Employee training is a critical component of a productive, inclusive, and efficient workforce. Whether you’re building a training program from the ground up or refining your current approach, knowing which topics to cover is a crucial first step. In this post, we’ll explore essential training topics as a foundation for an effective, adaptable program, ready to be tailored to methods and topics based on your employees’ needs.

Note: In some cases, employers are required by law to provide training on certain topics such as sexual harassment and discrimination prevention. Specific state and locality training requirements aren’t covered here.

Where to Start

Effective training requires thorough planning and preparation. Employers need to consider the specific needs of their company to establish both training goals and strategies as the foundation for their training program. Elements of effective programs include:

• Instructors who are qualified to present the material.
• Sessions that are tailored to the specific topic and audience.
• Organization and presentation of materials that captures the information clearly.
• Use of effective and engaging teaching methods, like examples, handouts, downloadable materials, videos, short quizzes, and participation.

Employers also need to consider how they want to achieve specific training goals. For example, can the training be presented in an engaging 15-minute video? Or is more in-depth training over several hours or multiple sessions needed?

Training can involve any combination of live classroom presentations, self-paced videos, presenter-led live or online sessions, or printed material. Regardless of the format, employers should make sure they have a way to effectively capture who completed the training sessions and the curriculum material that was used, especially for required training. Documentation verifying an employee was trained on a particular topic is a valuable tool in performance management, risk mitigation, and compliance.

Common Training Topics

Every employer’s training needs are different and may be based on several factors, including the company’s size, location, industry, or organizational structure. The following training topics are those most considered.

New Hire Orientation

New hire orientation sets the tone for an employee’s career with an employer and is an excellent time to introduce the organization’s culture, values, policies, and goals, as well as express expectations.
You may want to cover the following in your employee new hire orientation program:

• Company history, philosophy, and an overview of the company’s purpose
• Organizational charts.
• Benefits package, including health insurance, leave entitlements, PTO, etc.
• Performance review process.
• Compensation procedures, including pay periods, direct deposit information, and submission of hours or time sheets.
• Career development information, such as an overview of career ladders and training or learning opportunities.
• Key points in the employee handbook, policies, and procedures.
• Information on confidentiality and security.
• How and where to obtain needed work items, such as an identification badge, office supplies, and a parking pass.
• A tour of the workplace and an introduction to the team.
• Technical and job-specific training.

Workplace Safety

Workplace safety training aims to reduce workplace accidents and associated costs, such as loss of productivity and turnover. Safety training programs also help employees feel safe and supported in the workplace and keep organizations in compliance with federal and state occupational safety and health mandates. Safety training typically includes an overview of important safety policies and procedures, how to recognize and respond to potential workplace violence situations, and procedures for dealing with emergencies, disasters, and extreme weather events. Workplace safety training should also highlight safety-related reporting plans and procedures.

Harassment Prevention

Companies should provide a workplace free from harassment. Regardless of whether training is provided, employers need to:

• Develop a policy prohibiting harassment on the basis of protected characteristics.
• Broadly distribute and communicate the policy to the entire workforce.
• Educate the entire workforce regarding the policy.

Simply distributing a copy of your harassment policy to employees doesn’t mean that they understand the policy or know how to comply with the procedures. Education should happen at the employee and supervisor level so that everyone understands the policies and procedures—both how to report harassment and how to respond to such a report.

Harassment prevention training should:

• Focus on review of the company policy, including complaint procedures.
• Provide a description and clear examples of harassing behavior.
• Emphasize that employees have the responsibility to use the outlined complaint. procedures if they feel uncomfortable or offended.
• When responding to inappropriate behavior, explain that direct confrontation of the perpetrator is an option but not a requirement, and offer strategies.
• Stress the non-retaliation portion of the policy.
• Discuss forms of corrective actions and steps that may be taken to remedy claims of harassment.

We recommend providing harassment prevention training at least every other year, unless required more frequently by state or local law. Note that a number of states have specific training requirements and specify exactly what needs to be included, how often training must be provided, and whether managers need additional training.

Note: Mineral users can view state law pages, toolkits, forms, letters, and other useful tools to support their workforce on the Mineral Platform.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging

Many companies provide training on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. This can help emphasize their commitment to building a workforce of people from varied racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, social, and political backgrounds. Supervisor-specific training might focus on how to effectively motivate a diverse workforce to cooperate and collaborate. It might also focus on informing supervisors of their obligations under anti-discrimination laws, and their obligation to provide disability and religious accommodations.

Hiring and Promoting

Anyone involved in interviewing applicants should be trained on the following:
• Asking questions aimed at assessing the applicant’s knowledge, skills, and abilities.
• Asking questions to gauge the applicant’s interpersonal and teamwork skills.
• Avoiding questions that elicit information about an applicant’s inclusion in protected classes and how to deal with disclosure of that information should happen.
• Recognizing conscious and unconscious bias.

Professional Development

Companies that support their employees’ professional development foster increased employee engagement, higher retention rates, improved performance, and enhanced company culture, among other benefits. Professional development courses or programs build and enhance employees’ skills, prepare them for advanced roles or new opportunities, and can provide a competitive edge or additional knowledge.
Professional development can take a variety of forms, from online employer-provided courses or programs, to support employee certifications, to tuition reimbursement programs.

Takeaways

Ultimately, an effective training program shows an investment in your workforce. It can boost productivity and show your employees that they’re valued, as well as meet compliance obligations. From welcoming new hires during orientation to promoting workplace safety, diversity, and harassment prevention, a thoughtfully prepared and executed training program helps create a positive, supportive, and inclusive work environment. When employees are trained and understand company policies and expectations, they are equipped to thrive, while trained managers and supervisors are better prepared to lead.

Looking for ready-to-go courses to support these essential training topics? Explore our Learn Course Catalogs to find engaging, expert-built content tailored for your workforce.