Learning and development professionals don’t create courses in a vacuum. They scope their work based on the needs of their learners, and oftentimes, those needs enter the L&D department in the form of a request for training.
However, as organizations grow more complex, matrixed, and, obviously, remote, the L&D team needs a way to streamline the process for receiving these requests. Without a system in place, requests can enter the department haphazardly: via email or Slack/Teams, missing critical information along the way.
To address these pain points, learning leaders can look to a training request form template to help guide them when creating or modifying an existing system.
What is a training request form template?
A training request form template provides L&D management and team members with a way to standardize the way they receive requests for training from the business.
The training request form is essential to the organization’s training intake process. They need to be properly designed with the right questions presented to the requester. In this way, the responses you receive can do most of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to deciding the importance, relevance, and feasibility of moving forward with course development.
Your training request form should ask requesters to outline:
- Who is the intended audience of the training?
- What organizational training need is prompting the request?
- How will the success of the training be measured?
- What are the anticipated business outcomes of the training?
While it might be difficult for the requester to know all of this at once, the goal of the training request form should be to receive sufficient information to consider seeking a consultation with the business partner and to make that consultation productive.
The easiest and most efficient way to process a training request is through a centralized intake portal. That way, no requests slip through the cracks and everyone is on the same page. Cognota’s learning operations software includes a training intake portal for requesters and a centralized intake system for L&D. You can check it out by getting started for free or speaking with our sales team.
Why use an employee training request form template?
Templates built by other organizations can serve as a good starting point for L&D professionals who need to build their own in-house.
There is a lot of information that can be gathered. You don’t want the form to be too thin, because the information would not be sufficient for the L&D team to consider building a course; you also don’t want the form to be too long or complex, because that could turn requesters away, or overwhelm the L&D team with needless information.
Leaning on a sample training request form template that may have worked for other companies can set your team up for success. We’ve collected 14 training request form templates to help you get started.
14 free training request form templates to download now
1. Free training request form template from Cognota
Set your team up for success by capturing all the necessary information from the requester. In the process, you will be able to prioritize training requests while also starting the analysis phase should a course move to the development stage.
This template will enable you and your team to:
- Capture all the information you need without reinventing the wheel
- Save time and frustration by removing the need to go back and forth with the requester
- Choose between a Word document or a fillable PDF for increased flexibility
- Customize the template to fit the various types of requests you get
2. Training request form template from Training Industry
One of the better examples of training request forms comes from the knowledge portal Training Industry. When performing a search for a training request form template, Word documents often result, such as this one.
The Word document includes 20 questions that requesters can answer, delivering the critical information your team needs to determine whether to proceed with the development of a course.
3. Training course request form template from Jotform
In its template library, forms builder Jotform provides an online training request form submitted by a community member. It’s quite popular, as it’s been cloned 268 times. This is completely online and is not a Word or PDF document.
4. Training request collection from Paperform
This template from Paperform is not free, but Paperform does offer a free trial, during which you can download this and give it a trial run. Paperform forms can be integrated with hundreds of third-party tools, like Google Sheets, HR systems, and even internal databases.
5. Online training request form from forms.app
This online form from forms.app has a free version that includes 10 forms, 150 form responses per month, and 1,000 responses in storage, among other features. There are also mobile apps and integration with HubSpot, Slack, Trello, and other platforms.
6. PDF training request forms from template.net
This bundle from template.net includes 14 templates all in PDF format. All are downloadable in ZIP format.
7. Training request form templates in Word, Excel and PDF from SampleForms
Similar to template.net, SampleForms also lists several training request forms. However, aside from just PDF, some are also in Word and Excel.
8. Sample training request forms from SampleTemplates
SampleTemplates offers a dozen templates in several formats. Not all of these templates are for a business partner to request that a training course be developed by L&D; some are for a request for funding or technical assistance, as the business might already be developing their own learning experiences and only partial help from L&D.
9. Training request form managers can use from 123 Form Builder
To use this training request form template from 123 Form Builder, you will need to sign up for a free trial or use the free version, which allows for 100 submissions.
10. Low-cost training request template from Bizmanualz
Though not free, the low cost of $1.95 USD of this template suggested to us that it should still be included in our list. The template is available in Word format.
11. Training request in legal format from US Legal Forms
Less a template asking for critical information to build a course and more of a consent or approval form, the content included in this simple form might be helpful for your approval process.
12. Incoming requests and approvals template from Wrike
Collaboration software provider Wrike has provided this free incoming requests and approvals template. Though not specifically for training requests, it can certainly be applied successfully. You will need to create a free account with Wrike in order to download the template.
13. Employee training request form from Formplus
To use this template from Formplus, you will need to create a free account with Formplus. It’s a bit light, and is used more for an employee wishing to ask a supervisor to undergo an existing training course, than for a requester to ask L&D to build a course from scratch.
14. Professional development request form from Facilitated Training
This training request form doc is a PDF that you will need to download, print, or upload to a shared drive. It was developed by Facilitated Training, a provider of training courseware.
Speed up training request turnaround times with Cognota
Training requests need to be given the proper attention they deserve. Without the right solution in place, even the most organized L&D team can miss important requests, or have no way to properly track and understand the volume of requests that flow through their department.
With Cognota, you can unify and organize training requests with ease. Say goodbye to random emails or instant messenger chats that lack the critical information you and your team need. Cognota enables you to set up a training intake system to standardize intake forms and receive training requests in one spot. Learn more by getting started for free or speaking with sales.
