Too many businesses consider skills development an outlet for excess budget, where it should rather be a priority expense. That being said, not every company will have a big budget to spend on regular staff training.
A positive employee learning experience will significantly benefit your business – increasing employee retention, productivity and efficiency; decreasing absenteeism and the need for constant supervision; improving customer experience, and boosting sales.
On the other hand, neglecting the need for employee training can greatly cost your company. A high employee turnover is just one of the results of dismissing skills development – costing your company more time and money to employ new staff than it would have cost to invest in affordable training. Your business will also face drawbacks like customer dissatisfaction and therefore a drop in sales.
So How Can I Give My Staff Quality Training That Doesn’t Break the Bank?
It is true that training expenses can eat at your cash flow if not well planned, and before you know it, you’ve spent your entire skills development budget on one training intervention. There are however ways to better invest your budget into specific cost-reduction strategies that not only don’t reduce the quality of your training, but are in fact more effective than the traditional training methods that tend to break the bank.
The key is to choose a learning platform that can cater to your organisation’s distinctive needs and work around your specific budget. Training doesn’t have to be expensive, and the quality doesn’t need to suffer for it to be affordable.
Here are a few ways to save on the costs:
Switch to eLearning
Online training can decrease employee learning time by 40-60% less than learning within a traditional classroom environment, using the same material. This means that employees will spend less time out of the workplace that would have otherwise negatively affected the daily operation of the business. Shell – one of the largest oil companies in the world – switched employee skills development to eLearning platforms and decreased the cost of training programs by 90% of its original cost. This is the most cost-effective solution as it not only reduces direct expenses, but also dismisses the need for indirect expenses relating to face-to-face training, such as the cost of travel, accommodation, catering, hiring a training room, and lost productivity.
Your learning experience platform (LXP) will play an essential role in creating a positive and successful learning experience. Choose a LXP that makes courses and lessons easily accessible to employees at any time, as to not affect their workflow. A quality LXP will also make it possible for management to track their employees’ performance and the effectiveness of their training.
Take advantage of virtual gamification
Gamification is the integration of game elements – such as challenges and point systems – into professional environments. This can be extremely useful in an employee training context, where employees need incentive to boost their motivation.
You may be wondering how this can save costs. Simply put, the more inspired your staff feels to learn, the quicker you will start to see results, and the less time and money you need to spend on finding an effective learning solution.
Through eLearning, prizes and incentives can also come in virtual form, further saving your company money.
Choose microlearning
Long training sessions don’t necessarily mean a more beneficial learning experience. In fact, it is more likely to result in wasted time with little outcome. Tedious training can drain employees and stunt them from learning anything at all. Additionally to this, it also takes them away from work for long periods of time, disrupting their productivity.
Microlearning is a learner-centric method of training where employees have the freedom to choose when and where they want to learn. It should be delivered in powerful, bite-sized lessons of 2-5 minutes, so staff have the opportunity to learn on-the-go when it’s most convenient. This structure of learning not only saves expenses, but is far more likely to provide a positive and impactful learning experience.
Time always equals money in business. This is why choosing a training solutions provider who can offer both efficient and effective training is crucial. Summit creates bespoke training programmes designed to your business strategy, and employee’s skills development plan. Tell us your budget, and we’ll tailor quality training that you can afford.
Contact us today to find out how we have disrupted old school training methodologies with our customised training solutions.