The top 7 HR training platforms for professional development

Human resources training includes any HR training programme designed to help HR professionals perform their roles more effectively. Due to the scope of HR’s responsibilities, these programmes can either be quite generalised or specialised. 

Young professionals who are just embarking on their career in HR usually need a certain amount of training to get started. This helps them to understand the basic principles behind common HR tasks like onboarding employees or running payroll. 

But even advanced HR professionals can benefit from training that helps them to become more efficient and take a strategic approach to HR. 

Providing ongoing training to employees across all functions is hugely beneficial for an organisation. 

According to research from Deloitte, organisations that have a strong learning culture are:

• 92% more likely to develop novel products and processes

• 52% more productive

• 56% more likely to be the first to market with their products and services 

• 17% more profitable than other organisations 

These organisations also have engagement and retention rates that are 30–50% higher than their peers. 

And there are plenty of benefits to providing training to your HR team in particular. For one, it helps them stay up to date with the latest compliance obligations and regulations that they need to be aware of. This helps your company to avoid lawsuits and fines down the line. 

Effective training can also help your HR team to improve your organisation’s recruitment and hiring processes — giving you a better chance of landing (and retaining) the best talent. 

Plus, HR training enables your HR team to manage and analyse HR data more effectively. With the proper training, they’ll be able to spot trends related to things like employee satisfaction, productivity, engagement and recruitment. This deeper understanding of HR data can help your team to make better strategic decisions. 

Here are a few things to think about before choosing an HR training programme for your team. 

Offline training programmes are delivered face-to-face, in a specific physical location. Online ones can be done from anywhere with a computer (or in some cases, a mobile phone or tablet). And there are definite advantages to both approaches. 

For example, online training courses can be more convenient for HR professionals who don’t have time to travel to an in-person class. Plus, online training is usually easier to slot into a normal workday without having to take too much time off. 

On the other hand, offline training allows employees to meet with their instructors in person and get answers to their questions in real time. Physically attending a training session might also make it easier for busy HR executives to properly focus on the training, away from the distractions of their normal work environment. 

Traditional training programmes involve employees attending classes that may last for several hours. They might be led by an instructor who presents the class ‘live’, or consist of pre-recorded videos that the employee watches on their own. 

But in recent years, there’s been a rise in so-called ‘snackable’ training, which is made up of shorter sessions lasting between 10 and 20 minutes at a time. The advantage of this method is that it doesn’t require as much of a time commitment as a traditional programme. 

Carving out a whole day (or even a few hours) can be difficult for busy HR professionals — but most of us have 15 minutes here and there that we could spend watching a short video or completing a test. 

Of course, not all employees prefer this ‘bite-sized’ approach to learning. It really comes down to your employees’ personal preferences and the way they learn best as individuals. 

HR training courses range from basic overviews that are useful for beginner or budding HR generalists, to high-level content aimed at experienced HR practitioners. And if you’re choosing an HR course to offer to your employees, you need to make sure it’s pitched at the right level. 

If the information offered is too complex for junior employees, they might end up confused and discouraged. On the other hand, if it’s too easy, employees will be bored — and might even feel that you don’t understand them or their work. 

Many of the platforms we’ll talk about below include courses aimed at professionals at various stages of their HR careers — so with a bit of research, you should be able to find the right course for each employee. 

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Looking for a course or training programme to help your HR team develop their skills and knowledge? These six platforms are a good place to start.  

The Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR) offers a curriculum of 11 globally accredited HR training courses. The topics covered range from HR metrics and reporting to strategic HR leadership. 

The courses are flexible and made up of snackable content that employees can consume in short bursts whenever they have time. According to AIHR, the time required to complete each certification ranges from 22 to 35 hours. 

A single course costs €875 (about £750) for 12 months’ access — or you can get access to all 11 certification programmes for €1450 (£1245). There’s also a team membership plan, which starts at €2300 (£1975).

Udemy is a global platform that employees can use to self-study over 210,000 online courses, covering everything from web development to languages to baking sourdough bread.

Udemy’s HR courses range from beginner to expert level, and cover topics including employer branding, compensation and benefits, diversity and inclusion and strategic workforce planning. 

You can purchase access to one course individually for as little as about £20. But Udemy really comes into its own when you set up a business plan, which allows employees to self-serve from 22,000 top courses from any device. 

Coursera is an online training platform developed by world-class universities like Stanford, the University of London and Duke University, and companies like Google, IBM and Microsoft. 

They offer over 800 courses in HR-related topics alone, ranging from beginner to advanced level. Most courses last anywhere from a few hours to a few months. And, since all courses are online, participants can learn at their own pace from anywhere in the world. 

You and your team can get started by exploring the hundreds of free courses that are available on the platform. If you like what you see, signing up for Coursera for Business will give your team access to the full range of training opportunities.

The Josh Bersin Academy is a global community of over 30,000 HR professionals. They offer digital HR certificate courses covering some of the top challenges facing HR teams today. These include things like hybrid working, employee well-being and HR in the age of AI. Each course lasts five weeks and includes around 3–5 hours of learning time. 

A potential downside is that you can’t do courses on demand — you have to wait for a scheduled start time. But that does mean that you’ll complete each course with a social group of around 30–50 professionals, giving you the chance to discuss the things you’re learning with your peers.

FutureLearn is a digital learning platform based in England. They offer a wide range of training options, which can all be completed 100% online. 

HR training courses cover topics like people management skills, recruitment, diversity and international HR. One popular option is the ‘HR Fundamentals’ short course, which provides a solid introduction to HR over a five-week programme.  

You can pay for courses on a one-off basis (the HR Fundamentals course is €124, for example), or sign up for the unlimited plan at €35.99 (roughly £31) per month. The FutureLearn Business subscription comes with extra features like learning analytics and custom course creation. 

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is a professional body for HR and people development, founded over 100 years ago in 1913. Among many other things, they offer a wide range of learning courses to help HR professionals at every stage of their careers. 

CIPD training includes on-demand online classes, in-person or online one-day courses, and more advanced courses like accredited programmes and masterclasses. 

The CIPD also offers qualifications from foundation certificates to advanced diplomas, which are recognised nationally and internationally. The organisation also works with businesses to help them choose the right CIPD qualifications for their teams, and select the best fit from their list of approved training partners.

The Personio Voyager Academy is the best place to learn more about using Personio’s all-in-one HR software, alongside other important HR skills. As part of the Voyager Academy, learners can gain access to badges, recorded webinars and helpful course content. 

The best part is that the academy keeps growing. Learners can look forward to new courses being added all of the time, addressing the realities of using HR software, as well as some of the top trends and subject matter from every corner of the HR space. 

We would recommend kicking things off by learning about the Personio Essentials. You’ll see what a great HR software looks like, while also earning your first badge in the process.  

Providing access to regular effective training is one of the best ways you can support your HR team to do their best work — and better meet the needs of your organisation. But HR leaders are often so tied up overseeing admin tasks and firefighting individual issues that the needs of their team end up neglected.  

Personio is an all-in-one HR platform that can simplify, streamline and automate the HR tasks that are taking up your time — giving you space to focus on developing your team. 

Plus, Personio’s training features help you to track training attendance and progress, and give your employees access to the training they need in one easy location — your HR team included. 

Want to learn more about Personio? Book a free demo to find out what else it can do.