Creating structured, consistent, and measurable training programs can be daunting.
If you’ve ever had to build a framework for your training initiatives, you know it’s a lot of work! You need plans that are easy-to-use, flexible, and customizable, but starting from scratch can be overwhelming. That’s where employee training plan templates come in handy.
These templates provide a solid foundation, saving you time and ensuring every critical aspect is covered.
At SnackNation, we’ve tested thousands of templates to find the most effective ones, honing our expertise in the process. In this article, we cover the best employee training templates that you can use across the board for a variety of training development needs, such as employee onboarding, individual vs. team training, strategic planning, and so much more.
So, without further ado, let’s get started!
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How We Chose the Best Employee Training Plan Templates
At SnackNation, we believe that collaboration and transparency are two key components of the modern workplace experience. Our teams harness the power of the best online collaboration tools to help increase employee productivity and efficiency.
Why trust us? The SnackNation team has been reviewing a vast number of templates for over a decade. Through a process of careful evaluation and elimination, we’ve identified the best employee training plan templates designed to create a high-performance work culture.
Our selection process: We’ve hand-picked the employee training plan templates included in this article using the following criteria:
- Can be shared with a team — Shareable templates enhance communication and collaboration.
- User-friendly interface — Easy to set up and run, making them a breeze to implement quickly.
- Visually appealing — No more boring, monotonous Excel sheets!
- Customizable — Make just the right amount of changes to make the templates perfect for your needs.
- Great for collaboration — Use them as guiding frameworks or as jumping-off points for more ideas.
- Saves time — Never spend more time than you need to, to create structured plans from scratch.
- Value added — Get additional features and benefits so you can expand the capabilities of templates.
Pro-Tip: Use “Command + D” to bookmark this list – we update it often with the latest and most useful [KW templates]!
Best Employee Training Plan Templates
13. Employee Development Plan by ClickUp
🏅Best for: Beginners just getting started with employee development plans.
The Employee Development Plan by ClickUp makes it easy for managers to build detailed development plans based on training needs analysis, inclusive of goal and progress tracking and collaboration features. It’s ready-to-use and fully customizable — you can get started in as little as seconds.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: We love how easy it is to visually understand what’s going on with each employee’s development plan. We also love the fact that it’s geared for freshers who want an easy but comprehensive template to work with.
✅ Pros:
- Despite being oriented towards pros, you can create comprehensive employee development plans for each team member.
- Customize statuses (done, for review, in progress), fields (date last reviewed, plan timeline, job position, etc.), and views (department plan, development status, employee summary, employee list, and getting started guide).
- Enhance your ability to track employee development through features such as time tracking, tag inserts, dependency warnings, emails, and more.
❗️ Cons:
- May not be ideal for bigger organizations and larger teams with a complex array of roles and skill sets.
👉 Looking for more? Check out our selection of employee development plan templates to streamline upskilling avenues for your employees.
12. Return to Workplace Training Template Set by Smartsheet
🏅Best for: Creating a simple yet comprehensive training plan that factors in both trainers as well as trainees.
If you’re looking for a training plan that incorporates both trainers and trainees as part of a ‘return to workplace safely’ program, this template set is an ideal solution. The set comprises the following:
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- Trainer and Employees Main Lists
- Trainer and Employees Attendance Tracking Sheets
- Training Metrics
- Return to Workplace Training Plan
- Reports x 6
- Training Dashboard
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: We like the simplistic yet functional feel of this template set. It’s easy to set up and fuss-free.
👉 Try This Smartsheet Template
✅ Pros:
- The dashboard features list views as well as visual charts so you can easily ‘see’ the progress of your team members on their learning pathways.
- Four uncomplicated statuses for training tasks — Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, Complete.
- Easily get real-time metrics, such as training attendance, task status and milestone completion.
❗️ Cons:
- It’s a standalone option, ideal for the singular purpose of developing a training plan and monitoring progress.
11. Training Plan & Work Plan Calendar by Miro
🏅Best for: New employee training and work planning.
