A strong training program is the foundation of an open, ethical and productive culture. It offers a return on investment by helping organizations prevent misconduct. It also improves employee engagement, retention and recruitment, creates alignment around core values, and helps establish legal defense in the case of compliance failures by individual employees.
The very best-run organizations have an advanced training program for all stakeholders, board members, executives, management, employees and contractors alike. That way, everyone knows they are part of a culture that values professional integrity and respect. And finally, it is through training that you change behavior, and start building the culture you desire.
So, how do you know if your training program is advanced or not?
Before deciding where to take your program, it’s best to take stock of where you are today. Let’s take a look at the four stages of program maturity:
- in the Beginning stage, training programs lack a formal plan or strategy, and typically address issues as they arise. Or even more commonly, after they occur. If you’re mostly reactive with your training, you’re in stage 1.
- the next stage is Basic. If you’re training on topics ONLY required by law and at a fairly rudimentary level, you’re in the second stage.
- the third stage is Maturing. If you have a plan for the year that covers a handful of risk areas, including some specific role-based topic assignments and metrics such as training completion rates, you are in stage 3.
- the last stage is Advanced. If your training consists of a multiyear training plan that covers all key risk areas with topics and instruction selected specifically for the needs of different employee groups, then you’re among the training super stars.
