How Often Should You Update Training Materials?

Once you have an established training program, you may be wondering when it will need to be updated. Developing an entire program from scratch, or updating an entire program at once, is a huge project. “Your business needs change from one year to the next, due to market forces, growth, and other factors. To keep up with this, your training needs to constantly adapt” (Webster, 2022). However, reviewing your training frequently and making updates in increments as they are needed is a much lighter lift and more effective, than updating the entire training once it is all outdated.

Here are some tips to help you determine how often your training materials should be updated:

Changes to Policies

Any time that there are changes made to procedures and protocols, training must be updated. This should include changes to legal requirements as well as changes to organizational requirements. It is critical that new hires are receiving the most up to date information to avoid mistakes and confusion. It is also important that existing employees can review updated policies by reviewing eLearning material, “employees would be required to make themselves aware of such changes and the consequent implications very quickly so as to ensure legal compliance” (Kapadia, 2020).

Periodic Reviews

Review your eLearning content regularly to ensure the content is never outdated. Plan to review content every 6 to 12 months. This ensures that employees are always receiving updated information. By reviewing content regularly, you will likely be able to make updates in pieces, rather than having to reconstruct an entire course at once. 

Updated Job Roles/Descriptions

When the requirements of a job role are updated, the training must also be updated to reflect these. This is critical for both new employees that may be entering into that role, and existing employees that may need upskilling or reskilling to meet the new requirements.

Updated Terminology

There may be several reasons why terminology changes within a job or industry. To avoid confusion, you want to make sure that terminology is up to date in all training courses that are currently being utilized.

These are not the only times you should update training, there may be other times that you find training may need to be updated. If you are unsure of how to manage your employee training program, you may consider discussing your needs with an instructional design team for assistance. The important thing is to ensure that you are reviewing training often and making updates as needed.

References:

Kapadia, V. (2020, July 13). When and how frequently should you update your elearning content. Gyrus Learning Management System LMS. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.gyrus.com/when-and-how-frequently-should-you-update-your-elearning-content 

Webster, T. (2022, May 12). Top training company topics: Keeping your training up to date. AllenComm. Retrieved September 14, 2022, from https://www.allencomm.com/blog/2022/05/top-training-company-topics-keeping-your-training-up-to-date/