Miro’s Training Plan and Work Plan Calendar is an all-in-one work and training plan tool. Although it’s designed for the full lifecycle management of a job position, it especially shines as a training tool for new employees independently starting on a project or shadowing senior executives on an existing one.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: We like how it’s purpose-built for training new employees in terms of their schedule as well as their training plan.
✅ Pros:
- The template presents a clean, and simple interface, easy for even first-time users to get to grips with.
- Easily mark office closed dates, leave dates, recurring meetings, and other important events, so you don’t miss anything important when planning work/training schedules.
- The template is designed for teamwork, so you can easily share and collaborate on the document with other team members.
❗️ Cons:
- The template may appear simplistic when compared to robust project management tools if you’re looking for something that’s geared towards bigger businesses or enterprises.
👉 Speaking of training new employees! Check out our list of top onboarding templates and guide to 23 orientation ideas designed to smoothly transition new hires to the workplace.
10. Training Plan Template for Employee Boarding by monday.com
🏅Best for: Creating effective new hire training plans.
This template is a focused plan to structure training programs for new hires. A seamless onboarding experience goes a long way toward ensuring new employees are inspired and motivated to continue to their best!
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It’s a user-friendly template that can be rinsed and repeated for new joiners to the team.
👉 Try This monday.com Template
✅ Pros:
- Messaging options for each training task, enhancing the collaborative value of the template.
- 37+ integrations to seamlessly connect the template with some of the most popular workplace tools, including Slack.
- Time-tracking feature to analyze potential training needs. If an employee is spending more than the average amount of time on a task, they may benefit from training.
❗️ Cons:
- Small businesses may want more basic tools.
👉In the market for tried-and-tested employee development programs? Don’t miss our guide to the top corporate training programs proven to enhance employee performance!
9. Employee Training Management by Notion
🏅Best for: Managing every single aspect of a formal employee training program.
This template is feature-rich. Think of it as an all-in-one platform to register attendees, schedule sessions, collect feedback, attached learning resources, and so much more.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It’s comprehensive yet lightweight.
✅ Pros:
- Easy to register employees quickly for training programs and then collect feedback via forms afterward.
- Easy to incorporate blended learning and instructor-led training within the template’s framework.
- Training programs can be organized by audience type and length, so trainees can pick the ideal program for them.
❗️ Cons:
- A basic understanding of how Notion works is a must to use this template effectively.
8. Training Department Strategic Plan Template by ClickUp
🏅Best for: Strategic training plan development ideal for the big-picture business goals.
The template is best-suited for the purpose of setting up an organizational training roadmap that aligns with key business objectives. Use the template to set up training plans department-wise and optimize resource allocation to meet training goals.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It’s user-friendly but comprehensive enough to impress stakeholders!
✅ Pros:
- Use with ClickUp’s project management features to include task dependencies, time tracking, and collaboration tools and really expand the capabilities of your planning workflows.
- Six different custom view times — progress view, Gantt view, workload view, timeline view, initiatives view, and getting started guide view, covering the most important overviews you may need to manage the plan effectively.
- Aside from assigning different types of training plans, you can use the template to determine the budget, personnel and technology required and also, set deadlines and milestones.
❗️ Cons:
- The template is most ideal for setting strategic training goal setting department-wise as opposed to individual employee training needs.
7. Training Documentation by Miro
🏅Best for: Creating structured user-centric training documentation, which can otherwise be a time-consuming and laborious process.
The Training Documentation by Miro template helps you effectively create documentation geared towards user needs by following a 5-step approach, which includes:
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- Identifying who will be trained and key stakeholders
- Shortlisting training/workshop documentation formats
- Identifying skill gaps, training objectives, and learning pathways
- Quick demos, presentations, and voting on ideas
- Recommendations report to synthesize and summarize the discussion and way forward
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It’s a great way to structure the process of ideating user-focused training documentation.
✅ Pros:
- Structured format for training analysis workshops that breaks down stages into steps.
- Breaks down multiple stakeholder training requirements in one place, so you can use this as a training needs assessment template for teams.
