Creating Training Materials That Get Completed
"Did everyone complete the training?"
Used to be a question. Now it's a dashboard.
That's the shift. From hoping people read the PDF you emailed, to knowing exactly who opened it, how long they spent, and whether they finished.
For compliance purposes, this matters. A lot. You need documentation. Real documentation, not just a list of people who received an email.
For actual learning, it matters even more. Training that doesn't get completed teaches nothing. And training that gets skimmed doesn't stick.
This guide covers how to create training materials people actually finish. Structure, engagement, tracking, and follow-up.
The Training Completion Problem
Training completion rates are bad. Really bad.
Industry average for eLearning course completion sits at 20-30%. That means two to three out of four employees who receive training don't complete it.
And completion is not just an L&D KPI. In regulated environments, it connects directly to risk outcomes, which is why OSHA ties strong training and safety programs to materially better results.
Why? A few reasons:
It's boring, for starters. Most corporate training is dry. Long PDFs. Dense paragraphs. Stock photos of people pointing at whiteboards. Catherine Choe, Chief of Staff to the Chief Legal Officer at Zendesk, described the problem this way: "I had to work with our subject matter experts and say, look, you are giving people 45 slides that they have to read. They're not gonna read them." She's right. When training feels like punishment, people treat it that way.
There's also no accountability in most setups. If nobody knows whether you finished, why bother? The PDF sits unopened. The quarterly check-in comes. "Yeah, I reviewed it." Nobody verifies.
Then there's length. A 60-page training manual looks like work. People see it, sigh, and close the tab. "I'll get to it later." Later never comes. And the format itself is hostile. Scrolling through a PDF on a laptop while checking email and attending meetings? That's not learning. That's pretending.
The solution involves better content and better tracking. You need both. Great content without tracking means you hope people complete it. Tracking without good content means you watch people drop off at page 3.
Designing Training That Engages
Content comes first. If the training is bad, tracking just documents the failure.
Keep It Short
The single biggest improvement you can make: shorter training modules.
Research consistently shows that modules under 10 minutes are optimal for focused learning. After that, attention drops. Retention drops. Completion drops. Microlearning courses achieve 80% completion rates versus just 20% for long-form modules.
If you have 4 hours of training content, don't create one 4-hour module. Create sixteen 15-minute modules.
This approach feels inefficient. It's the opposite. Employees who complete sixteen short modules learn more than employees who abandon one long module at page 10.
One Concept Per Module
Each training module should cover one thing. Not three things. Not five things. One thing.
"Safety Protocols" is too broad. Break it down:
- Module 1: Personal Protective Equipment (10 pages)
- Module 2: Equipment Safety Checks (12 pages)
- Module 3: Incident Reporting (8 pages)
- Module 4: Emergency Procedures (10 pages)
Employees can complete one module between meetings. One during lunch. One at the end of the day. Progress happens incrementally.
Write for Scanners
Nobody reads training materials word by word. They scan. They look for key points. They skip paragraphs.
Design for scanning:
- Bold important points
- Use bullet lists for key items
- Keep paragraphs short (2-3 sentences)
- Add clear headings every page
- Highlight actions in boxes or callouts
A scannable document that gets completed teaches more than a thorough document that gets abandoned.
Make It Visual
Walls of text don't work. Visuals do.
Instead of: "Employees must ensure that their workstation meets ergonomic standards including proper chair height, monitor distance, and keyboard positioning."
Try: A simple diagram showing correct posture, with callouts for chair height, monitor distance, and keyboard position.
The information is the same. The visual version gets understood. The text version gets skipped.
Include Knowledge Checks
Add short quizzes throughout. Not tests. Checks.
"Quick check: Which three items should you verify before operating the forklift?"
This does several things:
- Confirms understanding (for both employee and manager)
- Breaks up the content
- Increases engagement (people pay more attention when they know a question is coming)
- Creates documentation of comprehension, not just completion
Two or three quick checks per module is plenty. Don't turn training into a test. That increases anxiety and decreases completion.
The Tracking Advantage
Here's where flipbook training materials change the game.
Know Who Completed It
With PDF training, you know who received it. That's it.
With tracked flipbooks, you know who:
- Opened it
- Finished it
- Spent adequate time on it
- Passed the knowledge checks
This isn't surveillance. It's documentation. When the compliance auditor asks "how do you verify employees completed the training?" you have an answer.
