PeopleMuster

Training nomination form

Training nominations are approved on the gap they close, not on the course brochure. A form that names the gap, the outcome and the cover gets a faster answer than one that names the vendor.

Submit this before booking anything, whether a manager is nominating someone or a person is nominating themselves. A conference someone attends to represent the company is a travel request instead.

TRAINING NOMINATION — [COMPANY NAME]

Nominee: [NOMINEE NAME], [EMPLOYEE CODE]
Department and manager: [DEPARTMENT] / [MANAGER NAME]
Nominated by: [NOMINATOR NAME]          Date: [DATE OF REQUEST]

THE COURSE
Title: [COURSE TITLE]
Provider: [PROVIDER NAME]
Dates: [START DATE] to [END DATE]
Delivery: [ONLINE / IN PERSON / BLENDED]
Time away from work: [WORKING DAYS OR HOURS]
Cost, all in: [COURSE FEE]   Travel, if any: [TRAVEL COST]

WHY
Skill gap this closes: [NAMED SKILL]
Where that gap shows up today: [A REAL TASK OR PROJECT]
What changes afterwards: [MEASURABLE OUTCOME]
Reviewed at: [REVIEW DATE]

COVER
Work affected while away: [WORK AFFECTED]
Covered by: [COLLEAGUE NAME]

SHARING IT BACK
How the learning reaches the team: [SESSION / WRITE-UP / SOP UPDATE]
By when: [SHARE-BACK DATE]

DECISION
Manager: support / do not support   Signed ____________  Date ______
Budget holder: approved / declined / deferred to [DEFERRED DATE]
Signed ____________  Date ______
Booked by ____________ on __ / __ / ____

What to put in each blank

[NAMED SKILL]
Name one skill from your own taxonomy. A vague heading like leadership gets deferred.
[MEASURABLE OUTCOME]
Say what a colleague would see differently in three months. Attendance is not an outcome.
[COURSE FEE]
Write the all-in figure from the provider's quote, including any tax and materials.
[SESSION / WRITE-UP / SOP UPDATE]
Pick one and date it. Training nobody shares back is bought once per person forever.
[REVIEW DATE]
Set a date to check whether the outcome happened. Usually two or three months out.

Before you send it

  • Ask for the share-back before approval, not after. Written into the form, it actually happens.
  • Count the working days away as part of the cost. Time off the floor is usually the larger half.
  • Check whether two people need the same course. Two nominations in a quarter often justify running it in house.
  • Any repayment arrangement for a course someone leaves after is a contract matter. Take your own advice rather than copying a clause.

PeopleMuster holds a skills taxonomy mapped to people, so the named skill on this form can match an existing entry

Questions people ask about this letter

Who should sign off a training nomination?

The line manager for the case, and the budget holder for the money. Splitting the two signatures keeps a good case from dying in a budget queue without being read.

How do we choose between competing nominations?

Rank them on the gap, not the price. A cheap course that closes nothing is the expensive one, and the named-skill line is what makes them comparable.

Should self-nominations be treated differently?

No, but ask for the same gap statement. People nominating themselves often write the outcome more precisely than their manager would.

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