Types of Corporate Training Programs

Corporate Training, Corporate Training Programs, and Employee Training refer to learning opportunities to help employees gain the skills needed to perform job responsibilities and duties. The best corporate training has an impact beyond the skills gained to perform a job and can positively influence the corporate culture. Studies show that the investment in training employees can have added business benefits of reducing turnover, fostering a learning culture, bolstering morale, and meeting customer needs.

On this page:

• What is a corporate training program?
• When do you use corporate training programs?
• Corporate training: what are the different types?
• Types of corporate training programs: project management skills
• Types of corporate training programs: leadership training
• Benefits of corporate training
• How does a company benefit from using external corporate training?
• How does corporate training benefit the company?

What is a corporate training program?

Corporate training is a learning experience designed to educate employees on specific behaviors, processes, and/or systems needed to perform roles and responsibilities. Employee training can be delivered in many formats, such as an instructor-led class in person or online, a video, or as a web module. Corporate or Employee training, in any format, should state learning objectives to help with assessing later performance on the job. The best corporate training includes opportunities for personalized employee feedback to guide development and an assessment of knowledge gained from completing the training.

For complex topics or for soft skills that take time and practice to develop, a corporate training program is used for training employees. A corporate training program has a series of classes, resources, and/or learning experiences completed over time. A program should, like each of the corporate training resources within it, have clearly stated goals and objectives, along with feedback and an assessment.

Many mid-size or large corporate training development departments use a Learning Management System (LMS) to provide employees with an easy way to access corporate training catalogs online. Employee training programs require ongoing monitoring and lifecycle management to determine needed updates to existing training, gaps for needed training, and when training should be retired.

When do you use corporate training programs?

Corporate training programs are important to keep employees up to date with new practices, regulation changes, new technology, and process improvements.

Newer employees should be going through more training, and more often, as they assimilate to the corporate culture and grow skills for their role. More established employees should complete training to keep their skills and knowledge current, in addition to supporting their role performance within the company.

Corporate training: what are the different types?

The company size and the type of industry will influence how customized corporate training classes will be and how many specialized employee training programs are needed. Training programs of all types and topics should help employees perform their roles while also promoting the corporate culture. The types of corporate training classes and corporate training programs will vary depending on the company.

• Corporate Leadership training programs
  • New-to-leadership
  • Executive leadership
  • Informal Leadership / Influencing without authority
  • Team leadership
• Technical skills training
  • Project management
  • Programming skills
  • Programming coding languages
  • Customer service software
  • Quality control technologies
  • Quality control processes
• Certification preparation training, depending on roles and responsibilities
  • Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam Prep
  • PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)® Exam Prep
  • PM Scheduling Management Professional (PMI-SP)® Exam Prep
  • Lean Six Sigma – Yellow & Green Belts
  • BRMP® Certification Training
  • Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®)
  • Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®)
• Soft skills (also referred to as people skills, power skills, and interpersonal skills) training
  • Emotional intelligence
  • Written communication
  • Problem-solving
  • Time management
  • Critical thinking
  • Decision Making
  • Facilitation
• General business skills (also referred to as operational skills)
  • Financial management
  • Business operations
  • Organizational management
  • Project Management Fundamentals
  • Business Relationship Management Foundations
  • Business Process Modeling
  • Business Process Improvement
  • Business Process Management Foundations

Large organizations often have an internal corporate training development team to customize their corporate training offerings. Often there is a combination of internal subject matter experts (SMEs), corporate learning professionals, and external training vendors who deliver employee training.

Types of corporate training programs: project management skills

Internal corporate training departments depend on certified training companies to provide their employees with certification program options. For example, Project Managers need the training to earn industry-standard certifications for:

• Project Management,
• Agile,
• Lean Six Sigma,
• ITIL, and
• Business Analysis.

Each project management certification and skill set could have a training class or program that also fits into an overall corporate training program for project management.

A Project Management corporate training program should use training resources that are routinely updated for alignment with the industry’s most current standards. Project Management Institute (PMI)®’s Authorized Training Partners (ATP) program ensures global standards for certification-related training. As an employee seeking training or as the corporate training department, only authorized PMI certification training materials should be used.

Types of corporate training programs: leadership training

Corporate settings typically offer their employees one or more corporate leadership training programs to prepare for leadership. Different soft skills will be embedded in leadership training to address different stages of leadership:

• Preparing for leadership or role progression
• New to the company leader role
• New to a leadership role
• Team leader
• Preparing for the next level of leadership
• Executive Leader

The areas listed above fit within the corporate training topic of leadership training. However, each area could be a unique training program by itself, designed for the specific needs of the employees at that career stage. For example, a “Team Leader training program” fits into the overall Leadership Development corporate training program.

Benefits of corporate training

Whether your company has a corporate training team, you are the departmental training coordinator, or you are a Human Resources professional seeking development resources for employee training, providing your employees with high-quality training solutions has a direct impact on the business.

• Global consulting company Accenture reported training and development provides a 353% return
• Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) was part of TalentLMS 2022 learning and development study that concluded “employees now see a vibrant learning & development (L&D) culture as a key part of what makes a company a great place to work in 2022—and beyond”

The obvious benefit of a well-trained workforce is the ability to meet immediate needs for current work. The long-term benefits of quality corporate training come from building a culture of continuous learning in which the priority placed on employee satisfaction and development is clear.

How does a company benefit from using external corporate training?

Companies of all sizes use professional corporate training vendors and external corporate training programs to broaden employee training opportunities and grow needed skills.

Cost savings and time savings potential

Using an existing external corporate training program may be more cost-efficient than the cost of months of development time it would take to create it internally. Additionally, if it is a skill or knowledge area needed in the short term, using an external training company can ensure your employees have just-in-time training.

Industry certifications and training material requirements

It is a best practice (and sometimes a credential requirement) to only use exam prep training from an authorized training vendor to ensure the accuracy of the materials. No company wants employees to complete training only to find out the materials are out-of-date for the current certification exam!

Expand knowledge and skill growth opportunities

Tapping into an external training vendor’s catalog can be an easy way to meet unexpected training needs for leaders and teams. It can give employees insight at a broader or industry level to bring back to the team and company to spark improvements and innovation.

How does corporate training benefit the company?

Corporate training supplies both immediate and long-term benefits to a company. The availability and quality of corporate training contribute to:

• talent retention (staying where they know they can grow their skill set),
• corporate culture (training helps foster a more productive workforce that in turn is more engaged and loyal),
• talent recruitment (top performers seek opportunities to continue their development) and
• talent cost management (the expense of recruiting and onboarding due to high turnover can be reduced if there is less turnover).