In the last few posts I have been talking about the onboarding process and why it is so important to employee engagement and retention. Today I want to talk about one component of a good onboarding strategy called the learning plan.
Very simply a learning plan is a document that outlines the training an individual will go through to achieve a certain goal or level over an extended period of time. Learning plans are the best way to ensure that each of your employees actually receive the right training, from the right individual at the right time.
In order to build a good, solid learning plan you will need to identify the tasks, skills, and competencies that are required in each job function in your organization. Once these items are identified you will need to build your training strategy to support those tasks, skills and competencies. The employee should have a good understanding of the goals and objectives that you want them to meet and achieve during the length of the plan.
The learning plan is a living document and should not be treated as static or in stone. As the employee grows and develops within your organization his/her supervisor should amend the learning plan as needed to either revisit tasks or skills that require further training or to add additional skills and responsibilities if the employee progresses more quickly than anticipated. It is important that the learning plan is catered to the employee in order to keep him/her engaged in the process.
When building the goals and objectives into the learning plan please ensure that they are attainable. It is important that the employee gets the opportunity to experience success along the way. That will keep him/her engaged and confident. Please refer to SMART goals for information on how to build attainable goals.
The learning plan is something that should be covered with the employee during or shortly after the orientation process. The more information you can give the employee on what they will be doing, what they will be experiencing and how they will be expected to learn the more comfortable they will be when it is time to undergo the training.
Happy selling, and as always I am here to help!
Engaging Retail 