee turnover in an organization. The cost of replacing employees proves expensive for an organization, and low turnover means saving on undue expenses
  • One of the benefits of workplace learning and training is that it helps to build a corporate culture . It aligns corporate strategy and values and shows the employees that they matter
  • Workplace learning and training improves employee morale . Increased job satisfaction and job securities are two essential reasons to keep the employees satisfied and happy and their confidence high
  • Corporate learning and training programs improve the communication skills of the employees
  • It trains new talent so that they can become future leaders
  • Corporate learning and training lead to cross-functional efficiency. Firms benefit from transferable skills and flexibility as it comes in handy during job rotation .
  • One of the benefits of workplace learning and training is that it improves the image and reputation of an organization in the market and amongst customers and clients

Corporate training is considered a valuable investment that helps organizations to outshine in this competitive world. Firms are creating customized and relevant programs that will prove an asset by meeting specific needs and requirements.

The corporate learning and training include interactive and dynamic programs that have proved indispensable across the corporate sector.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Human resources

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12 Corporate Trainer Skills: Definition and Examples

Corporate trainers must have a variety of skills to be successful. This article will provide definitions for 12 essential skills for corporate trainers. These skills are: communication, facilitation, presentation, organization, time management, adult learning principles, instructional design, change management, project management, business acumen, and coaching.

Corporate Trainer Resume Example

Corporate Trainer Skills

Communication, presentation, public speaking, facilitation, organizational, time management, conflict resolution, change management.

The ability to communicate effectively is absolutely essential for any corporate trainer. After all, part of their job is to convey information clearly and concisely to their audience. If they cannot do so, then the training will likely be ineffective. Additionally, good communication skills are necessary in order to build rapport with participants and ensure that they are engaged throughout the session.

The ability to give presentations is a key skill for any corporate trainer. This is because presentations are often used as a way to deliver training content to large groups of people. A good presentation can engage and motivate learners, and help them to understand and retain the information being presented.

Public speaking is the process of communicating a message to an audience. It is an important skill for corporate trainers because they need to be able to engage with their audience and deliver information in an effective way.

A corporate trainer is someone who provides training and development programs for employees within a company. This can include everything from new hire orientation to ongoing professional development.

An effective corporate trainer must have excellent communication and presentation skills, as well as the ability to engage with a variety of personality types. They must also be able to design and deliver training programs that are both informative and enjoyable.

Facilitation is the process of helping a group of people to work together effectively. A facilitator is someone who helps to make this happen.

You need facilitation skills as a corporate trainer because you will often be working with groups of people who need to collaborate in order to achieve their objectives. As a facilitator, you will help them to do this by providing structure and support.

Leadership is the ability to influence and inspire others to achieve a common goal. As a corporate trainer, you will need leadership skills to be able to motivate and guide your trainees to reach their potential.

Organizational skills are important for corporate trainers because they need to be able to effectively plan and execute training programs. This includes being able to develop curriculum, schedule classes, and manage logistics. Good organizational skills are essential for ensuring that training programs run smoothly and efficiently.

Time management is a skill that is needed in order to be an effective corporate trainer. This is because trainers need to be able to manage their time in order to deliver training effectively and efficiently. Time management skills allow trainers to plan and structure their training so that they can use their time wisely and avoid wasting time.

Conflict resolution is the process of resolving a disagreement or dispute. It can be used to resolve conflicts between employees, customers, or other parties. Conflict resolution skills are important for corporate trainers because they can help prevent and resolve disputes before they escalate.

Change management is a process, tools, and techniques used to manage the people side of change to achieve the required business outcome. Change management is necessary because people are generally resistant to change, even when it is in their best interest. The goal of change management is to help people understand and accept the need for change, and then assist them in making the transition to the new state.

Coaching is a skill that corporate trainers need in order to help their clients or employees reach their goals. This involves providing guidance and support while also holding them accountable. It is important for corporate trainers to be able to coach because it helps create a more positive and productive environment.

Mentoring is a process whereby an experienced individual (the mentor) helps another person (the mentee) to develop their skills and knowledge. This can be done through providing guidance, support and advice.

