Hi,
We are looking to implement some kind of cancellation policy for our internal and external workshops/programmes. This would mena that we cross charge other departments if we have to cancel any workshops.
Does anyone have, or know of, a good policy I could use as a model?
Thanks
LYN DENNISS
2 Responses
Cancellation policy
I have worked as a consultant with a number of T&D functions in different organisations and I believe that cancellations and ‘no shows’ are by far the single biggest wasted cost in training. I usually advise that a cancellation charge is vital even if you do not hard charge (eg for internal training). Ironically this internal charging is not too bureaucratic as it tends to dramatically cut the number of instances.
Here is a typical policy:
CANCELLATION/TRANSFER FEES
As soon as your application has been received you will become liable for any cancellation/transfer charges as stated below. Cancellation, or transfer to another course date, without a suitable replacement person (at the time of the cancellation or transfer) will incur cancellation fees at a percentage of the course cost as follows:
NOTICE OF CANCELLATION PERCENTAGE OF COURSE
(PRIOR TO COURSE START DATE) COST CHARGED
29 days or more 10%
15 to 28 days 50%
1 to 14 days 90%
Course start date or later 100%
(WEEKENDS ARE INCLUDED IN THE ABOVE CALCULATIONS)
Cancellation Charges
Hi Lyn,
you can access many cancellation policies by looking at the websites of commercial training firms – if you would like a copy of ours, please drop me an e-mail and I will forward them to you.
I would recommend that your policy on cross charging for external workshops mirrors those of your external provider. However, as for internal workshops, you would be faced with the task of calculating the cost of one course place which you could either do on the basis of the internal cost to you or on the basis of value to your internal customer and therefore linked to external market rates for similar training.
Things to be aware of are the increased administration you would introduce to implement the policy and the affect it will have on the perception of your internal customer as the last thing you want to do is drive them away from using your services.
If late cancellations or no-shows is a problem for you, have you looked at other ways of managing the situation or what is causing it to happen in the first place?
I’d be happy to talk this through if you are interested.
Regards,
Gary