One of the greatest challenges facing organizations today is how to equip employees with the knowledge, skills and abilities to keep up with the speed of business. The continuous need to upskill the workforce requires learning and development (L&D) departments to be agile and ready to enable learning in a variety of ways.

It’s no secret that technology is providing new ways to deliver learning, but even the most innovative technologies will never fully replace the need for qualified, professional instructors. Shifting more training to digital delivery methods increases the need for instructor-led training (ILT) to be relevant, engaging and cost-effective. Having a team of qualified professional trainers with a strategic approach to manage these resources is a critical requirement for learning and development organizations.

The Problems Facing Training Delivery

Digital technologies and cost pressures impact the degree to which organizations use ILT. However, they must still be prepared to deliver and administer this effective modality in person or virtually, and there are many challenges to doing so in a cost-effective and efficient way. The availability and capacity of existing instructor resources can become strained as companies grow, change and adapt to market trends. This problem is compounded by the need to qualify or certify instructors as new training demands arise. The shift to blended modes of delivery requires trainers to be skilled at delivering learning effectively in many formats. Geographically dispersed workforces require unique and localized delivery support. Inadequate demand planning and forecasting make it difficult to effectively manage resources, and the diversity of topics demands a pool of instructors with a wide array of skills and experience.

The role of the instructor is often supported by L&D staff, vendors, and subject matter experts (SMEs). This delivery approach often results in reduced learning effectiveness, decreased satisfaction with the learning experience and an overall increase in the cost of the training. With L&D budgets shifting away from instructor-led delivery, learning organizations must find other ways to effectively deliver their ILT.

Why Organizations Choose to Outsource Training Delivery Resource Management

While many of these challenges are not new, organizations are finding new, efficient and cost-effective methods to address them. To improve training delivery, L&D organizations are outsourcing delivery resource management as a strategic approach to recruiting, qualifying, scheduling and managing the performance of training delivery personnel. Managed learning service providers often have greater access to a global pool of professional trainers, allowing them to quickly source the varied skill sets, experiences and locations needed to effectively deliver training.

In addition, providers use standard, efficient processes for onboarding and qualifying instructors and apply specialized technologies to track and manage instructor readiness, availability and performance. They also leverage data to improve demand forecasting and manage training participation. To ensure successful delivery, managed learning service providers often guarantee performance by establishing service-level metrics, including penalties and incentives.

This strategic approach enables companies to overcome many of the challenges of delivering effective instructor-led training and realize significant benefits, including:

• Reduced cost of delivery by improving demand planning, simplifying resource sourcing and qualification, implementing a variable pricing model, and leveraging local delivery resources to eliminate travel costs.
• Greater agility to meet demand variability and requirements by providing access to professional trainers with the requisite knowledge, skills, experience and languages to deliver relevant, engaging and localized
• Improved delivery effectiveness by leveraging processes and technologies specifically developed to manage instructor details such as qualifications, certifications and experience in order to track scheduling and manage performance.
• A more focused L&D team by eliminating the administrative burden associated with training delivery activities.

By implementing a training delivery resource management strategy, learning teams can optimize and adapt to training needs as they arise in a quick, cost-effective and expert manner.