Managing training requests efficiently is often far down the list of learning and development priorities. But taking control of the training request process can yield hugely beneficial results in terms of your team’s capacity, productivity, and alignment with organizational performance.
To save valuable time for your training team and to make sure you’re prioritizing high impact requests, a training request process flow chart ensures you create a process that works for you and for your business partners.
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What is a training request process?
A training intake process is the method by which requests for training are submitted to learning and development representatives for consideration. The L&D team then assesses the viability of moving the request forward into course development.
Whether or not a training request is moved forward into new course development depends on many factors including but not limited to:
- Current capacity of the training team for new initiatives
- Available resources (including budget)
- Organizational impact of the requested training
- Whether the training is mandated by a regulatory body (compliance training)
- Whether training is the correct solution to the performance issue
Training Intake Process Challenges
Many L&D teams are trying to manage training requests with a set of disparate tools and technology that are not purpose built. It makes workflows difficult to create, manage, and monitor, even for a low volume of training requests.
The lack of a training request process results in two main challenges:
- Your team is overwhelmed with training requests coming in through multiple, and often informal, channels
- You receive hardly any training requests, meaning the organization is not engaged with your service offering
Too many requests
Too many requests isn’t necessarily a problem. It shows that your business partners are highly engaged with L&D as a strategic partner to solve performance issues and drive results.
But, as you know, not all training requests are created equal. With a high volume comes a lot of irrelevant or erroneous requests for training that will not solve the problem. Without a training request process, it becomes extremely challenging to sift through requests and create a workflow to prioritize the most important ones.
Not enough requests
Receiving a low level of training requests is a comfortable place to be in many ways. You know what’s coming down the pipeline and your workload may feel a little more manageable and predictable.
But receiving a low volume of requests can also mean that L&D is missing out on a vital opportunity to align themselves with what’s really going on in the business. How many performance issues are occurring that L&D could help to overcome if only they knew about them?
Creating and promoting a training intake program in your organization can provide an opportunity to engage the rest of the organization with what L&D has to offer. When you’re in the thick of things, you get the opportunity to cement your team’s strategic influence and recognition in the wider organization.
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Training Request Process Flow Chart
So what should that process look like? First things first, you need a centralized place to receive those training requests. Your business partners will also need a consistent format so they can provide all the information you’ll need to make a decision.
Try this ready-made downloadable training request form to get started.
Next, you need to establish a standardized process for assessing and prioritizing each training request to ensure your attention is focused on business-critical training opportunities.
Here is a training request process flow chart that you can use to create your training intake workflow for maximum efficiency and impact:
The takeaway
Even if you already have a training request form available for your business partners or employees, how you manage those requests is what can make or break an effective intake workflow. With a process flow chart to work with, your workflow will be clearly defined and easily used by others on the team. Consistency is the key to efficient processes and training intake is no exception.