- Availability of a recommendations report to record the discussions pursued and chart next steps.
❗️ Cons:
- Requires intensive pre-preparation.
👉Also, check out: 13 Best Employee Workshop Templates for Teams in 2024 for ideas on how to structure workshops more effectively.
6. Training Rollout Plan by ClickUp
🏅Best for: Creating a rollout plan for your training program.
Even the best-laid training programs can encounter challenges if not rolled out in a structured and phased manner. This template helps you eliminate the guesswork and risk of not getting it right.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It’s user-friendly and covers all the critical tasks associated with a training program rollout.
✅ Pros:
- The template can help you set up a timeline and outline the steps required to set up a successful launch.
- With the template, you can reduce the time and effort spent on searching for and creating training materials.
- Custom statuses, fields, and tracking features help you stay on top of every stage of your training rollout plan.
❗️ Cons:
- Not suitable for training needs analysis or setting up training objectives. It’s wholly designed for the purpose of planning your training program rollout.
5. Learning & Development Plan by Notion
🏅Best for: Systematically identify training needs and tracking them over time, fostering a culture of continuous learning.
This template and its features is ideal for businesses serious about creating a culture of continuous employee development. You can identify skill gaps, set up learning objectives, and track progress against those objectives.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It can be applied to individual as well as company-wide training needs. It’s comprehensive yet flexible.
✅ Pros:
- Comprehensive solution for training and development programs for the entire employee lifecycle.
- Ability to set training goals and track progress for both individuals and teams.
- Inbuilt scheduling feature to organize phased training rollouts.
❗️ Cons:
- Paid plan template available for a (nominal) cost of $3.99.
4. Employee Training Plan by Smartsheet
🏅Best for: Fillable PDF-style training plans for individual employees.
This employee training plan is a downloadable and fillable PDF document where you can record training activities in the form of 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day plans.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It’s simple and easy to deploy, perfect for small businesses.
👉 Try This Smartsheet Template
✅ Pros:
- Training plan with ample space to record notes and commentary on an individual basis.
- Organized as a fillable excel sheet, so it’s easy to read and make sense of.
- Ideal for one-month, two-month, and three-month training periods.
❗️ Cons:
- Lack of collaboration features and tracking mechanisms.
3. Employee Growth Plan by Miro
🏅Best for: Collaborative growth plans which encourage employee self-reflection.
The template encourages employees to introspect and identify where they could do with additional skill-building. It helps employees translate unmet training needs into actionable goals. Last but not least, it enables tracking to measure progress and goal achievement.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: We like how the template places the employee at the front and center of training programs without sacrificing synergy with business goals.
✅ Pros:
- Puts the employee in the driving seat in terms of career progression within an organization.
- Sections for analyzing strengths and weaknesses.
- Additional sections to map a progressive career path on the basis of identified training needs.
❗️ Cons:
- The template is more apt for professional goal setting on an individual level.
2. Employee Onboarding and Offboarding Template by Wrike
🏅Best for: Taking control of the unique challenges associated with onboarding and onboarding employees.
This template is a great tool purpose built for helping you bring both onboarding and offboarding processes under one roof. It is customizable and offers tracking features to monitor progress and status at any time.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It helps you incorporate training requirements required for onboarding new employees as well as educating offboarding employees.
✅ Pros:
- Easily create new onboarding and offboarding employee requests to set the necessary processes in motion.
- Customizable fields to suit different update types.
- The template and workflows can be customized to suit your business needs.
❗️ Cons:
- May appear complex for small teams.
1. Training Framework by ClickUp
🏅Best for: Beginner-friendly template to organize and implement effective training programs.
This template is a great tool if you’re new to the world of developing training plans. It takes you through the key processes of setting goals for training objectives, visualizing organizing course material, and finally tracking progress as employees learn.
❤️ Why we love this employee training plan template: It offers an intuitive interface that helps beginners get to grips with developing training plans easily.
✅ Pros:
- Helps to easily plan, manage, and implement training programs via a beginner-friendly and intuitive user-interface.