Many corporate trainers find that mentoring is a valuable way to help their trainees to progress in their careers. It can help to build trust and rapport, and can also provide an opportunity for the trainer to give feedback and offer support on a more personal level.

How to improve corporate trainer skills

Corporate trainers are responsible for providing training and development programs to employees within an organization. They play a vital role in ensuring that employees have the skills and knowledge necessary to perform their job duties effectively and efficiently.

There are a number of ways in which corporate trainer skills can be improved. One way is by increasing the level of interaction with employees. This can be done by incorporating more group activities and exercises into training sessions. This will allow trainers to get a better understanding of each employee’s strengths and weaknesses and tailor the training accordingly.

Another way to improve trainer skills is by making use of technology. There are a number of software programs and online tools that can be used to create more engaging and interactive training sessions. These tools can also be used to deliver training content in a more efficient manner.

Finally, it is important for corporate trainers to continually update their own skills and knowledge. They should keep up-to-date with new developments in their field and attend conferences and seminars on a regular basis. By doing so, they will be able to provide the most up-to-date and relevant training to their employees.

How to highlight corporate trainer skills

As a corporate trainer, you will need to be able to effectively communicate with your audience and tailor your training to meet their needs. You should also be able to identify the learning objectives for each session and create engaging and interactive activities that will help participants learn and retain the information. Additionally, it is important to be able to assess the participants' level of understanding and provide feedback accordingly.

On a resume

In order to highlight your skills as a corporate trainer on your resume, you should include any relevant experience that you have in the field. This can include both paid and unpaid positions. You should also list any specialties that you have, such as experience working with a certain type of software or teaching a particular subject. If you have any relevant certifications, be sure to list them as well. Finally, don't forget to mention any relevant skills, such as public speaking or writing, that you possess.

In a cover letter

In your cover letter, be sure to highlight your skills as a corporate trainer. Include your experience leading training sessions, as well as any relevant coursework or certifications you have. Describe how you are able to engage and motivate participants, and why you are passionate about training others. Be sure to tailor your cover letter to the specific corporate trainer position you are applying for.

During an interview

When interviewers ask about your skills as a corporate trainer, be sure to emphasize your ability to develop and deliver engaging training content. Talk about your experience designing and facilitating training programs that meet the needs of adult learners. Share examples of how you have helped employees improve their job performance through your training initiatives. Be sure to highlight your communication and presentation skills, as well as your ability to create a positive learning environment.

Related Career Skills

  • Corporate Sales Manager
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COMMENTS

  1. Corporate Training: Why You Need It and How to Organize [2024]

    Corporate training refers to employee learning and development initiatives that aim to improve various aspects of an organization. Corporate training is the remit of the HR department or, in larger organizations, a dedicated L&D team.

  2. Corporate Training Programs: How to Get it Right for Your Company

    Here's the most straightforward definition: Corporate training captures the efforts you make to support the professional development of your employees through organized programs or activities.

  3. What is Corporate Training? Everything You Need to Know

    Corporate training, or workplace learning, is a set of educational activities provided to employees, typically free of cost. It can cover a range of topics and improvement areas from soft skills to role-specific competencies. Corporate training benefits employees and businesses as it builds intellectual capital and upskills or reskills employees.

  4. What is Corporate Training? Key Principles for a Successful Program

    The purpose of a corporate training program is to teach employees new skills and knowledge that will help them perform better in their jobs. And the best part? It's beneficial for both employers and employees. You might be wondering why you should even bother investing in one of these programs.

  5. How to Develop an Employee Training Program in 2024

    To define the relevant training program, start by assessing what skills and knowledge your employees lack. Onboarding and orientation. This helps new hires get familiarized with company culture, understand their responsibilities, and become productive team members quickly. Also read: How to Build a Learning Culture.

  6. Online Corporate Training Programs

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  7. Corporate Training: Definition, Benefits, Best Practices

    Team The goals of Corporate Training The three goals of corporate training are to improve employee performance, increase company productivity, and decrease company liability. Corporate training can help to achieve these goals by enhancing communication skills, teamwork, customer service, and more.

  8. Corporate Training 101: All You Wanted to Know

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  9. What is Corporate Training and Why is it Important to Train ...

