Question

Write a two page discussion of training program development costs. Discuss how companies may find ways to make training programs more cost effective.

                                             [Maximum 2 pages] [Include maximum points with enough explanation]

Answer 1

The right training program would bring a variety of advantages to a company: it enhances employee engagement, morale, and productivity; it decreases supervisory demands, reduces absenteeism, improves customer satisfaction, and boosts revenue. Well-trained workers make less mistakes and training improves their dedication and personal trust, as they feel respected and appreciated.

The whole idea is to create a productive and relaxing work environment. When you are carefully managing your training budget you can reduce employee turnover and maximize efficiency.

There is no particular need to go through lengthy details about the concept of the training budget, but it is nice to have a general understanding of what it is and what it is not. Think of it as both direct and indirect costs associated with courses and materials required for assessing, planning, creating, implementing , reviewing and sustaining training or retraining of employees. It is not only from a regulatory point of view that a training budget plan is needed, but it does make financial sense. It is one way of ensuring that your staff has the skills and competencies necessary to complete tasks up to the required quality standard.

Many medium and large companies are investing back into training from 2 to 5 per cent of wage budgets everywhere. Although this may not be feasible for a small business , it is important to find a budget for training per employee this your company can absorb. For this purpose, you can go on a ‘needs’ basis. External trainers, for example, can seem appealing but they are not completely necessary.

If your learning material is not really precise, a company that offers these services will manage learning. Also at Udemy and similar learning sites, you can purchase access to relevant courses and just not spend any internal money on it. This strategy can often be more costly than doing the in-house courses, but more often it can ultimately save you money. This is not always applicable however as outsourced courses seldom cover the company's details.

Distribute learning in the organization Saying this easier means delegating aspects of the learning process to individuals within the company. A professional employee can develop course material for the new members of the team, and can also help measure their success. Ideally, 3 levels of distribution work best when the organization is large. The top level oversees the middle tear result which consists of the actual "teachers." The third tier-the newest staff that are just apprentices-is supervised by instructors.

Instead of depending on external certifications for everything the firm will become an Free Badges issuer. This open platform facilitates learning sharing and standardization of learning practices, and can even allow the business to become an authority in a given field. However, the key benefit of thinking about cost savings here is that the technology is accessible, fairly easy and widely adopted. There are already many ready solutions which support Open Badges.