- Custom fields, statuses, and views to implement and visualize your training plan according to your needs.
- Additional project management features, including time tracking, tags, dependency warnings, and emails.
❗️ Cons:
- Experienced project managers may prefer more robust tools with an expanded feature set.
👉 Looking for more templates, software, and support strategies that can help you streamline the way you develop training programs for your valued employees? Check out these resources:
- Employee Templates that Increase Efficiency and Productivity at Your Workplace
- 23 Employee Engagement Software You Can’t Miss!
- Top 10 Training Management Software You Should Consider for Your Teams
- The Smart Guide to Setting Professional and Career Development Goals
- Strategizing Professional Growth: The Women’s Edition
- Essential Trainings for Executive Assistants
Benefits of Employee Training Plan Templates
Using employee training plan templates to enhance the professional development of your employees serves a number of important benefits, such as:
👍 Standardization of training content:
Using a template ensures that you’re providing consistent training models for teams, especially within the same competency grouping. This helps ensure equal access and opportunity for skill development within the organization.
👍 Saves time and enhances efficiency/productivity:
Templates help organizations save much of the time involved in developing plans from scratch. You can easily customize templates in next to no time, making them easy to set up and use.
👍 Easy to scale:
Templates can be used across multiple departments and functions as well as across teams. They can be used for the one individual as well as teams.
Tips on How to Use Employee Training Plan Templates
✅ Identify objectives:
Before using an employee training plan template, identify your needs. For example, are you looking for strategic planning for departments and the business as a whole or in-depth training development and implementation for individual employees. Having a clear objective helps you identify the best template for your needs, which in turn can be refined further with customization.
✅ Implement regular reviews:
It’s important to review the efficacy of new templates over time to ensure they’re really driving results and covering the non-negotiables. Ensure you incorporate stakeholder input at all levels to maximize the benefits and outcomes of the training templates.
✅ Look for integrations:
Integrations can be a game-changer for your business. Consider templates that offer integrations with existing tools, so you can easily connect multiple productivity tools. They help you save time and get more done.
Common Mistakes to Avoid with Employee Training Plan Templates
❌ Not fully leveraging customization options:
Templates are not designed to be one-size-fits all solutions. Look at templates as basic frameworks which can be adapted to fit the requirements of your department and company. Aside from addressing unmet training needs, they should also help you align training with your organizational goals and objectives.
❌ Not consulting with key stakeholders:
Ensure you take on feedback from both senior stakeholders as well as employees before creating your first training plan iteration. Aside from being a sounding board, they can also help ensure you don’t miss out on critical aspects that are relevant to creating an effective training plan.
❌ Not reviewing template effectiveness:
Review the efficacy of templates once implemented to ensure they’re delivering on outcomes. Take on feedback from managers as well as employees. Identify drawbacks, if any, and use these to refine the templates further for future training plans.
People Also Ask These Questions About Employee Training Plan Templates
Q: What is an employee training plan template?
- A: An employee training plan template is a structured framework or blueprint that guides you through the process of creating an effective training plan or program in a step-by-step manner. The right template can help you streamline the way you create training plans, so you’re saving time, yet getting the desired outcomes in an organized and consistent manner.
Q: What elements are typically included in an employee training plan template?
- A: A typical employee training plan template usually includes several key elements, although these can vary between organizations. It often starts with identifying and reporting information, which includes the job position and reporting structure, along with space for employee identifying information. A training needs analysis (TNA) is also essential to determine what training is necessary. Learning objectives outline the goals of the training, while evaluation criteria set the standards for measuring success. The training curriculum details the content to be covered. Additionally, the plan lists the training resources needed, such as people, tools, and technology. Timelines and milestones help track progress, and there is typically space for notes and other commentary.
Q: Can an employee training plan be customized?
- A: It depends on whether you’re using customizable versions of employee training plans. The templates that we’ve shared in this article cover different case scenarios and offer customization, so you can make them fit perfectly for your departmental needs.