Time-Based Verification
Opening a document isn't the same as reading it.
Time tracking adds a layer. If the training takes 15 minutes to complete properly, and someone finished in 90 seconds, they didn't really complete it.
Set minimum time thresholds. Training counts as complete when someone:
- Viewed all pages
- Spent at least X minutes total
- Answered knowledge check questions
This prevents the "scroll through quickly and claim I'm done" problem.
Page-by-Page Data
Some pages matter more than others.
If page 7 covers a critical safety procedure, you want to know that employees actually viewed it. Not just that they opened the document.
Page-level tracking shows exactly what was viewed and for how long. If everyone spends 3 seconds on the critical safety page, you have a problem. Maybe the content is unclear. Maybe it needs emphasis. Either way, you can see it and fix it.
Completion Reporting
Pull reports showing:
- Who completed
- Who started but didn't finish
- Who hasn't started
- Completion rates by department
- Time spent per module
This is HR's dream. Instead of chasing people for confirmation, you look at a dashboard. Send follow-ups to people who haven't completed. Thank people who have. Target reminders based on actual data.
Increasing Completion Rates
Tracking shows you the problem. Now how do you fix it?
Automatic Reminders
Someone started training three days ago and stopped at page 4. They probably forgot about it.
Send an automatic reminder: "You're 40% through the safety training. Finish up? It only takes 10 more minutes."
This isn't nagging. This is helpful. Most people want to complete training. They just forget.
Set reminders at:
- 48 hours after start (if not completed)
- One week after initial send (if not started)
- Escalation to manager (after two weeks)
Deadlines With Consequences
"Please complete by end of quarter" doesn't work. "Complete by Friday or your manager gets notified" does.
Real deadlines create urgency. Soft deadlines create procrastination.
Be clear about consequences. Not punitive. Just clear. "Training must be completed before accessing system/area/equipment."
Mobile Access
Some employees are never at their desks. Warehouse workers. Field staff. Retail teams.
If training only works on desktop, these employees can't complete it during their workday. They have to find a computer, log in, remember the link. It doesn't happen.
Mobile-friendly training can be done during breaks. On phones. Standing in the warehouse. Completion rates jump when you remove friction.
Progress Visibility
Show employees their progress. A completion bar. A checklist. A dashboard.
"You've completed 3 of 5 required training modules. 2 remaining."
Progress visibility creates motivation. People want to finish what they started. Show them how close they are.
Manager Dashboards
Give managers visibility into their team's completion.
Not to micromanage. To help. A manager who sees that two team members haven't completed required training can follow up directly. "Hey, the safety training is due Friday. You're at 60%. Need any help finishing up?"
Personal follow-up from a manager works better than automated reminders. Give managers the data to make it happen.
Compliance Documentation
For regulated industries, documentation isn't optional. It's required.
Audit Trail
Every interaction should be logged:
- When the training was assigned
- When it was first opened
- When each page was viewed
- When it was completed
- Time spent on each section
- Quiz responses and scores
This creates an audit trail. When the regulator asks "did Employee X complete training on Date Y?" you have proof. Timestamped, detailed proof.
Digital Signatures
Some training requires acknowledgment. "I have read and understood this policy."
Build signature capture into the training. Employee reaches the end, types their name, clicks acknowledge. Timestamp recorded.
This is stronger than a paper signature. Paper signatures can be forged or backdated. Digital signatures with timestamps are harder to dispute.
Retention Policies
Keep training records. For a long time.
Different regulations require different retention periods. Some require records for 3 years. Some for 7 years. Some indefinitely.
Design your system to retain records appropriately. This isn't just about compliance. It's about protection. When something goes wrong five years from now, you'll want proof that training was completed.
Automated Reporting
Regulators want reports. Give them reports.
Build automated reports that show:
- Completion rates by training type
- Average time to complete
- Knowledge check pass rates
- Outstanding assignments
When audit time comes, click a button and generate the report. No scrambling. No manual compilation. No stress.
Interactive Elements That Work
Flipbook training can include elements that PDFs can't. Here's what adds value.
Embedded Videos
Some things need to be shown, not told.
Equipment operation. Physical procedures. Software walkthroughs. Video demonstrates what text can't. Research shows people are 95% more likely to retain information conveyed via video than via text alone.
