The need for high-quality training and development programs is on the rise. Current events have impacted businesses in just about every industry in one way or another. Whether they are changing policies and procedures to improve health and safety, shifting to a digital model, or introducing a new line of offerings to their customers, the most successful businesses are rapidly changing to adapt to the market. Along with these significant changes comes an increased need for employee training programs.
Unfortunately, there are many new training challenges that organizations must also address. Many employees are now working remotely, and traditional training strategies such as instructor-led programs are no longer suitable. Furthermore, many companies do not have the resources or technology needed to roll out large-scale learning and development projects — but these organizations need to design and implement training programs quickly to help their employees adapt to these changes.
In many cases, training outsourcing is the perfect solution. If you are like many other learning and development (L&D) professionals, you might be wondering whether outsourcing is a good fit for your organization. There is much to consider. To help with this decision, here are the top six benefits of training outsourcing:
1. Opportunities to Reduce Cost
Across industries, one of the most significant benefits of outsourcing is that it can reduce costs. In fact, 2020 research by Deloitte found that cost savings is the top reason organizations outsource.
When you work with a partner to outsource your learning solutions, you no longer have to worry about the expenses associated with doing it all in house. You don’t have to find and recruit top training talent, and you don’t have to spend the time and money to train them. Modern training and development programs usually take a considerable amount of skill and technology. A good training company already has both the talent and the tools in place to deliver your training programs quickly at a low cost.
An outsourcing partner can also help you cut costs by aligning your programs’ learning objectives with your company’s business strategy to maximize impact.
2. Increased Speed
Last year brought near-constant change. Businesses in nearly every industry have had to learn to adapt in order to succeed, and more change is expected in the coming months. This situation has created a significant need for new or adapted training materials and programs.
Organizations need to train their employees on new procedures or policies, and they need to do it quickly — which can be challenging for organizations with L&D teams that already have a full workload. In this case, training outsourcing can be an effective solution. Training outsourcing companies can often dedicate an entire team of training professionals and subject matter experts (SMEs) to an initiative, which dramatically speeds up development and implementation.
3. Geographic Reach
The global market is expanding, and enterprise companies with teams in different countries worldwide need high-quality training solutions for their employees across these regions. Using a training outsourcing partner can make the development and delivery of these solutions more straightforward, as you can work with a team that has experience in the location where learners will be participating in the training. Using training outsourcing will help ensure that the program will include the right cultural norms, languages and learning preferences. If you outsource trainers or instructors, you will also reduce the cost of travel.
4. Access to Expert Talent
Another benefit of training outsourcing is that it gives you access to training experts. Your training partner will have experienced professionals who specialize in all areas related to corporate training, including training content development, training management and facilitation and information technology (IT) experts who can help manage your learning management system (LMS).
A training partner will focus on training and development trends, tools and strategies full time so your organization can focus on its core objectives. These experts will help you create a learning strategy that tackles your most difficult training challenges, such as learner engagement, speeding up the training process, increasing access to learning materials and training remote teams.
5. Improve Scalability
It is likely that your organization’s training needs will vary over time and depend on the market and your company’s strategy. If your organization is rolling out a new line of products or introducing new software, for example, you will need a much larger team to quickly create the required training programs to support that initiative. However, at other times, your training programs may simply need maintenance or small updates. These fluctuations are easier to manage when you outsource with a training partner, and outsourcing will give you more flexibility when it comes to the scalability and scope of your training initiatives.
6. Delivering High-quality Learning Solutions
The quality of the content training providers create is another notable benefit of training outsourcing. With a large team of experts, the top tools and a deep understanding of the training industry, a good training partner can deliver modern, high-quality training programs that provide a high return on investment (ROI).
Many organizations today require solutions like eLearning programs, microlearning refresher courses and virtual instructor led training (VILT). Developing these training programs requires a high level of expertise, and outsourcing will help ensure that the programs you implement are modern, practical and deliver the desired results.
Modern organizations are faced with many new challenges, and the most successful companies are working to quickly adapt to the changing market. However, they know that making these changes is not enough: They need employee training initiatives to successfully implement them. In many cases, they also need to convert their training programs into more suitable formats, such as VILT.
Developing these large-scale L&D projects takes a considerable amount of time and money. Training outsourcing can help your company cut training costs, improve scalability and deliver high-quality learning experiences to your employees quickly.
Learn more about training outsourcing solutions in this blog post: “When is the Right Time to Outsource your Training Initiatives?”