Vocational training is on the rise. It is estimated that more than 240 million euros are spent every year worldwide, or 1,175 euros per employee per year. It allows the maintenance of employment and the development of skills, whether through a solution ofelearning or in person within the company. Employee satisfaction and the sustainability of the company can only be strengthened. As a reminder, The skills development plan is a tool through which the employer defines the skills development actions that it plans to implement for the benefit of its employees. What are the steps to build a skills development plan?
Step 1: Know the needs of employees to establish your skills development plan
First of all, you must first know the needs of employees. Without this step, it will be difficult to satisfy your employees and boost their productivity.. The collection of needs must be a double top-down and bottom-up approach, in order to reconcile the needs of employees and the objectives of the company, and create the most appropriate development plan.
Once the collection period is over, solutions adapted to different needs must be found. It is also necessary to think about the progress of trainings : in a group, face-to-face or remotely?
What actions should be put in place to make a development plan?
- Undertake a needs assessment with a top-down and bottom-up approach
- Find solutions adapted to needs and think about the course of training
Step 2: Have a rigorous method for defining training actions
Determining training actions represents time and cost; rigor is key. If the company has more than 50 employees, the development plan must be presented to the works council or to the staff representatives. The CSE must be consulted for companies with at least 11 employees. The elected officials will be part of the process of developing the competency plan through meetings in order to collect their proposals:
- Companies with at least 300 employees are subject to triennial negotiations on the management of jobs and career paths will have to address the objectives of the skills development plan (Article L. 2242-20 of the Labor Code).
- Companies with at least 50 employees are subject to the annual consultation of the CSE on the strategic directions of the company. This concerns the orientations of vocational training, the skills development plan will have to be addressed (Article L. 2312-24 of the Labor Code).
What actions should be put in place?
- Consult the right people according to the number of employees in the company
- Pay attention to all legislation in terms of skills development
Step 3: Define priorities and budget to build an optimal development plan
The needs collected cannot be fully integrated into the skills development plan. It is important to ask yourself the right questions in order to define training priorities:
- Who needs training the most?
- What are the strategic priorities?
- What are the most important skills needs?
- What budget does the company have for training? What return on investment objectives should you define?
Management decides on the allocated budget and the priorities of the training plan. Training comes at a cost and drawing up the plan can take a long time. However, it is a long-term investment that will bring a lot to the company if it is carefully carried out.
What actions should be put in place?
- Define priorities by asking the right questions
- Define the allocated budget
Step 4: Inform employees and implement the training actions of the plan
After collecting the needs, finding the solutions to reconcile employees and business objectives and defining the priorities and the budget, it is time to communicate the skills development plan to employees. This can be implemented later.
It is important that the skills development plan remains flexible.. Training priorities may change: hiring a new employee or new standards.
What actions should be put in place?
- Informing employees
- Implement the plan
- Maintain flexibility in the implementation of the plan
Step 5: Verify the impact of the skills development plan
As with all training courses, it is essential to look at the future. For a skills development plan, the objective is the acquisition of skills considered useful or necessary. To assess the effectiveness of the plan, you need to ask yourself whether:
- Are the new skills acquired?
- Has productivity increased?
- Is there an improvement in the products or services offered?
It is time to adjust the system if the expected results do not live up to expectations.
What action to put in place?
- Verify the effectiveness of the skills development plan
Training plan: What to remember from this article
It is important to:
- Adapt to the needs of employees while reconciling the company's objectives to ensure its sustainability
- Pay attention to the legislation according to the number of employees
- Define a budget and priorities
- Informing employees about the development plan
- Verify the impact after it has been implemented
