ommunication. How will these offerings be made known to employees throughout the company? In this area, using a combination of both “push” and “pull” methods can be very effective. For example, e-mail notifications can be pushed out to let employees know of courses that will be offered in the future. In addition, companiThings may be looking up on the economic horizon, but organizations are still watching their budgets. For many of these companies, high employee turnover is an issue for the HR department, not the finance team.

Before an organization implements an employee training program, several considerations must be made. First, companies need to understand the goals for the training program and then outline how the program might achieve those goals.

Support from executive staff is also a critical concern, and is only achieved if key leaders are involved from the outset. Executive teams can help select training areas that they consider most important for managers, while managers can do the same for their team members.

Organizations should also evaluate the merits of providing rewards and recognition for course completion. Some organizations offer annual management excellence certifications to individuals who complete several hours—in some cases, up to 60—of specific management courses. Certification demonstrates the managers’ active commitment and efforts toward improving skills that will help them become better managers and in turn, foster a more positive work environment.

Another important factor to be considered when implementing a training program is communication. How will these offerings be made known to employees throughout the company? In this area, using a combination of both “push” and “pull” methods can be very effective. For example, e-mail notifications can be pushed out to let employees know of courses that will be offered in the future. In addition, compani

t, companies need to understand the goals for the training program and then outline how the program might achieve those goals.

Support from executive staff is also a critical concern, and is only achieved if key leaders are involved from the outset. Executive teams can help select training areas that they consider most important for managers, while managers can do the same for their team members.

Organizations should also evaluate the merits of providing rewards and recognition for course completion. Some organizations offer annual management excellence certifications to individuals who complete several hours—in some cases, up to 60—of specific management courses. Certification demonstrates the managers’ active commitment and efforts toward improving skills that will help them become better managers and in turn, foster a more positive work environment.

Another important factor to be considered when implementing a training program is communication. How will these offerings be made known to employees throughout the company? In this area, using a combination of both “push” and “pull” methods can be very effective. For example, e-mail notifications can be pushed out to let employees know of courses that will be offered in the future. In addition, compani

most important for managers, while managers can do the same for their team members.

Organizations should also evaluate the merits of providing rewards and recognition for course completion. Some organizations offer annual management excellence certifications to individuals who complete several hours—in some cases, up to 60—of specific management courses. Certification demonstrates the managers’ active commitment and efforts toward improving skills that will help them become better managers and in turn, foster a more positive work environment.

Another important factor to be considered when implementing a training program is communication. How will these offerings be made known to employees throughout the company? In this area, using a combination of both “push” and “pull” methods can be very effective. For example, e-mail notifications can be pushed out to let employees know of courses that will be offered in the future. In addition, compani

up to 60—of specific management courses. Certification demonstrates the managers’ active commitment and efforts toward improving skills that will help them become better managers and in turn, foster a more positive work environment.

Another important factor to be considered when implementing a training program is communication. How will these offerings be made known to employees throughout the company? In this area, using a combination of both “push” and “pull” methods can be very effective. For example, e-mail notifications can be pushed out to let employees know of courses that will be offered in the future. In addition, compani

ommunication. How will these offerings be made known to employees throughout the company? In this area, using a combination of both “push” and “pull” methods can be very effective. For example, e-mail notifications can be pushed out to let employees know of courses that will be offered in the future. In addition, companies can post upcoming course information on a company Web page to enable individuals to pull relevant training data by region, course, topic or date.

Finally, training experts agree that the best advice when considering a training program to start small, with just one or two priority courses. Then, as demand for more courses grows based on the success of previous offerings, organizations can slowly expand their curriculum to meet employees’ needs while staying within budget.