Questions to consider when preparing a multi-year training plan:

Preparing a multi-year training plan can be a great opportunity for your staff, but also a little daunting to pull together.  Here are a few good questions to help you and your team assess current and future needs:

• Complete this sentence:  “I wish that our support workers were better able to..."
  
  
• What do your supervisors/team leaders spend the greatest amount of time coaching support workers to do?
  
  
• What do your support workers tell you are their greatest challenges?
  
  
• What do your support workers tell you they wish they knew more about?
  
  
•  What areas make you worry about risk?
  
  
•  What are the three most challenging characteristics of your client base?
  
  
• Over the next year do you expect worker attrition, changes in client needs, new client populations?
  
  
• Do you anticipate changes in worker contact with other professionals (which would mean a need for inter-professional collaboration training or presentation skills)?
  
  
• Are there new projects on the horizon involving support workers?
  
  
• Are you looking to start a preceptor program?  If so, what skills will they need?