Documenting Employee Training (STARTING a Tree Care Business)

Having several crews with employees handling a wide range of services can provide quite the challenge to document training and development. A good Operations Manager or Company Trainer will know exactly what each employee knows and can do. However, this information should not just be in one person’s head. This documentation should be out and visible for employees, trainers and management. Looking at this information daily or weekly keeps employees motivated to learn and improve with new skills and knowledge.

I preferred to keep a different file for each employee in the same area as weekly Safety Meeting documentation. With easy access any employee could pull their file and see where their development lies. This file also contains additional information to sign-off regarding safety, equipment training, tree / shrub identification and other certifications.

Here is a Sample Outline for Documenting Employee Training:

Sample Employee Training Documentation (Page 1)

Importance of Employee Training Documentation

It is always exciting to bring new employees on board, but it is always a tricky game knowing how much to invest right away. For me, orientation really is about 2 things which is covering the company’s liabilities and getting a vibe for the employee. Getting good questions and feedback during these 2 hours always made me feel positive about the hire. Also not hearing one question, comment or any feedback raised immediate red flags.

Sample Employee Training Documentation (page 2)

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