    Corporate training is the process of training employees through a system of activities that educate employees by using various forms of learning programs. It acts as a catalyst to success for employees, which, in turn, means the success of your business/organization as a whole. Employees consider training as such an integral part of their work ...

  10. Corporate Training

    Corporate training is the strategy of providing learners, internal and external to your organization, with the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. By furthering their success, you are, in turn, facilitating the success of your business.

  11. Employee Training: What It Is and Why It's Important

    Employee training is any instruction or activity that teaches employees new skills or improves their current skills and performance. The term may describe anything from safety training for an entire staff to introducing a new hire to the ins and outs of a particular job to training an existing employee how to use new technology.

  12. 16 Best Corporate Training Programs & Courses (2023)

    The corporate training market was valued at $200 billion in 2021, with many companies opting for multiple training programs depending on their L&D goals and business needs. Here's a list of 16 of the most common corporate training programs to enable your employees: 1. Leadership training.

  13. 21 Trusted Corporate Training & Development Programs

    A: Corporate training means that companies have developed clear strategies for helping employees develop new skills. The terms "corporate training" and "corporate development" may be used interchangeably, but typically training focuses on teaching new skills while development focuses on optimizing existing ones.

  14. Leadership Training and Development: A Complete Guide

    Leadership Training and Development: A Complete Guide. In this guide, we cover what is leadership training, why it's important, and how to develop an effective training program for your corporate leaders. Leadership training is a must for every company because it is one of sure-fire ways of building effective leadership, and delivering ...

  15. What is Corporate Training: Types, Benefits & Process

    Corporate training involves providing learners with adequate skills and training through learning programs that will expand their knowledge and increase their efficiency at the workplace. It is used by corporates as an investment to groom and nourish their workforce and increase employee motivation.

  16. How to Shape an Impactful Corporate Learning Strategy

    Impactful corporate learning strategies: Focus on improving the skills, knowledge, and abilities of employees within an organization. Drive your company's competitive advantage. Discover ways to overcome the challenges inherent with corporate training and development. Foster the design of effective learning programs.

  17. Build a Corporate Learning Program

    Corporate learning includes both the training of employees and a company-wide approach to gathering knowledge for the purposes of improvement.". As this definition highlights, a corporate learning plan is both individual and organizational. Individual employees can learn valuable skills that will serve them well after leaving the organization.

  18. Corporate Training and Development

    Corporate training, also known as Corporate Education or more recently Workplace Learning, is a system of activities designed to educate employees. While it helps employers, it is also beneficial for employees as it helps them obtain and hone knowledge and skills to progress professionally and personally.

  19. PDF The Complete Training Program Planning Guide

    Do you need help planning your training program? Call 877-226-7070 www.mclabs.com 6 STRATEGY You are about to begin a complex training program, involving considerable resources and time . Before you get into the nitty gritty details of your training plan, it is imperative the goals address the overall business case for your training program .

  20. Corporate Training: How to and What are the Benefits

    Introduction: Corporate training is a fundamental activity. Let's start with an axiom that will serve as the cornerstone of our analysis: corporate training is strategic.No ifs, ands, or buts. Corporate training enables employees to acquire new skills and update existing ones, thus improving their productivity and the quality of their work. Moreover, corporate training serves as an important ...

  21. 11 Corporate Training Programmes For Organisations To Offer

    Here are 11 types of training programmes that you can suggest for an organisation to offer to its employees: 1. Effective communication training. A company can offer training in effective communication for employees at all levels. It can emphasise written communication in the form of letter-writing and email-writing so that employees can ...

  22. What is Corporate Training? Types and benefits

    The advantages of this type of corporate training programs are. This type of training programs are accessible and scalable on a global scale. An unlimited number of learners can access it. It is the preferred mode of learning by the younger generation. The standardized learning experience for all the learners.

  23. 12 Corporate Trainer Skills: Definition and Examples

    Corporate trainers must have a variety of skills to be successful. This article will provide definitions for 12 essential skills for corporate trainers. These skills are: communication, facilitation, presentation, organization, time management, adult learning principles, instructional design, change management, project management, business ...