How to Launch a Training Program
(Update - Wow, this has been one of our most successful blog posts of all time. Thank you! I’d love to learn more about your needs and how we can better serve you when it comes to your employee training launch. Please feel free to leave comments below on what kind of support or tools you’d like to see for your launch).
The training launch is probably the most overlooked component of the employee training process. You spend all that effort, time and money making sure you are training on the right thing (meeting your users' needs) and that the content is accurate and engaging. Don’t let it all be for nothing! Launch the initiative with some fanfare, create a bit of a buzz, get your team excited about it. You probably wouldn’t dream of introducing a new product to your customers without some kind of launch. Think about your employees as internal customers and create a launch strategy that appeals to their needs.
This doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. A launch can be as basic as a few emails, or much more elaborate, depending on your budget.
Ideally, you’ve done some foundational work to get employee buy-in before starting any sort of training development. That’ll make the launch go more smoothly.
Before going into possible launch strategies, I want to be very clear that you shouldn’t rush your launch. I’ve seen examples where clients insisted upon launching training before it was ready (or in some cases, before the training was fully developed). The result? Employees didn’t get the same “wow” effect that they would have gotten a week or two later (when there were no broken links!), and were much less enthusiastic about completing the training program (which, as you’d expect, ends in reduced ROI for the company).
So, how do you get the word out?
Email communication is great. Create some kind of hook to get your learner interested. Why should your learner care about the training? What frustration is the training solving?
As I’ve talked about before, it’s important to get your managers on side first, otherwise you can’t expect them to “sell” the training to employees. Once they are supportive of the initiative, ask them to discuss it with their team members. You could even go one step further and give managers key messages to share with their teams.
Printed announcements/posters throughout the office can be effective. Balloons communicate something exciting is happening too. Maybe even spring for a team lunch to celebrate the launch of the training.
Use your internal intranet site to showcase a story about the training. Try to make this personal, like maybe about how the training will help Employee A do her job better. Make it resonate with your audience.
If a group of employees has been a pilot/test group for the training, ask them to share feedback with colleagues and build momentum. If their feedback was less than positive, go back and refine the training.
Make sure senior leaders are continuously talking about the training, the benefits, and why it’s important. You can’t expect your employees to take your training seriously if your senior leaders don’t.
Consider offering prizes for training completion, or high scores.
Leverage your internal communications team for company- or industry-specific ideas to support your launch.
If you would like to discuss the development of a training program, and its launch, reach out!
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We’re Erin and Peter, a husband and wife team passionate about making your organization successful through employee training and engagement. Join us as we explore new opportunities to improve your workplace.