"Attend training" is on many goal forms. It is also one of the least useful goals you can set, because attending proves nothing. A good training goal names the skill, the training and, most importantly, how your work will change afterwards.
What makes a good training goal
- A specific skill gap. Not "leadership", but "running effective one-to-ones".
- A chosen training route. Course, coaching, workshop, online module or on-the-job learning.
- An application. Where and when you will use it.
- A result. What will be better because of it.
Did you know? The Kirkpatrick model, developed by Donald Kirkpatrick in the late 1950s, evaluates training on four levels: reaction, learning, behaviour and results. Most training is only measured at the first level, whether people liked it. Good training goals aim for levels three and four.
Examples of training goals
Technical skills
- Complete an intermediate Excel course by March and rebuild the team's budget tracker using what I learned.
- Train in the new CRM system and become the team's go-to person for questions by Q2.
Management and leadership
- Complete a performance management course and use its framework in every review conversation this year.
- Attend a coaching skills workshop and hold monthly coaching conversations with two team members.
Business skills
- Complete a short course in business planning and draft my department's plan for next year.
- Take a finance for non-finance managers course and present my team's budget without support from finance.
Communication
- Complete a presentation skills course and deliver the quarterly results briefing to the wider team.
Which training courses actually help job performance?
Training helps when it is:
- Relevant to a real task you do now or soon. Learning something you will not use for a year rarely sticks.
- Practical. Look for courses with case studies, exercises and a project based on your own work.
- Short enough to finish. A six-week course you complete beats a year-long one you abandon.
- Recognised. A certificate from an established provider helps on your CV.
- Supported by your manager. Agree how you will apply it before you start.
If you are choosing between options, our article on goals for learning new skills explains how to structure the learning itself.
How to get training approved
Frame the request around the result: "This course will help me build our department plan, which currently takes three people two weeks." Managers approve training that clearly solves a problem. See how to set goals your boss will approve.
The bottom line
A training goal is only as good as the change it creates. Name the skill, pick practical training, plan where you will apply it and measure the result. LSBUK short courses such as Business Planning and Goal Setting and Performance Management of Workers are built around applying learning to your own workplace.