If you've the patience, some background: In January of this year I was recruited into the role of training manager for a group of companies. No training department existed prior to this. I worked for the company in a people management role (involving training), left, then returned. I am new to training as a formal role. We have around 140 employees.

The issue: I am a one-man department, and currently do everything training related, from all administration to design & delivery. Maybe it's just me, but my impact seems to be dwindling as I find my time increasingly taken up by the detail. I am about to press for an assistant. So...

Is there any published advice on the best, even minimum, trainer to employee ratios required to be effective? Any benchmarks? If not, I would be grateful to know your individual experiences. Has anyone experienced a similar situation? Should I be coping with this number of employees (I can handle the truth!)?

Phew. Thanks in advance.

David Fowler