Benjamin Franklin said it best: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Apply this to your organization or company through relevant workplace learning opportunities and the creation of a well-planned training calendar. And with our help, you will have access to multiple professionally designed and easily editable Training Calendar Templates that you can use to plan and schedule whatever event or course you want your employees, students, or colleagues to learn. Download the personal development training calendar that you need now in various formats like MS Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages to suit your requirements!
What Is a Training Calendar?
A calendar is essentially a formal document that charts the day, week, month, or year in a given period. They are sometimes also called datebooks, timetables, or schedules.
When the timeslots in this document are filled with learning sessions, preparatory classes, or development courses as an avenue for career growth, it is called a training calendar. And just like other kinds of calendars, training calendars may be classified according to the length of the training period. For example, there can be a daily calendar, monthly calendar, yearly calendar, or annual training calendars.
How to Create an Effective Training Calendar?
Creating a training program goes hand in hand with creating a training calendar. One will not work well without the other. That is why below, we have compiled basic calendar-making tips that will help you plan for and successfully implement corporate or organization training sessions.
1. Know What the Training is For
In a recent survey of 2,400 employees in the United States and the United Kingdom, 59% of respondents in both countries say that on-the-job training opportunities affect their happiness at work. And, 39% of these respondents (mostly millennials) would resign from their jobs due to a lack of learning and growth opportunities.
If your company already has a training program, you are already on the right track. If not, you must keep this statistic in mind and use it as a guiding element for the successful creation and implementation of your training program and corresponding project calendar.
2. Know Your Employees’ Schedules
Ill-planned training programs lead to noncompliance or, worse, increased employee turnover. Avoid this pitfall by properly scheduling each training session.
Know all the trainees’ work schedules beforehand so that you can accurately assign the best periods for the employees, new hires, or colleagues to do the learning sessions.
3. Determine the Length of Each Training Session
To have an effective training or business calendar, make sure that you select the optimal length of time for each training session. Remember, most trainees will need to work on their daily deliverables. Do not add too much onto their plates by asking them to attend whole-day training sessions.
Factor in the training topic and determine if you need to schedule a longer and more intensive training session without asking the attendees to submit their other deliverables.
4. Use an e-Calendar
Another way to ensure compliance with a training calendar is through the use of digital calendar tools. For example, you may integrate the training schedule on your employees’ Facebook calendars, Google calendars, or on other online calendar tools.
Make sure to ask employees or attendees to enable notifications so that they will be reminded of the date and hour of the training session.
5. Combine With Other Employee Engagement Strategies
A recent Gallup survey estimates that only about one-third of the United States workforce is engaged with their jobs. This is a disheartening statistic that employers and leaders need to address.
And one way you can do that is by implementing concurrent employee engagement strategies along with your training programs and calendars. This applies whether you are running a multinational company or a business with less than 500 employees.
In the end, the costs associated with instituting training programs and development plans, and the creation of training calendars may be high. However, if you want employees who are devoted, knowledgeable, and satisfied with their jobs, it's a small price to pay for your business to run better in the future.
