Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Effective Training Materials

Before creating new content, consider conducting a skills gap analysis to identify opportunities sure-up gaps in skills and training. 

If you already have a clear idea of how to solve for a training problem, make sure you spend time planning your content using a framework that gives you the highest chance of effectiveness.

Why? Effective training content reduces the time and resources needed to bring new employees up to speed, leading to quicker productivity and minimizing the costs associated with prolonged learning curves.

Comprehensive onboarding programs play a pivotal role in employee retention. New hires are like any learners. Robust onboarding materials are also essential for regulatory compliance. In many industries, adhering to strict guidelines and standards is mandatory. So, engaging, well-structured training materials are more likely to make them feel valued and supported.

This fosters a sense of loyalty and reduces turnover rates, which not only saves on recruitment costs but also builds a more stable and experienced workforce for all.

Let's dive into the step-by-step process of creating effective training materials.

Step 1. Identify Learners’ Skills Gaps

The first step is to pinpoint the divide between your current onboarding training materials and the competencies you expect from new employees. For example:

• Technology Sector: Employee training manuals and other learning materials have not been revised to incorporate a newly adopted programming language.

• Healthcare Sector: Staff require learning experience that streamlines compliance training on the latest patient care protocols.

• Retail Sector: Training plans are limited by outdated multimedia and handouts.

Step 2. Define Learning Objectives

Clearly define employee training goals. Learning objectives should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Example:

• Technology Sector: "By the end of this self-paced training course, new hires will have the competency to write, debug, and optimize code using Python."

• Healthcare Sector: "Through instructor-led training and tutorials, nurses will be able to implement new patient care protocols effectively."

• Retail Sector: Microlearning-based instructional design will allow team members to take online courses and complete training sessions with minimal downtime.

Step 3. Design the Training Content

When it comes to authoring the actual training materials, it’s important to remember that learners have a wide range of individual training needs and learning styles. Some will respond better to infographics, engaging videos, and experiential interactives than traditional delivery methods like presentations, handouts, and checklists.

Choose the Right Formats

• Videos: Ideal for demonstrating procedures, explaining concepts, and providing visual examples.

• Interactive Modules: Great for engaging learners through quizzes, simulations, and scenarios.

Develop a Detailed Outline: Create a structured outline that includes all necessary topics and addresses any core competencies. Make checklists to keep track of your training objectives as you go.

Example:

• Technology Sector Modules:

  • Introduction to Python: Basic Syntax and Data Structures

  • Control Flow Statements, Functions, and Modules

  • Error Handling

  • Project: Building a Simple Application Template

• Healthcare Sector Modules:

  • Protocol Overview for New Hires

  • Regulatory Compliance Training Videos

  • Case Studies and Visual Aids

  • Hands-on Practice

  • Assessment and Feedback

• Retail Sector Modules:

  • Fundamentals of Customer Service

  • Handling Difficult Customers

  • Effective Communication Techniques

  • Role-Playing Simulations

  • Customer Service Assessment

Step 4. Multimedia Content Creation

Videos

• Script Writing: Write clear and concise scripts for each video. For more complex topics, subject matter experts can help streamline any type of training material development.

• Production: Use professional or high-quality DIY video production tools. Ensure good lighting, sound, and editing. (Need production support? Partner with a trusted corporate training company.)

• Examples:

  • Technology Sector: Record a screen capture video showing how to write and execute Python code.

  • Healthcare Sector: Create powerpoint presentations and other interactive demonstrations of the new patient care protocol in a real or simulated clinical environment.

  • Retail Sector: Film role-playing scenarios that show how to handle different customer interactions.

Interactive Training Modules

• Tools: Use eLearning authoring tools such as Articulate Storyline, Adobe Captivate, or H5P to create interactive content. (Need an expert partner to add capacity or capability to your team? Review interactive learning work that gets results and saves you time).

• Design: Include interactive elements like drag-and-drop activities, quizzes, and simulations.

• Examples:

  • Technology Sector: Develop exercises where learners write and test their code within the module.

  • Healthcare Sector: Create branching scenarios where nurses make decisions based on patient symptoms and are given targeted training resources for improvement.

  • Retail Sector: Design a customer service simulation where employees practice authoring responses to scenarios that are then graded automatically.

AI-Enhanced Training

• Adding AI-enhanced training to any interactive module immediately increases the quality and realism of training scenarios. Learn why companies are embracing AI-enhanced training to scale personalized feedback.

Step 5. Implement the Training

With your training program fully planned, it’s important to set yourself and your learners up for the most successful learning experience possible. Corporate training can utilize some of the same elearning strategies that work for the education sector.

Choose a Delivery Method

• Learning Management System (LMS): Upload the training content to an LMS for easy access, tracking, and reporting.

• Blended Learning: Combine online courses with in-person workshops or coaching sessions.

Communicate and Launch

• Communication Plan: Inform employees about your new online training program through emails, meetings, and tutorial demonstrations.

• Launch: Make the training materials easily accessible and provide support for any technical issues.

Step 6. Monitor and Evaluate

After getting a training program off the ground, it’s vital to measure the impact the training content is having.

Track Progress

• LMS Analytics: Use LMS data to track completion rates, quiz scores, and engagement metrics.

• Feedback: Collect feedback from participants on the training content and delivery.

Evaluate Impact

• Assessments: Conduct pre-and post-training assessments to measure knowledge and skill improvements. Having measurable data about your learning outcomes can help you build out infographics to more easily visualize effective employee training.

• Performance Metrics: Analyze performance data to see how the training has impacted job performance.

Step 7. Iterate Based on Employee Performance

Experiment

• Use Different Formats and Types of Training and more delivery methods to accommodate a wider range of learning styles

Communicate

• Keep all stakeholders impacted by the training program invested and involved in the success of learning outcomes

Create Effective Training Materials with NextThought

Don’t have the capability or capacity to create new training initiatives? An expert content partner, like NextThought, can quickly and affordably create volumes of videos, interactives, animations, and other content. Effectively, NextThought enhances your team, so your new hires and existing employees develop the right skills that hit your business goals.