12 Types of Employee Training Programs (+Examples)

he way you treat your employees' development, upskilling, and knowledge improvement is crucial for the long-term growth of your company. It’s no secret! 

Employee training affects its business results, overall culture, and employee brand. Therefore, a successful company should consider how to create such a strategy with continuous learning and training at the core.

And what should you start with? 

Right, employee training programs! Let’s call them the “bricks” of your L&D strategy, with their huge impact on different areas of employee development. 

Read on to learn more about the popular types of employee training programs, explore some examples, and find some inspiration for a culture to set.

What is an employee training program? 

But first, let’s resort to basics. 

An employee training program is an array of activities or initiatives created and organized by an organization to develop or improve certain knowledge, skills, and expertise of its employees.

Why do they matter? 

The benefits of employee training programs refer to fostering professional development, aligning with organizational goals, and answering the demands of the market and industry.

Importantly, it is crucial to mention its key functions:

• Giving a boost to employee performance via certain frameworks, skills, and knowledge.
• Adding to leadership via soft skills development and improvement of problem-solving and decision-making of the employees.
• Ensuring learning culture and compliance to standards set in the organization.
• Handling reskilling, change management, and upskilling of the company.

Important fact. Subject to a LinkedIn report, a strong learning culture in the company has a strong correlation to employee retention and internal mobility rate, 57% retention rate, and 23% internal mobility.

Types of Employee Training Programs

So, as we discussed before, employee training programs are the building blocks of a strong learning and development (L&D) strategy. Each program serves a unique purpose, addressing specific organizational goals and employee needs. 

What are they? Here is a list of the best employee training programs for organizations and businesses. From onboarding new hires to enhancing technical skills or fostering leadership, these programs add to continuous growth and long-term business success:

#1. Orientation Training

Let’s start with the simplest employee training program, the tiniest brick in a continuous learning building — employee orientation training. 

Orientation employee training is a course that usually takes one or two days and aims to welcome new employees. 

The main goal of such a program is to familiarize them with organizational values and equip them with the tools to succeed in their roles. It supports the first steps of the new hire and aims to boost the confidence before the next steps.

Thus, the main characteristics include:

• A brief introduction to and explanation of the company’s culture, policies, and goals.
• Guidance on role expectations and team dynamics.
• A guide into the essential tools and systems.
• Opportunities to engage with peers and managers.

Orientation Employee Training Example by Google

Let’s look at how such a company as Google approaches orientation. In its new hire (“noogler”) program, it pays particular attention to peer-driven learning and collaboration. The company runs its training via employee-to-employee, or Google-to-googler (g2g), network. 

Therefore, a noogler's orientation significantly relies on multiple g2g facilitators and their communication with new hires on different topics.

Tip. Orientation programs are a great occasion to include peer learning concepts in your workplace.

#2. Onboarding Program

Next, let’s consider another brick, or let’s say a block of bricks, in the wall of the L&D strategy - onboarding program. 

An onboarding program is a set of activities, events, training pieces, and check-ins that allow new hires to transition into their roles, and integrate into the teams and organization. 

And yes, a previously discussed orientation is just a part of a larger orientation program. Onboarding not only focuses on the company culture but spans weeks or months brings role-specific guidance, sets the first goals, and allows integration into the team.

Key characteristics include:

• Clear role, training demands, and performance expectations.
• Goal-setting to ensure alignment with organizational objectives.
• Regular check-ins with managers to track progress.
• Access to tools, resources, and workflows.
• Meetings and sessions to build team relationships.

Onboarding Training Program Example 

Here’s another training example from Google. It seems they are pretty good at it, right? In particular, the company uses a ”nudging” strategy, sending managers reminders to introduce workflow, set expectations, schedule check-ins, and prepare for the new hire’s arrival. 

Tip. Using “nudges” appears to be a powerful way to support productivity and underline the value of proactive management.

#3. Technical Training

What’s next? A workplace training program regarding specific skills as well as programs related to technology.

The technical training program contemplates a course via which an employee develops job-specific, technical skills required to perform tasks efficiently. 

What are popular examples? Courses related to cybersecurity, software, and data science.

With specific online employee training programs, organizations are to address gaps in knowledge and make sure their employees know industry tools, systems, and processes.

Key characteristics and components include:

• Training on new tools and software, continuous guidance backed by specific docs or SOPs.
• Customized learning paths for job-relevant skills.
• Problem-solving exercises to enhance practical application.
• Continuous updates to stay aligned with technological advancements.
• Performance assessments to measure skill improvement.

Technical Employee Training Program Example

An obvious technical training example is training on CRM usage and implementation. How do they do it? Subject to Training Magazine, such CRM companies as Zoho and Salesforce provide “sandboxes”, guides, and sessions for companies to develop the technical skills of their clients and employees. 

