Steering training: annual plan, budget and analytics

This article is for HR, senior management and financial controllers who steer training over the year. It covers three screens: the annual training plan and its approval cycle, the training budget and purchasing, and tracking indicators.

Before you start #

• The Training module must be installed for your workspace.
• Plan: “Annual training plan”. Access level to view; Execute level to add, move, edit or delete a planned session and to move the plan through its lifecycle.
• Budget: “Budget & purchasing”. Access level to view the four tabs; Execute level to create and commit a purchase order, generate a recharge and record a course’s business impact.
• Indicators: “Tracking & analytics”. Access level for the indicators within your scope; Execute level for the Executive, HR and Controlling views.

The training plan #

Open Training › Steer › Training plan and choose the Year. The page shows:

• the plan indicators: Plan budget, Spent, Committed (reserved with a provider), Still available, Employees trained (as a percentage of headcount) and Mandatory compliance;
• Budget by category: solid bar for spending, hatched part for amounts committed but not yet invoiced;
• the plan lines, grouped into four categories: Mandatory, Job skills, Soft skills, Certifications & renewals.

Three views show the planned sessions: 12-month Gantt (the default), Table (course, month, site, department, people, cost, status) and Quarters.

Lines are added to the plan from other screens: a training request approved by HR with “Approve and add to plan” (see Requesting training and getting it approved), and a renewal scheduled from certifications (see Tracking certifications and renewals).

Adding, moving or editing a planned session #

1. In the Gantt, click the + for the month you want, on the course’s line (“Add a session in …”).
2. Enter the number of Participants, the Cost per person (€), the Site and the Department. The total session cost is calculated.
3. Click Add session.

To move it, drag it to another month. To edit it, click it: the “Session details” drawer lets you change the month, status, participants, planned cost, site and department, then Save or Delete (with confirmation). A running or completed session can no longer be moved, edited or deleted: it has taken place.

The plan lifecycle #

The “Plan lifecycle” block shows how far the plan has progressed: Draft, Submitted, Validated, Running, Closed. The button offers the next step: Submit for approval, Approve plan, Start execution, then Close the year. You can enter a reason or comment, kept in the history of transitions shown below the block, then click Confirm.

On approval, the plan’s reference headcount is frozen. Once the plan is Validated, planned sessions can no longer be added, edited or deleted.

Budget & purchasing #

Open Training › Steer › Budget & purchasing and choose the Year. The tiles summarise the Budget, Spent, Committed, Available, Cost / hour and the OPCO funded amount. Alerts flag categories where commitments exceed the plan, orders committed with no invoice for more than 60 days, and amounts invoiced beyond the purchase orders.

Breakdown #

The Burn rate compares the share of the budget spent with the share of the year elapsed, and flags marked under- or over-spending. The Break down selector splits spending and uninvoiced commitments By category, By site, By department or By provider, with the cost per person and per hour.

Purchase orders #

1. In the Purchase orders tab, click New order.
2. Choose the Provider (from the provider list) and the Budget category, enter the Committed amount excl. tax (€) and, if needed, the Cost centre and Account code.
3. Click Create draft. The order does not yet commit the budget.
4. On the order’s line, click Commit. Committing is refused if the category no longer has enough available budget.

The table tracks the committed, invoiced and remaining amounts for each order, and flags an order committed long ago with no invoice. A committed order can no longer be changed.

Recharge #

To split the cost of training between entities:

1. Choose the Allocation key: Pro rata headcount, Actual spend or Equal share. Each key explains what it implies.
2. Enter the Period and choose the Axis: By office or By cost centre.
3. Click Simulate. Nothing is written: check the Trained, Recharged, Share and € / trained columns.
4. Click Generate recharge to save the lines, with the Draft status.

Effects & costs #

For each course completed in the year, the table compares the total cost, the number of people trained and the cost per person with four levels of effect: Satisfaction, Learning (quiz results), Transfer (change in skills) and Business impact. Business impact is entered as free text with the pencil in its column (“Record impact”), then Save. As the screen points out, these levels measure effects, not a financial return.

Tracking & analytics #

Open Training › Steer › Analytics, choose the Year, then the audience:

• Executive: aggregated view, no personal data;
• HR: full view, including personal data;
• My team: your team only;
• Controlling: amounts and variances, no personal data.

If your permission does not allow the view you asked for, a banner shows the view actually displayed.

The Dashboard tab shows the year’s indicators (coverage rate, hours completed, completion rate, certification compliance, cost per person trained and more), the Training hours and Completion rate curves compared with the previous year, and a table to Break down by site, department or category (headcount, trained, completion, hours, cost, compliance). In the Controlling view, with the “Budget & purchasing” permission, a Budget for the year card is added.

The Funnel & cohorts tab follows the path “From catalog to completion”: catalogue views, requests submitted, requests approved, enrolments, actual attendance, completed, with a reading hint at each step. Completion by cohort groups people enrolled in the same month.

Good to know #

• The plan, budget and recharge rely on the training plan for the selected year. If that year has no plan, the plan page shows “No plan for …” and that year’s budget is not displayed.
• To protect anonymity, groups that are too small are hidden in breakdowns and cohorts (5 people by default).
• Indicator names are produced by the server and may appear in French in the English interface.
• Amounts are shown in euros.
• Actual sessions (dates, rooms, trainers) are scheduled in session planning: see Scheduling sessions and taking attendance.