Training is increasingly evolving from single events to complex processes. How can HR development professionals structure these learning processes for themselves and the learners? Simply put: with a learning path! Here you will learn exactly what a learning path is and how to create digital learning paths for the participants of your online courses.
From "Learning Event" to "Learning Process"
Training in companies is advancing rapidly: learning methods are becoming more digital and diverse. Learning itself is becoming increasingly self-directed and, in one way or another, interactive. The classic "training day" is transitioning more and more to "self-learning" over a longer period. In short: A learning event is increasingly becoming a learning process.
This presents a new challenge for HR development professionals: How can you structure this learning process and guide your employees through the process? The solution to this question is the learning path.
What is a learning path?
Short and sweet: A learning path is the learning journey of your employees or the participants in your digital training throughout the entire learning process.
The learning path describes the individual stages that a learner goes through until they achieve the learning goal. There are different phases involved: from the preparation for the training measure to the long-term transfer into everyday professional life. The focus is on the employee or course participant who will later go through the learning process.
The learning path describes the way of employees through all stages of the learning process
Creating your own learning path
A learning path helps you keep the learning process in view at all times. Your employees also know exactly what to expect from the beginning, are aware of the necessary steps, and understand what and why they are learning.
To create such a learning path, you need to clarify two questions in advance:
1. Who is your target audience?
When designing a learning path, the learner is at the center. You build the process, necessary content, and methods around the learner. To do this, you need a good understanding of who your target audience actually is: a learner persona. In the Shiftlearning blog, you can find a short but very helpful guide for developing learner personas.
2. What is the learning goal?
For each learning path, you should define a concrete goal that is also communicated to the learners. You can set this goal through three questions:
What do my employees need to learn?
What knowledge do they already have?
What knowledge do I still need to convey to them?
An example: (1) The employees of your sales team need to learn how to explain a new product to customers. (2) They generally understand how the product works but are unfamiliar with all the technical features. (3) What they need is detailed knowledge about the product features.
The three phases of a learning path
With a target audience and learning objectives in mind, you can now start planning your employees' learning path. Each learner's journey generally consists of three phases, which may include several steps: preparation, learning phase, and transfer phase. For your own learner journey, you can certainly include additional individualized phases.
1. Preparation Phase: The first station in the learning path includes all steps from the point where your employee learns that they need to learn something to the point where the actual learning process begins.
Possible steps:
Your employees are informed about the upcoming training, the process, and the goals, for example via email or personally by a manager.
You emotionally prepare your employees for the learning path, for instance through a video from the trainer explaining why the training is important.
You check the current learning status of your employees, for instance through a short online questionnaire.
2. Learning Phase: The second phase includes all steps in the learning path from the first actual learning content to the last. How this phase unfolds varies from topic to topic and from learner to learner.
Possible steps:
Decide which content should be delivered in the learning phase.
Choose the methods that best fit the content. Should there be an in-person event or an online training? Should different digital learning methods be combined? Tip: Get an overview of the most common digital learning methods!
If you want to offer blended learning, establish the flow of in-person and online phases. For this, choose one of the blended learning models:
The 3 Phases of a Learning Path
With a target audience and learning objectives in mind, you can now start planning your employees' learning path. Each learning path essentially consists of three phases, which may include several steps: preparation, learning phase, and transfer phase. You can certainly include further individualized phases for your own learning path.
1. The Preparation Phase
The first station in the learning path involves all steps from when your employees learn that they need to acquire knowledge to when the actual learning process begins.
Possible Steps:
Your employees are informed about the upcoming training, the process, and the goals, for example via email or personally by a manager.
You emotionally prepare your employees for the learning path, for instance by using a video from the trainer explaining why the training is important.
You check the current learning status of your employees, for instance through a short online questionnaire.
2. The Learning Phase
The second phase includes all steps in the learning path from the first learning content to the last. How this phase unfolds varies from topic to topic and from learner to learner.
Possible Steps:
Decide which content should be delivered in the learning phase.
Choose the methods that best fit the content. Should there be an in-person event or an online training? Should various digital learning methods be combined? Tip: Get an overview of the most common digital learning methods!
If you want to offer blended learning, determine the flow of in-person and online phases.
3. The Transfer Phase
The third phase encompasses all steps from the end of the actual learning to the long-term application in everyday professional life.
Possible Steps:
Consider how your employees should concretely apply the new knowledge in daily life.
Create transfer tasks to assist in transferring the new knowledge into your employees' daily routines.
Develop ways to check progress, for instance through knowledge tests or a final exam.
Bring these three phases and the important steps for you into a chronological sequence or combine them appropriately for your employees – this results in your finished learning path!
2 Examples of Learning Paths
If you are unsure how your finished learning path might look, we have two examples for you:
Example 1: Process
In this example, you can see that even a simple representation is sufficient to capture the process. This learning path illustrates the process for training according to the blended learning concept with alternating in-person and online phases, as well as a longer transfer support.
Learning Path for Blended Learning
Example 2: Timeline
This learning path from the Business Performance Academy is not clearly divided into phases. Instead, the illustration shows the timeline over 200 days. The learning and transfer phases are not separated but planned alternately.
Learning Path of the Business Performance Academy
Both displayed learning paths follow the blended learning principle by combining in-person events with online courses.
Conclusion
💡 A well-thought-out digital learning path connects clear learning objectives, structured phases, and targeted transfer measures into a sustainable learning process that extends beyond individual training days.
Modern continuing education is no longer an isolated event but an ongoing process. Those who consciously plan learning paths create orientation for employees and ensure that content is not only consumed but also applied.
The clear structure is crucial: preparation, learning phase, and transfer phase interconnect and together form the framework for sustainable competence development.
When you accurately know your target audience, define concrete learning objectives, and actively support the transfer into daily professional life, a training session evolves into a genuine development process. This way, you guide learners not just through a course but truly to their goal.
We hope this article has provided you with some useful information, and we wish you much success in creating your learning paths!
Updated on 25.02.2026
