How to track mandatory training

Build a mandatory training matrix

A matrix lists roles down the side and programs across the top, with each cell saying whether the program applies and how often. It turns a vague rule such as 'everyone must be trained' into a list of named people with due dates. The rows below are examples of choices one company might make; your own list comes from your industry, clients and policies.

• All employees: fire safety every 12 months, POSH awareness at joining and yearly after that
• Forklift and MHE operators: operator refresher every 12 months
• Kitchen and food handling staff: food safety every 12 months
• Bank branch staff: KYC and anti-money laundering refresher every year
• Supervisors and first aid volunteers: first aid every 24 months

Record completion with evidence

A tick in a spreadsheet is not proof. For each completion, keep the date, the trainer, the attendance sheet or login record, a test result where there is one, and a certificate or completion number. In a worked example, a plant in Hosur has 180 production staff due for the fire safety refresher in April. After the April sessions, 162 have completed it and 18 missed it because of night shifts and leave, so compliance stands at 162 divided by 180, or 90 percent. HR schedules two make-up sessions in May for the 18.

Report compliance by department

Once a month, send each department head four numbers per program: people required, people with a valid completion, people due in the next 30 days, and people overdue. Compliance rate is people with a valid completion divided by people required, times 100. Department heads act faster on their own team's names than on a company-wide percentage, so include the names of overdue staff, not just the totals.

Joiners, movers and waivers

New joiners should finish mandatory programs within a fixed period, such as their first 30 days, as part of onboarding. When someone moves to a role with extra requirements, such as a storekeeper becoming a forklift operator, the new programs apply before they start the new work. Waivers should be rare: allow them only with a reason and an approver, for example when a nurse joins with a current BLS certificate from a recognized provider.

• Counting attendance at a session as completion without a test where one is required
• Records kept only by an external trainer
• No due date for joiners
• Role changes that never trigger the new role's training
• Waivers given verbally, with nothing on file

Step by step

1. List every mandatory program. Write down each program with its source, such as a law, regulator, client contract or company policy, and how often it must be repeated.
2. Map programs to roles. Build the matrix of roles against programs, so every employee's mandatory list follows from their role.
3. Set validity periods. Fix how long each completion stays valid, for example 12 or 24 months, and the grace period, if any, for make-up sessions.
4. Set up each program. In ZeniaHR, create the program in Learning, turn on the mandatory flag and set the validity in months.
5. Enrol everyone required. Enrol each employee whose role needs the program, including recent joiners and people who changed roles.
6. Record completions with evidence. Keep attendance sheets and test results. In ZeniaHR, marking an enrolment complete records the completion and issues a certificate number.
7. Review compliance monthly. Check each program's completion against the people required. ZeniaHR's compliance view for each program shows who has completed it, and enrolments can be marked waived with the reason recorded by HR.
8. Chase overdue staff and run make-ups. Send department heads the names of overdue staff and book make-up sessions within the month, before the gap grows.

Frequently asked questions