If you want to give your course completion rate a boost, a training reminder email could well be your L&D best friend. Not the kind of high-maintenance friend who’ll ring you every other minute to update you on their latest drama. But the kind of friend who instinctively knows when you need a gentle nudge, gives you the news you need to hear, and then lets you get on with it.
And, because everyone deserves a friend like that, we’ve created some training email reminder templates for you. Save them. And when you need to send out a reminder, just pop in the relevant details and you’re all done.
But first, a bit of guidance on what to include in your training reminder, when to send it and why it matters.
What we’ll cover:
- What to include in a “Reminder to complete a course” email
- How to use your training reminder template
- Download your training reminder email template
- How to customize your training reminder email
Preparing your “Reminder to complete a course” email
Getting this email ready to send won’t take much time—particularly if you’ve got a training reminder template set up. But it is important to give thought to what you’re trying to achieve and how best to do that.
1. Why
You’re sending this email to make sure as many people as possible complete the course you’ve prepared.
If it’s a mandatory training course, your goal will be to get all employees to complete it by a fixed date.
If it’s optional, your aim will be to get as many people as possible to complete it (the timeframe for this will be less rigid).
With your main objective clear, you can use it to guide and ground your next steps.
2. What
You’ve established your goal. Now use it to craft your message.
Unlike your original training invitation email, this training reminder doesn’t have to lay the groundwork and include all of the details. Keeping your message clear and focused is key.
So, a simple reminder of the deadline and details of how to access the course (for example, the link) should be enough. You could follow this with a short sentence on what is achieved by completing the training.
3. When
The training reminder emails we’re looking at here are designed to target online, self-paced eLearning courses. And the standard approach for courses like these is for HR to send out one or two reminders before the deadline.
Having said that, when and how often you send out your training reminder email will also depend on a number of additional factors.
For optional online courses, one reminder about a week before the deadline should be enough.
If the course is mandatory, consider sending out a second reminder, too. This should be sent at least 3 days ahead of the deadline to ensure people have time to take action if they haven’t already. In these circumstances, a reminder sent the day before the deadline is pointless.
The length of the course is also significant. If it’s a multi-session course with an assessment at the end, it’s a good idea to remind employees of the deadline at least a week in advance. Again, you need to give people enough time to act.
Need more training email templates? Have a look at our free samples:
- Invitation to a mandatory training session
- Invitation to a live training session
- Announcement for upcoming training
- Invitation to log into your LMS
- Reminder to complete a course
- Reminder for an ILT session
How to use your training reminder email template
At the very least, you’ll need to add your own course-specific details to the training reminder template (for example, deadline date and link to complete the course). But it’s a good idea to also tweak the language and tone a little to match your company culture and the “voice” of the person the email’s coming from. The tone you use should also reflect the content of your message.
If this is a mandatory course (particularly one that’s required by law) you’ll need to be clear about this. This requirement may seem to define the tone. But by framing the message in a positive way you can soften the tone and deliver the message as a mutually beneficial call to action, rather than an instruction that must be met.
So, instead of saying “It’s imperative that everyone understands how to [X/Y/Z]” you can say “By completing this course, you can help create a fair/safe/ethical/secure environment for us all.”
Let’s also spare a thought for your HR team. While they’re sending out reminders to learners, who’s reminding them? Your LMS, that’s who. Set up automated notifications through your LMS and you can be confident that reminders will be sent on time and to the right people—for example, those who haven’t yet completed their training, as opposed to your entire organization.
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Download your “Reminder to complete a course” training email template
So, here are your downloadable training reminder email templates. To help address the different scenarios, we’ve included an example of a first reminder and a second (and last) reminder.
We’ve designed the first reminder with an optional training program in mind. The second reminder is best suited to mandatory training. Of course, you can pick and choose elements from both to meet your own needs.
Example 1: First reminder (optional training)
Email subject line: Only a week to go! Have you completed your [name of course] training?
Dear [employee name],
The deadline for completing [name of course] is [date]. That’s one week from now. Please make sure you’ve finished the course by then.
To access the training go to [link] and log in with [username and password details].
This course is a great chance to expand your knowledge on [topic of the course] and learn how to [skills/knowledge achieved].
If you need any more information or help please contact [team or individual email].
Thank you in advance for your commitment to [XYZ].
Best,
[name] [email signature]Example 2: Final reminder (mandatory training)
Email subject line: Three days to go! Please complete your [name of course] training
Dear [employee name],
The deadline for completing your [name of course] training is [date]. That’s three days from now. This is a final reminder to make sure you’ve finished the course by then.
To access the training go to [link] and log in with [username and password details].
It’s essential that we all complete this training. By doing so, you can help create and maintain a [fair/safe/ethical/compliant/secure] environment for us all.
If you need any more information or help please contact [team or individual email].
Thank you in advance for your commitment to [XYZ].
Best,
[name] [email signature]Download our training reminder email template.
Fill in the details and reach out to your learners in just a few clicks.
How to customize your training reminder email
The templates provided here are a blank canvas. Add your own unique stamp on them by tweaking the tone and adding in extra information, where relevant.
To give you an idea of how you might want to do this, we’ve drafted a few examples below.
Example 1: First reminder (optional training)
Email subject line: Only a week to go! Have you completed your “Inspiring Others” training?
Dear Jen,
We’re sure you’ve logged the date. But just in case, here’s a gentle reminder that the deadline for completing your “Inspiring Others” training course is next Friday, September 24. That’s exactly a week today.
Finishing this course means you can progress to the next stage in your leadership training program. And move one step closer to achieving your accreditation. Which is great news!
Haven’t got the link bookmarked? No problem. To access the training:
- Go to www.talentlms.com
- Log in using your email and password
- Click on “My Courses” at the top of the screen, then choose “Inspiring Others”
The success of our business rests in the hands of its leaders (you!). And we’re excited to have you take part in this development program. We hope you’re enjoying it and getting a chance to apply some of the skills and knowledge you’ve acquired so far.
If you need any more information or help please contact me directly or email someone on the team at development@mycompany.com.
Best,
Adam Cohen
SVP Human Resources
Example 2: Final reminder (mandatory training)
Email subject line: Three days to go! Please complete your ISO 27001 training
Dear Jen,
The deadline for completing your ISO 27001 training is this Thursday, September 21. That’s three days from now. This is a final reminder to make sure you’ve finished the course by then.
To access the training:
- Go to www.talentlms.com
- Log in using your email and password
- Click on “My Courses” at the top of the screen, then choose “ISO 27001”
It’s essential that we all complete this training. By doing so, we can help maintain a secure and compliant environment for ourselves, our colleagues, our business, and our customers.
Thank you in advance for your commitment to protecting the personal and protected data of us all.
If you need any more information or help please contact development@mycompany.com.
Best,
Adam Cohen
SVP Human Resources
Get a good ROI
Training email reminders, done well, will act as a friendly but firm tap on the shoulder that your employees will appreciate. They deliver high returns for low input.
And if you’ve got them saved as templates, ready to use whenever you need to, the additional input’s practically zero. Which means more time for you to add value elsewhere. Well, what else would you expect from a friend?