Keep videos short. 2-3 minutes maximum. Embed them directly in the training so employees don't have to navigate elsewhere.
Clickable Checklists
Turn procedures into interactive checklists.
"Before operating the forklift, confirm: Area is clear of obstacles Forks are lowered Horn is functional Seat belt is fastened"
Employees check each item. The system records their responses. This reinforces the procedure and documents compliance.
Scenarios and Branching
Present situations. Ask what the employee would do. Show the result.
"A customer asks for a refund without a receipt. What do you do? A) Refuse the refund B) Ask a manager C) Process the refund anyway"
Employee chooses. System shows what happens with each choice. More engaging than reading a policy paragraph.
This works especially well for soft skills training, customer service training, and ethics training.
Reference Links
Training often connects to policies, procedures, or resources.
Instead of saying "refer to the employee handbook section 3.2," link directly to it. One click, they're there.
This serves two purposes: easy access during training, and quick reference later when the employee needs to look something up.
Structure for Different Training Types
Different training needs different approaches.
Onboarding
New employees are motivated but overwhelmed. Keep it digestible.
- Day 1: Company overview (15 min)
- Day 2: Role basics (15 min)
- Day 3: Systems training (20 min)
- Week 2: Policies and compliance (split across the week)
Don't dump everything on day one. Spread it out. New employees have enough to absorb.
Compliance/Safety
These are required. Make them efficient.
- Get to the point quickly
- Focus on what employees need to do, not background
- Include knowledge checks to verify understanding
- Keep each module under 15 minutes
- Use visuals for procedures
Compliance training often has mandated content. Work within that constraint to make it as painless as possible.
Skills Development
These are optional. Make them valuable.
- Clear benefit upfront ("after this training, you'll be able to...")
- Practical exercises, not just information
- Connection to career growth
- Longer modules are okay if the content is engaging
People choose to complete optional training. Give them reasons to choose yes.
Product/Service Updates
These are ongoing. Make them quick.
- What changed, in 60 seconds
- Why it matters to the employee
- What they need to do differently
- Link to detailed documentation for reference
Don't make employees complete a 30-minute training for a minor product update. Respect their time.
Where Training Programs Break Down
The most common mistake is also the most obvious: making it too long. Long training doesn't get completed. Break it up. This is so well documented at this point that it barely needs repeating, yet most companies still ship 60-page PDFs and wonder why nobody finishes.
Close behind is the tracking gap. You can't improve what you don't measure, and you can't document what you don't track. If your only proof of completion is "we sent the email," you don't have proof of anything.
Desktop-only training is another killer, especially for companies with warehouse workers, field staff, or retail teams. If someone can't do the training on their phone during a break, it's going to sit in their inbox until a manager escalates. And speaking of managers, training without real deadlines gets deprioritized indefinitely. "Please complete by end of quarter" is the corporate equivalent of "whenever you get around to it."
A TalentLMS survey of 1,000 U.S. employees found that 45% say compliance training is disconnected from real situations they face at work. That gap between training content and workplace reality is where engagement dies. If completion rates are low, the answer isn't more reminders. It's better content.
What to Measure (And What to Ignore)
Completion rate is the obvious metric. What percentage finish? Aim for 80% or higher on mandatory training. But completion alone doesn't tell you much. Someone who scrolled through in 90 seconds technically "completed" the training. They didn't learn anything.
Time to complete matters more than most teams realize. If your 15-minute training module has an average completion time of 2 minutes, people are clicking through without reading. If the average is 25 minutes, the training is probably too dense.
Drop-off data is the most actionable thing you'll get. Where do people stop? If everyone bails at page 7, look at page 7. Maybe it's confusing. Maybe it's boring. Maybe it's a wall of text that should have been a diagram. Fix the page, watch completion rates climb.
The ultimate test isn't any single metric. It's whether your records satisfy compliance requirements when an auditor comes knocking, and whether the training actually changed how people work. Those are harder to measure. But if completion rates are high, time spent is realistic, and knowledge check scores are solid, you're in good shape.
Getting Started
Pick one training module that people aren't completing reliably. Convert it to flipbook format. Add tracking. Set a deadline. Send it out.
Then watch the data. The goal isn't perfect training on day one. It's training that improves every cycle. Tracked, measured, adjusted. That's the difference between a compliance checkbox and a program that actually teaches people something.
Create trackable training materials | HR and training solutions