Audience: Training Owners and Training Focal Points

 

Purpose

This SOP is intended for training owners and training focal points responsible for managing IOM mandatory training courses.

It explains the shared responsibilities between the IOM Learning Centre and training owners throughout the lifecycle of a mandatory training course, including:

 


I. Requesting a Training to Become Mandatory

An IOM unit that wishes to make a training course mandatory must submit a request to the Learning Centre through the designated form in the HR Support Portal.

The request must include:
  • Training title
  • Business justification explaining why the training should be mandatory
  • Relevant policy, instruction, framework, or organizational requirement supporting the request
  • Proposed target audience
  • Proposed completion timeline
  • Confirmation that the course is owned by IOM and accessible to diverse learners
  • Training package or course link

 

Criteria for Mandatory Training

A training course may be designated as mandatory when it:

  • Meets a recognized knowledge, skills or accountability gap of vital importance to the Organization, i.e. IOM promotes this and so anyone who works for IOM must know it.
  • Addresses a strategic need for targeted staff to gain the knowledge and skills covered in the course.
  • Supports an organizational priority, policy requirement, or risk mitigation measure.
  • Provides knowledge or skills that all targeted personnel are expected to possess.
  • Is relevant, fit for purpose, and aligned with IOM's operational needs.
  • Is available in a format that allows the target audience to complete it, whether through self-paced learning or regular instructor-led sessions.
  • Is accessible to all intended audience in all IOM locations.
  • Complies with the IOM Learning Centre quality framework and learning design standards
  • Is available in IOM's three official languages (English, French, and Spanish)
  • Meets accessibility standards and can be used by personnel with visual, hearing, or physical impairments.
  • Can be accessed through commonly used devices and technology, e.g. laptops, tablets, and mobile phones
  • Has a comparable mandatory training requirement within the UN system or other UN agencies, where applicable.

  . 

The IOM Learning Centre may request additional information before progressing the proposal.

 

Defining the Target Audience

It is the responsibility of the training owners to define the scope of IOM personnel for whom the training will be mandatory. If it is to be made mandatory to all IOM personnel, guidance and consideration on accessibility must be given by the training owners to the following personnel:

  • Personnel on hourly or daily contracts 
  • Personnel with a contract duration of less than a month with IOM (e.g., consultants who will conduct training, facilitate a workshop, etc.)
  • Personnel who are not issued IOM laptops nor know how to use a laptop
  • Personnel who speak neither English, French nor Spanish.

To make the training accessible to such personnel, training owners could: 

  • Train focals in the region/CO who will have the responsibility of conducting regular training sessions specifically for these personnel. This has the added benefit of being able to train in a local language.
  • The training owner themselves will conduct regular training sessions twice a year per region to these colleagues.
  • Give guidance on accessing the training from the alternative LMS (for auxiliary staff) via mobile device.

 

Delivery Method

Mandatory training must include a self-paced version to ensure IOM staff can access and complete it easily.

If a new mandatory training is delivered only by a trainer, either online or in person, sessions should be offered often enough during the first three months to give staff enough opportunities to attend.

 

Review and Approval Process
  1. Training owner submits request to the IOM Learning Centre.
  2. Learning Centre reviews the proposal against mandatory training criteria.
  3. Learning Centre presents the proposal to the Training Advisory Committee (TAC) for review and endorsement.
  4. Following TAC endorsement, the proposal is submitted to the Executive Office (EO) for final approval.
  5. Learning Centre communicates the final decision to the training owner.

 

A list of approved mandatory training courses is maintained by the Learning Centre and published through the HR Support Portal. (Link: https://hrm.iom.int/support/solutions/articles/26000019660) 

 

II. Promoting the training and monitoring completion levels

From the time a training has been approved as mandatory for IOM and throughout the life of the mandatory training, it is the shared responsibility of the training owners and Learning Centre to (a) continuously promote the mandatory training, (b) monitor the completion rates, and (c) follow-up with IOM personnel who have not completed the training courses.

 

Completion Requirements

Approved mandatory training must be completed by new IOM personnel within two (2) months of their entry on duty, and by existing staff within two (2) months of the training launch.


Consequences of Non-Completion

IOM staff who do not complete all required mandatory training within the prescribed timeframe may be subject to the following restrictions:

  • Ineligible for SDL-funded learning programmes
  • Ineligible for Study Leave approval
  • Ineligible to participate in the IOM Pathway Pool Programme
  • Ineligible for the IOM Staff Exchange Programme
  • Ineligible for consideration for vacancy positions

Supervisors may also consider mandatory training completion when:

  • Authorizing Travel on Duty (TDY) or Short-Term Assignment (STA)
  • Confirming participation in learning activities
  • Assessing quarterly performance

 

IOM Learning Centre Responsibilities

The Learning Centre offers the following to assist with the promotion and enforcement of compliance:

  • Configure and maintain mandatory status in IOM’s Learning Management System (LMS)
  • Develop communication plans and promotional campaigns
  • Design promotional materials when required
  • Develop a mandatory training dashboard so training owners can monitor completion levels independently
  • Share completion statistics with RDs, RRMOs, RHROs, Department Directors and EO, including reports with names of IOM personnel who have yet to complete the mandatory courses
  • Completion being considered for SDL-funded or SDL-managed learning opportunities
  • Completion being considered for Study Leave approval

 

Training Owner Responsibilities

Training owners are responsible for:

  • Course Maintenance
    • Keeping course content accurate and up to date
    • Reviewing content regularly
    • Updating courses when policies, procedures, or guidance change
    • Ensuring content remains relevant and fit for purpose


  • Accessibility and Multilingualism
    1. Working with the Learning Centre to ensure the course remains accessible
    2. Providing translations where required
    3. Supporting compliance with accessibility standards


  • Promotion
    • Providing key messages and content for communications
    • Developing FAQs and support materials
    • Promoting the training through their own communication channels
    • Supporting communications on consequences or compliance expectations

 

  • Monitoring
    • Monitoring completion rates through Learning Centre dashboards and reports
    • Ensure that all focals and staff working in their unit/Division have completed the mandatory training courses, particularly their own mandatory training
    • Following up with non-completers and target audience 

 

III. Reporting

It is the training owner’s responsibility to report on completion stats related to their own training in internal and questionnaires. Learning Centre will only report on global completion rates. Learning Centre will publish global compliance reports in the form of dashboards and will share these with regions and with the Executive Office.

 

IV. Assessing Impact

It is the training owner’s responsibility to define outcomes, outputs and indicators to know whether their mandatory training is reaching its intended results. Training owners are also responsible for regularly collecting and monitoring the data for these indicators, which can be done on an annual basis. Consequently, training owners are also encouraged to include such impact reporting in their annual reports.

 

Key Principle

The IOM Learning Centre manages the platform, governance, reporting framework, and communication support. Training owners remain accountable for the content, relevance, promotion, impact measurement, and compliance monitoring of their mandatory training courses. This shared ownership model ensures mandatory training remains current, accessible, and effective across the Organization. 



Ready to make your training mandatory at IOM? Click here to submit your request.

Want to see the current list of mandatory trainings? Click here to view the list.