How to run an end-of-year training audit in 5 steps

December rolls around and you’re starting to plan for next year’s L&D program. But, to do that, you have to sift through 12 months of past training data to find out what worked and what didn’t—and why. 

The good news is that a training audit doesn't require weeks of analysis or complex spreadsheets. With the right approach, you can quickly identify wins, spot problem areas, and create a clear picture of your training program's impact.

Completion rates

Your completion rates tell the first part of the story. Pull the numbers for all training programs launched this year and organize them by category:

• Mandatory compliance training: Look for completion rates below 95%. These gaps represent real compliance risks and need immediate attention. Go1's completion tracking shows exactly who missed which requirements, making follow-up straightforward.
  
• Skills development training: On average, online courses have completion rates of just 15%. When assessing your own training, look for completion rates below 60%. This might suggest that the content wasn't engaging or relevant to your audience.
  
• Leadership and management training: Track completion by management level. Low engagement from senior leaders often signals they don't see value in the program or view it as a checkbox exercise.

Engagement rates

While completion rates are a great foundation to start with, they don’t indicate whether employees engaged with the material in a meaningful way—or absorbed it. To determine engagement, take a look at:

• Time spent per module: Compare actual time spent against recommended completion times. Employees racing through content in half the expected time probably aren't retaining much. Go1's detailed analytics break down engagement patterns to help you identify content that's either too basic or too challenging.
  
• Assessment scores and attempts: Review quiz results and how many attempts employees needed to pass. Consistent low scores across multiple learners indicate content gaps or unclear explanations.
  
• Course ratings and feedback: Sort programs by learner satisfaction scores. Low-rated courses drain engagement from your entire training catalog and should be your first candidates for revision or removal.
  
• Skill transfer: 70% of training content is forgotten shortly after delivery. Take a look at how well employees performed on follow-up assessments—microlearning modules, periodic quizzes, and other refresher content.

Business outcomes

This step separates basic reporting from meaningful audit insights. Match your training data to business metrics from the same time periods:

• Performance improvements: On average, customer satisfaction increases by 19% after training programs. Compare your own before-and-after performance data for employees who completed specific training programs—look for measurable changes in sales numbers, customer satisfaction scores, project completion times, or error rates.
  
• Retention and career progression: A whopping 90% of employees say they won’t quit if they get development opportunities. Review your own employee retention data and analyze whether employees who participated in professional development programs stayed longer or advanced faster than those who didn't. Strong correlations here help justify training investments.
  
• Incident reduction: For safety and compliance training, track whether completion correlates with fewer workplace incidents, policy violations, or customer complaints.

Content gaps 

Your audit should reveal what's missing from your training catalog and what's taking up unnecessary space. To do that, be sure to assess:

• Skills gap: Cross-reference your training offerings with performance review feedback and manager requests. Recurring themes in performance discussions often point to missing training opportunities.
  
• Content coverage: Plenty of training programs are outdated and irrelevant, which can push employees to opt out of learning altogether. Assess whether your content is as diverse as your employees’ interests, goals, and roles, and provides personalized learning paths.
  
• Content format: Compare engagement rates across different content types—videos, interactive modules, virtual instructor-led sessions, and written materials. Some formats work better for your specific audience and subject matter.

Delivery and facilitation methods

The most engaging content falls flat if delivered poorly. Examine how and when employees access training:

• Platform usage patterns: Review when employees typically complete training. Patterns revealing rushed completion during the last week before deadlines suggest poor scheduling or insufficient communication about expectations.
  
• Mobile vs. desktop engagement: Check completion rates and satisfaction scores across devices. If mobile engagement lags significantly, your content might not be optimized for smaller screens or different usage contexts.
  
• Manager involvement assessment: Track whether supervisor support correlates with higher completion and engagement rates. Programs with strong manager buy-in typically see better results.

Resource allocation

Understand where your training budget went—in order to optimize future investments—by analyzing:

• Cost per completion: Calculate the cost per learner for each program, including content licensing, platform fees, and internal time investments. High-cost, low-engagement programs need immediate attention.
  
• Time investment: Document how much internal time went into program management, content curation, and learner support. Go1's automated administrative features can significantly reduce these overhead costs.

Want to take a deeper dive into assessing training effectiveness? Download our free toolkit for  evaluating program success → 

Once you’ve dug into the hard numbers behind your training program’s effectiveness, it’s time to create an action plan—and transform audit findings into concrete next steps for improvement. 

This might include:

• Quick wins: List easy fixes with immediate impact—updating outdated content, removing low-rated courses, or adjusting completion deadlines based on actual engagement patterns.
  
• Strategic program changes: Identify larger initiatives for next year, such as implementing new learning paths, changing delivery formats, or adding missing skill areas to your catalog.
  
• Budget reallocation opportunities: Use audit data to shift spending from underperforming programs to high-impact areas. Strong ROI documentation makes these budget conversations much easier.

Next you’ll need to condense your your audit insights need to reach decision-makers in digestible formats. This might include creating an executive summary that distills your findings into key metrics leadership cares about (completion rates, business impact, and budget efficiency).

 Additionally, you’ll want to tailor reports for different stakeholder groups: HR wants engagement details, finance needs cost analysis, and department heads want performance impact data.

Don’t just conduct the audit for one year ahead. Use your audit results to pave the way for years of L&D success by setting up:

• Automated reporting: Configure your learning platform to generate regular reports automatically. Go1's dashboard can provide real-time insights instead of requiring manual data compilation at year-end.
  
• Feedback loops: Build regular check-ins with managers and learners into your training calendar. Continuous feedback prevents small issues from becoming year-end surprises.
  
• Content curation systems: Establish processes for regularly updating and refreshing training materials based on audit findings. Go1's extensive content library makes it easy to swap out underperforming courses with fresh, engaging alternatives without rebuilding entire programs from scratch.

The U.S. spends $200 billion annually on corporate training, but only 10% produces meaningful results. Don’t want your company to face the same problem? With systematic evaluation and the right technology, you can ensure every dollar and hour spent on learning drives real results for your people and business.

With Go1, you can simplify your training audit process with comprehensive analytics and reporting tools. Our platform automatically tracks engagement, completion, and learning outcomes, giving you audit-ready insights without manual data collection. Book a call today and discover how Go1 can streamline your training evaluation process.