The process of developing custom training usually involves a needs analysis, curriculum design and documentation of specific knowledge and skills necessary to support the desired performance. This cycle can occur repeatedly for the same initiative and often requires a significant investment of time and resources. In a rapidly growing and changing organization, how can the need for significant updates and maintenance due to outdated custom content be avoided?

Here are three key questions to consider when developing custom training for the long term:

1. Is it relevant?

To determine if content is relevant over time, it must be aligned to organizational goals. The nature of a custom solution should support the organization’s strategic initiatives and connect the goals across teams and individuals. The content must answer the question, “How does an employee perform better against corporate goals by learning this content?”

The outcomes of the training should be clearly measured and directly reflect key performance metrics. If the business is focused on revenue growth, then identify how the training develops behaviors that generate revenue. If the business is focused on increased customer engagement, then identify the skills that drive a positive customer experience and make them the focus of the content. It is also important to share the results of the training and maintain a consistent communication strategy about the impact of the content on organizational performance.

Lastly, relevance is measured by how the content is applied in daily work. Ensure that there are performance support tools in place to aid in transferring knowledge from the classroom to the work environment and build in adequate time in the training event to support practicing new knowledge and skills. Learners must have opportunities during the training to apply the content and explore the different ways it is relevant to their needs.

2. Is it sustainable?

When considering how sustainable custom content is for an organization, it is critical to ensure the content is aligned to the culture of the organization. This means that the content is not only relevant, but is also presented in a way that is accessible and relatable to stakeholders and their teams. Buy-in across the organization, to both the content and the way it is applied, is critical. For instance, if the organization has a collaborative and casual culture but content is presented in a compliant and formal manner, it may be rejected by learners even if it is relevant simply because it feels uncomfortable.

Sustainable content is also driven by the ability to adapt easily to new systems or products. This means the content itself is process-or behavior-oriented and not tightly integrated with an extremely detailed tool that may be subject to change. While custom systems and products require custom training, long-term custom content requires consistency in expected behaviors and outcomes.

3. Is it scalable?

Finally, custom content that lasts must have an element of scalability to it. This means that the content will deliver a consistent learner experience regardless of the audience size or format and can be supported in a blended learning environment. Whether the content is delivered in a classroom, presented in a webinar, offered in an e-learning module or reinforced through job aids, learners receive the same objectives, applied experience and measured outcomes as a result of participating in the training event. It is important that the content has specific learning objectives that transfer to the learner regardless of how they experience it.