Many organisations keep training records in systems that were simply not designed to do the job well. Very often data is stored in Excel spreadsheets. This may make initial data entry very simple, but after a short while the spreadsheets become unwieldy.
Duplication of data entry is almost an essential requirement. Often staff are not identified properly making it almost impossible to retrieve accurate information. Inconsistent spelling is also very common, either using different abbreviations, spacing or in some cases actual spelling mistakes. In a typical training records spreadsheet you might expect to find a “Management Training” course described as …
Management Training : Manager Training : Mgmt Training : Management Tng
and so on. This makes it impossible – or at least very difficult – to identify who’s done this training and who hasn’t. Subsequent users of the information may even be uncertain as to whether the training being described is the same or is in fact a completely different course.
Another problem is inconsistent data entry. As users of these spreadsheets change over time, so the information entered may change too. In a column headed “Completed” you might get the entries “Yes”, “True”, a date or perhaps nothing at all.
And generally the data is very limited too. It might not be easy to find out who the trainer was, what version of the lesson plan was used, where the training took place and when a renewal is due.
Training Manager is designed to address and overcome all of these problems and many more.
The database behind Training Manager Pro is Microsoft SQL Server – a tool that was designed for the job. Microsoft SQL Server provides all of the benefits of an enterprise database and Training Manager Pro will also run on Microsoft SQL Server Express edition which has the benefit of being free!
Things like course names are only ever entered once, reducing the likelihood for this data to deteriorate. Should duplications ever arise, the software incorporates housekeeping features such as the ability to merge two course templates into one. Training Manager Pro ensures that data is entered consistently so that different types of data don’t get stored in the same field.
We can provide advice on ensuring that staff are correctly identified: i.e. using a payroll or staff number. And we can (and often do) create data import applications so that customers can easily keep staff records up to date, removing the need to duplicate work that is already being carried out by other teams within the organisation.
Training Manager Pro works is used as a tool to organise training. Things like trainers, rooms and lesson plans are recorded as a part of the process of administering the training delivery. This information is then easily retrievable at a later date and the training history is almost a ‘free’ benefit; a by-product of managing the training delivery process.
