Why does a particular worker or group of workers need to be trained? Before you start to develop a training program, you need to answer this question. This will help you to make sure that the program you come up with is relevant to their needs and meets the company's expectations.

There are various reasons why a person might need training. For example, they may require:

• new skills to operate new machines, or carry out new work processes, or produce new products
  
  
• improved skills because their work performance is not up to the standard required, or because there have been near-misses or safety incidents
  
  
• increased background knowledge to make them more aware of the quality aspects of their job, or how the job fits in with other work processes
  
  
• professional development, in order to take on more responsibilities or receive a job promotion.

Also remember that training isn't just for people who need to learn all of the aspects of a new job or skill.

It's quite common for an employee to be very good at their job overall, but have some specific gaps in their knowledge or skill base. This is where 'gap training' is required to fill in the missing bits, so that the employee can deal with a wider range of variables that might crop up in their work.