Every day we are hearing about  companies having to ‘tighten their belts’, ‘streamline’, ‘make cutbacks’ and it seems to always be the field of training that is first in the line of fire.

Now, this is never a good option and should never be taken lightly, as everyone agrees nowadays that a good company will only become a great company by having well trained staff.

Training is not just about learning new skills, knowledge and behaviours – training is also all about motivating staff, making them realise just how much they are valued. Training Is all about meeting colleagues who do a similar job for a similar (but often not the same) company. In fact the original social networking!  Training is all about sharing ideas with others, passing on one’s own knowledge and experiences.

So what cost effective solutions are out there to help companies who do not have an absolute need to reduce their training costs but still want to maintain an on-going training programme for their staff.

Research carried out in 2009 by TrainingIndustry, Inc. reveals that as much as 40 pence per pound spent on face to face training goes to travel and accommodation expenses. The single most effective way to eliminate face to face training costs is to replace it with online training. So now companies using online learning solutions are saving money.

Pearson Digital Learning wanted to reduce time and travel costs for product training so they successfully moved the majority of their training to remote training over the internet. So now the companies are saving time and they are saving money.

Online training takes a relatively short space of time to attend. Many training workshops are typically between 1 – 1.5 hours duration. This means that only 1 – 1.5 hours will be taken out of the delegates’ normal working day - as opposed to at least half a day when the delegates have to drive to a venue, register, meet, greet and seat and then disseminate at the end.

Online training using a webinar platforms allow delegates to actively participate in their learning by answering questions, taking part in activities and receiving support materials, they can even be asked to complete a quiz if that is required to consolidate the learning. The delegates interact directly with the trainer but as an added bonus, are also able to download the recorded training if they wish after the live session ends. So now the company is saving time, saving money and facilitating employee engagement. Research has shown that collaborative learning events increase delegate retention and satisfaction, resulting in higher productivity from employees.

If the online training solution is a suitable medium for delivering the subject matter, then it is a solution that should be introduced at the earliest opportunity. The important consideration as to whether the training will be ‘good’ or ‘effective’ is down to the training deliverer in exactly the same way as if the training was carried out in a face to face environment. The technology works and is only really limited by the trainer’s imagination.

In a climate of social networking , the informal style of online learning fits in very well. It is cost and time effective and allows companies to maintain their training commitments in an effective and flexible manner.