Most businesses today recognise the fundamental importance of learning and development in both maximising the potential of staff and maintaining a competitive edge in the marketplace.
An increasing number of businesses are choosing to outsource their learning and development needs to professional organisations which offer managed training services.
One of the main advantages of outsourcing learning and development in this way is being able to secure a professional bespoke training programme which is related to a business’s unique needs.
Often a programme will be drawn up following an in-depth consultation with experts in learning and development, the result proving a much more relevant and focussed training programme than is usually achieved by dealing with business course administrators direct.
Such an approach can also help a business focus on its core activities without having to concern itself with the burdens of trying to develop a long-term training schedule or tracking down appropriate tutors for different training courses.
Not only can such administrative tasks be extremely time-consuming and frustrating; there is also a danger these tasks being carried out in a disjointed, piecemeal way, leading to some staff being taught different aspects of a topic at different times; and some even ending up not being taught the correct topic at all.
A related benefit from outsourcing staff learning and development is that all essential training resources, including suitable venues, are always guaranteed. Regular staff attendees are also said to respond positively to familiar environments and course personnel.
Many businesses that choose to opt for outsourced learning and development also often comment on how favourably the cost compares with trying to secure good training staff and resources in-house.
It is certainly the case that an established training organisation can often source essential learning materials at greatly reduced costs; and will also have the prestige to attract some of the most talented training staff.
3 Responses
There are two sides to this coin !
As a provider of managed training services, Dale, you’ve articulated the case for outsourcing well. There is also a reduction of fixed costs, as you no longer have to pay salaries, pensions, national insurance for an inhouse training function.
But the flipside, that has to be considered is whether an external company, understands our business, our culture, our challenges etc.
Would love to hear from others.
John@stand-out.org.uk
Outsourcing Benefits
There are lots of benefits when outsourcing work process. It is a great way to save you cost, time, improve workflow, boost business productivity and efficiency. When outsourcing one thing you will encounter is language barrier, where workers are all over the world. Communication is the key to manage workers effectively. Giving a clear set of goals to workers can help you get what you desire on tasks output. You can also check this article regarding more benefits of outsourcing.
Yes, outsourcing could
Yes, outsourcing could maximize your budget but keep in mind that not all tasks are to be outsourced and in the long run, as your business grows, you will need a physical office where you can work with your employees side by side.
Outsourcing should be a part of your strategy and not just a cost-cutting method. You can hire virtual assistants to take care of tasks beyond your workload but you should still have to do some tasks on your own.