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Most teams think their training records are in reasonable shape - until someone asks for evidence on a deadline. A short, honest audit tells you where the real gaps are before an inspector, client or insurer finds them.
Work through the five-question worksheet further down. It takes about ten minutes and leaves you with one concrete action.
Signs your records need attention
- You need to check more than one place to answer a question about one person.
- Nobody can say, without looking, which courses each role requires.
- Renewals are noticed after they expire, not before.
- Certificates live in inboxes, desk drawers or personal drives.
- Different managers keep their own versions of the same spreadsheet.
Two or more of these and an audit is worth the ten minutes.
The five things to check
1. Where records live
Count the places you would need to look. Every extra location is a chance for the record to be out of date or missing.
2. What is required, and for whom
Required training should be defined per role and written down. If it lives in one manager's head, it leaves when they do.
3. How expiry is caught
Look at the last three renewals. Were they booked before or after the expiry date? If after, you are relying on luck.
4. How quickly you can show evidence
Pick one named person and time how long it takes to produce evidence for every required course. Under five minutes is good. Half a day is a risk.
5. One change that would fix the biggest gap
Audits fail when they produce a long list nobody acts on. End with one change, an owner and a date.
What good looks like
- One record per person, kept current, that follows them through role changes.
- Required training set per role, so new starters inherit it.
- Expiry dates calculated automatically, with reminders before anything lapses.
- Evidence attached to each completion, and self-reported training verified by a manager before it counts.
That is exactly what the training matrix in Passport for Teams does. If you would rather start with a spreadsheet, our step-by-step training matrix guide shows how to set one up properly.
Run your audit
Answer for your team as it is today, not as it should be.
Answer for your team as it is today, not as it should be. You will finish with a short action list you can take to your next management meeting. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you choose to save or email it.
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