I'm an L&D Consultant working in the Oil & Gas industry. One of this years objecives is "benchmarking". I'll be looking at costs of training as well as quality of material etc. but how do I go about banchmarking this against industry standards etc?
Frank McGoldrick
5 Responses
Only benchmark outputs
There is no point in trying to benchmark costs or quality of materials without looking at outputs – the key question is what did the L&D achieve?
To do this you need to benchmark on an evaluation basis. So for example – do you compare notes on competence systems or ask whether competence standards and business performance have improved?
We also have a benchmarking scale on EvaluationZone if you want to subscribe.
Regards
Paul Kearns
PS. I guess whoever set you this objective has no idea how to do it!
Benchmarking Organisations
One way is to contact other companies in non-competitive arenas and compare notes, or to participate in benchmarking projects that are currently running in this area.
You may well find that the organisation you are working for is a member of an organisation which facilitates benchmarking on behalf of its members.
Three such examples are the ‘Best Practice Club’ (www.bpclub.com), The Benchmarking Exchange, and a government organisation called ‘Fit for the Future’ (www.fitforthefuture.co.uk).
Hope this helps
Benchmarking
We have set up a network called StrategyNet and this gives participants an excellent way to exchange information in total confidence. If you would like to talk about this please either give me a call 01444 455052 or eMail me at ms@csgconsult.com
benchmarking report
If its of help, NEC has just completed with LSDA a benchmarking report into distance learning. It is a report looking at process not metric benchmarking but may help you with a framework as a starting point for your own research. Let me know if you want a copy.
Benchmarking Oil and Gas Industry
Hi Frank – good news, we have already been involved in undertaking this task within the oil and gas sector – drop me an email with your contact details and I’ll give you a call to see if I can help you out – virginiae@accl.co.uk