Tip. Technical tasks need an environment or space for practice and errors, that’s why CRM actors use “sandboxes” to back guides and SOPs. 

#4. Product Training Program

Next, let’s consider an important part of product and software companies — product training. 

Product training programs aim to educate your employees or even partners on the products and services of the organization and equip them with in-depth knowledge about them. 

That way, the programs help employees understand product features, benefits, and usage to communicate value effectively to clients or customers. 

Importantly, depending on the roles, the business can offer value-adding product training to sales, marketers, customer support, or even customers or partners. 

Key characteristics and components include:

• Comprehensive product overviews and technical specifications.
• Training on product positioning and customer use cases.
• Role-specific modules for sales, support, or technical teams.
• Interactive sessions, including demos or simulations.
• Continuous updates to align with product changes.

Read more: What is partner training?

Product Training Example by Oboard

For instance, OBoard implements a 14-week self-paced course for product knowledge training for its clients and builds personalized training experiences and interactive walkthroughs with Educateme LMS. With it, they managed multiple client groups and streamlined engagement and reporting to help them get better results.

Tip. Using LMS, whether for instructor-led sessions or self-paced courses, can help to scale product training and customize training for different groups.

#5. Sales Training Programs

At the same time, companies often use sales training programs to share expertise on products, techniques, and selling points and improve their business outcomes. 

Sales training programs aim to enhance the expertise and skills of the sales teams, representatives, and partners by providing communication approaches, knowledge of products and tools, like CRMs or CPQ software, and selling techniques. 

In the end, with your programs, your employees would be able to understand customer needs, communicate effectively, and close deals. 

Key characteristics and components include:

• Training on customer relationship management and negotiation skills.
• Deep understanding of product features and benefits.
• Development of active listening and objection-handling skills.
• Role-playing exercises to simulate sales scenarios.

Millicom’s Sales Training Program Example

Millicom, a mobile telecommunication provider, implemented GSMA’s MISTT framework to train sales agents in underserved markets. The program provided practical, scenario-based training focused on customer engagement and digital literacy, resulting in improved sales outcomes and enhanced customer experiences. 

#6. Leadership Training Programs

How do you ensure that your company has people that can support growth? One of the ways is the leadership training. 

Leadership training programs are courses that turn employees into future leaders and are aimed at skills to lead teams, manage projects, and make strategic decisions. 

They are not easy to implement and may rely on coaches or people outside of the organization. These programs focus on enhancing communication, decision-making, and conflict-resolution abilities while preparing participants for leadership roles.

Key characteristics and components include:

• Emphasis on emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills.
• Training on decision-making and strategic planning.
• Development of mentoring and coaching abilities.
• Scenario-based exercises to handle real-world challenges.
• Focus on fostering innovation and collaboration.

Leadership Training For Employees: Example by Bank of America

For intance, Bank of America has two employee training courses in this regard. One involves pairing with senior leaders, another contemplates a 7-month program with coaching and market engagement opportunities.  Each of them consists of mentorship, role-specific coaching, and hands-on learning experiences. 

Note. As leadership programs significantly add to retention and impact business, think of the workers with high potential as a target audience and align training to promising projects.

#7. Quality Assurance Employee Training Program

Here is another training that is popular for employees working with products. 

Quality assurance training programs focus on building employees’ ability to maintain consistent quality in products, services, or processes. The particular courses are to improve and ensure that organizational standards are met.

That way, the company will add to efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Key characteristics and components include:

• Understanding and implementing quality management systems.
• Enhancing skills in auditing and quality reporting.
• Identifying and addressing errors or inefficiencies.
• Training on industry-specific quality benchmarks and regulations.
• Learning to use QA tools for testing and monitoring.

Q&A Employee Training Example

Let’s say you want to set up a quality assurance program, and here is an example of the program by The Call Center School. It worked great for healthcare companies, service support departments, sales, and partners, offering essentials, guiding on setting the system and finding the right reporting. 

Tip. Quality assurance training program is not necessarily an outsourced program, yet, to make it right internally, you will need an interdepartmental team with expertise from product teams, regulatory, and sales.

#8. Ethics Employee Training Program

Besides, workers often care about the values, impact, and operation of the company. That’s why an ethics training program is so important. 

Generally, ethics training programs educate employees on workplace ethics, guiding them to make responsible decisions and uphold organizational values. Importantly, these programs help create a culture of accountability, integrity, and inclusivity.

Note. Simultaneously, organizations often focus on compliance training in their L&D strategies, promoting adherence to laws and policies.  

Key characteristics and components of these programs include:

• Training on ethical decision-making frameworks.
• Awareness of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Guidance on handling conflicts of interest and ethical dilemmas.
• Focus on compliance with legal and industry standards.
• Case studies to practice ethical reasoning.

