In recent years, employers have recognised the significance of creating effective employee training programmes. These programmes ensure that employees know their responsibilities and have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their job duties efficiently. 

Training materials are a fundamental part of a successful employee training programme. They provide valuable information during new hire onboarding, offer ongoing employee support and help departments function smoothly without key staff.

In the past, businesses generally conducted employee workplace training in a classroom led by an instructor. However, modern learning and development (L&D) teams have discovered more personalised ways to deliver employee training that better suits the needs of individual employees and improves their performance. 

It is essential to consider the type of format when creating employee training materials. Some training materials may be more effective for different individual learning styles and business goals than others. Here are some types of training materials to consider:

Video training is an effective and cost-efficient way to engage employees and provide them with a sophisticated learning experience. Training videos provide employees with easy-to-understand information that they can review at any time.

Training videos can be used to introduce new concepts, demonstrate procedures and showcase best practices. Webinars are similar to video tutorials but with one important distinction: they are typically conducted live, allowing for greater interactivity. Additionally, webinars can be easily integrated into online courses, allowing learners to learn at their own pace. 

Learn how you can incorporate online quizzes and polls into your training webinars.

Self-paced learning modules are independent study materials that employees can access at their own pace. This flexibility benefits individuals with different learning styles or who prefer to learn independently.

In addition to flexibility, self-paced learning modules offer the convenience of being accessible from anywhere at any time. This makes them an excellent option for a remote workforce. They allow employees to access training materials when they are most motivated and engaged in learning, promoting a more effective and personalised learning experience.

Handouts are an excellent solution for communicating information quickly and effectively to your employees. These written documents can be distributed to your team, allowing them to read and review the information at their own pace.  

A training manual is a small handbook that includes instructions to improve the quality of a process, task or job. These manuals are perfect for training new employees, providing them with the necessary guidance and support prior to their onboarding.

An online course is training material covering a specific topic that allows individuals to learn at their own pace by means of various complementary multimedia-rich resources. These materials may include slides with text, interactions or multimedia to enhance the learning experience.

You can use online courses to onboard new employees who require the basics, delve deeper into specific subjects or industry-related skill sets, deliver compliance training or be part of a continuous training programme. Additionally, if you have existing materials (such as PDFs, presentations or job aids), you can incorporate them into your online course.

You can enhance engagement throughout your course by incorporating surveys, polls and quizzes to evaluate knowledge. To ensure a seamless experience, you can integrate these features with popular collaboration tools such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. 

Related: To improve online learning, try testing with quizzes

Simulations and role-plays are handy learning techniques that immerse trainees in practical scenarios, allowing them to gain valuable hands-on experience. These simulations can help learners build confidence and skills without risking any negative impact on their relationships with clients.

Simulations are ideal for training in sales, customer service, negotiations or any other client-facing interactions that require one-on-one engagement. Additionally, they are highly effective when teaching technical skills, problem-solving and decision-making abilities.

Oral presentations are an excellent way to deliver training materials to groups of people. They can be tailored to the audience, creating an engaging and interactive learning experience while conveying large amounts of information relatively quickly. This is especially helpful when the training material covers a lot of ground and needs to be communicated efficiently.

Additionally, you can enrich presentations with visual aids such as diagrams, charts and videos, which can help reinforce key points and improve retention.

When it comes to creating effective training materials, there are a few best practices to bear in mind:

Instead of starting from scratch, you can save time and effort by revising existing materials and presenting them in new ways. 

When selecting existing materials, you should evaluate their quality and relevance. Ensure that the materials are up to date, accurate and interesting to your target audience. If they’re outdated or unengaging, you may need to update them or add some new elements to make them more compelling.

A training needs assessment ​​is a method of determining which type of training employees will need in order to function effectively in their roles. Training needs assessments help identify learning obstacles or gaps that employees face, highlighting important training needs.

It’s a good idea to conduct a training needs assessment before putting together your training programme to make sure you develop effective training materials and optimise your time and resources. You can conduct a training needs assessment via employee interviews, observation or surveys. When using a survey, ask employees for feedback about your current training programmes, any training gaps they’re experiencing and which types of training they’d like to see. 

Related: Find the best ways to share surveys with your team 

Learning objectives play a central role in the design of a training course. These objectives define what a learner can learn, understand or be able to do as a result of participating in a training programme. By outlining these objectives, you can guide your content creation process and help learners track their progress. 

To create practical learning objectives, consider the following questions:

Selecting the best type and timeframe for your training materials will depend on the learning objectives you’ve outlined for your training programme. 

The timing of sending out training materials depends on the specific context of the training programme. For example, the training materials should be sent out before the employee’s start date if it’s a new hire onboarding. 

For ongoing training or compliance training, the materials should be sent out regularly to ensure that employees receive the necessary updates and information. It’s also important to consider the timing of training materials in relation to upcoming projects or events that may require specific skills or knowledge. 

Once you have finalised your plan and design, the next step is to develop your training materials. This includes crafting written content, creating compelling images and recording and scripting videos. 

Training software tools allow you to create engaging training modules, ensure compliance and security, track employee engagement with the material, analyse performance and gather feedback. Here are some valuable tools that you can use to streamline your efforts:

Once you have developed your training materials, it’s crucial to conduct a thorough review and make the necessary revisions to ensure that the content is accurate, comprehensive and sufficient. This review process plays a significant role in ensuring that the materials meet the learning objectives and are effective.

To test the training materials effectively, it is recommended that you conduct a pilot test on a small group of learners. The feedback received from the learners can help to identify areas that need improvement. During the pilot test, you can observe the learners’ responses to the materials and their level of understanding.

You can also seek input from other experienced instructors and team leaders to identify areas for improvement via surveys. They can provide valuable feedback about the training materials’ content, structure and presentation. Their input can help you ensure that the materials are engaging, relevant and meet the needs of the learners.

Once you have received feedback from the learners and other instructors, you can use it to revise the training materials accordingly. It’s crucial to make the necessary changes and improvements to ensure that the materials are effective and meet the learning objectives. After the revisions have been made, you can conduct another review to ensure that the final version of the training materials is accurate and complete. 

Creating effective training materials is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure that your training goals are met. 

One way to measure the effectiveness of your training materials is to gather employee feedback. You can use post-training course evaluation surveys to obtain your employees’ opinions and suggestions regarding your training materials. You should also incorporate feedback mechanisms during the training course to allow learners to provide valuable feedback about what they found useful or distracting throughout the training process.

Another way to evaluate your training materials is through post-training assessments or observation. You can use assessments to measure your learners’ knowledge gained from the training material. During observation periods, you should monitor your learners and see whether they apply what they have learned to their day-to-day work.

You can also assess whether the training results match the learning objectives you set in the first step, such as increased revenue, decreased costs or improved employee productivity. Adjust the training materials accordingly if the results do not match the objectives.

Developing effective training materials is crucial for the success of any training programme. By following the process above, organisations can improve their training effectiveness and make more informed decisions that enhance employee training programmes. 

Learn how SurveyMonkey can help you build better employee onboarding and training programmes with surveys.