Starbucks’ Ethics Training Example

In particular, Starbucks implemented an anti-bias training initiative across 8,000+ stores after a publicized incident, emphasizing inclusivity and ethical decision-making. It had a great impact on the reinforcement and company values and improved employee awareness of unconscious biases.

#9. Safety Training Programs

What about safety? For many industries, from frontline workers and healthcare to cybersecurity and manufacturing, safety is number one priority. That’s why this type is so important.

Safety training programs are to educate employees on workplace hazards, emergency procedures, and safe practices to reduce accidents and ensure compliance with safety regulations. That way, you organization will be able to to create and maintain a safe and secure working environment.

Key characteristics and components include:

• Identification of workplace hazards and risk mitigation strategies.
• Hands-on demonstrations of equipment usage and safety protocols.
• Emergency response and first-aid training.
• Compliance with industry-specific safety standards.
• Scenario-based simulations to reinforce safe practices.

HaptX Railway Safety Training Example

HaptX developed a VR-based safety training program for railway workers, enabling employees to practice responding to high-risk scenarios in a controlled environment. This immersive approach enhanced hazard recognition, improved reaction times, and minimized workplace injuries.

Tip. To make safety training more memorable and effective, you should think of adding collaborative sessions, peer reviews, and interactive elements. There, vicarious learning may be pretty helpful.

#10. Diversity Training Program 

In regard to the company’s values, you may want to include diversity training in your L&D strategy. 

Diversity training programs aim to promote inclusion, equity, and respect in the workplace by enhancing cultural awareness and fostering collaboration among diverse teams. 

These programs help build a more inclusive organizational culture and can be a great fit for companies working in different countries and diverse cultural settings.

Key characteristics and components include:

• Education on unconscious bias and cultural competence.
• Encouragement of open dialogue and respect for differences.
• Practical strategies for creating inclusive work environments.
• Training tailored to various learning styles (e.g., interactive sessions, videos).
• Case studies and real-life scenarios to reinforce learning.

Microsoft Diversity Training Program Example

Microsoft’s Allyship Program is a powerful example showing how a big company can address workplace biases and teach inclusive behaviors. In particular, Microsoft provided self-paced online classes and engaging video scenarios to ask thought-provoking questions. It brought a tool for inclusion and discussion of different viewpoints with empathy and understanding. 

#11. Skills Training Program

Companies also happen to find that their employees lack some business skills to work effectively in a certain role or with other colleagues. Thus, they are to provide specific skills required by the market or the position. 

Skills training programs are to improve both technical and interpersonal abilities, ensuring employees meet role-specific demands and grow professionally. Such courses are crucial to address skill gaps and prepare employees for future challenges in the workplace.

Key characteristics and components include:

• Training tailored to job-specific and soft skills.
• Interactive sessions with real-world applications.
• Workshops focused on collaboration and critical thinking.
• Continuous assessments to measure progress.
• Resources for ongoing development and upskilling.

Specific Skills Training Example

For instance, RHP, a housing association with less than 250 employees, had a coaching skills gap backed by employees' lack of emotional intelligence. To address this issue, they started the Luminous program, incorporating speaker programs, sessions, and problem-solving scenarios into the work culture. 

In a classroom, they focused on bite-sized learning and follow-ups to make it contentious learning, yet, effective.

#12. Career Development and Upskilling Training Programs

Lastly, another significant type of training for employees lies within their careers and opportunities. 

Career development and upskilling programs aim to show how they can advance, prepare employees for future roles by enhancing their expertise, and underline skill gaps. 

These programs support continuous training and learning, helping organizations stay competitive in dynamic industries. The biggest distinction of this type from other types relates to the strong correlation between employee aspirations, career thoughts, and organizational goals. 

If the organization answers the gaps in employees’ pursuit of professional goals, such training for employees will significantly add to job satisfaction and retention. 

Key characteristics and components include:

• Personalized learning paths aligned with career goals.
• Emphasis on adaptability and lifelong learning.
• Training focused on emerging industry trends and technologies.
• Access to mentorship and coaching opportunities.
• Practical workshops to apply new skills effectively.

Employee Training Program Example by BBMP

An effective case of career development and the upskilling program is what BBMP, a US-based non-profit organization, offers to young learners and high-risk community members. Even though it is not a business case, they provide a pretty effective approach. In particular, they put exploring career goals and creating adequate plans to meet them at the center of key programs, including mentorship. 

That way, BBMP could support them with a skills-specific chain of courses and even reskill them.

Conclusion

Employee training programs are essential for fostering growth, enhancing skills, and driving organizational success. By implementing tailored programs, businesses can empower their workforce and stay competitive. 

Ready to explore more? Check out our other articles on employee training and get actionable insights!