Why Should You Invest in External Training?

The training industry is a billion-dollar market. According to findcourses.com's 2019 Training Report, North American spending on professional education courses alone totalled more than $5 billion.  Furthermore, between 2017 and 2018 large corporations increased their training budgets from $17 million to $19.7 million. In order for companies to keep up with new technology, stay current with the latest trends and function successfully, money has to be allocated to training and developing employees.

Here we have explored some of the benefits of external training and how making the investment in it can help your organization achieve long-term success. 

Get Great Training the First Time

If you are building a house and have no construction experience, would you build it yourself or would you hire a professional to do it? A professional of course. Take the same approach when it comes to training your employees, especially within specific training areas.

Whether you need to implement a new technology into your organization, learn about the latest sales strategies or anything else, have an expert come in and do it right the first time. This will help insure that your employees take the training seriously and that the results are long-term and lasting. 

Train in a Day found that using an external training company is beneficial because trainers have expert knowledge, bring in unique insights and new perspectives, and have the required knowledge and equipment to train your employees with accuracy and efficiency. With their broad range of training experience, they can also assess your organization's training needs in order to develop long-term plans to ensure that you get the most out of the training the first time.

Bring the Trainers to You

A big concern for many organizations is the cost associated with sending employees to training events. External training does not always require you to send your staff out to different locations. Having external trainers come in and train in-house is a great option that can have many benefits:

Benefit 1 - Budget Savings: The in-house training approach saves time and money since you won’t have to pay for travel costs and can schedule the event when it suits you and your employees. 

Benefit 2 - Multiple Sessions: If you're seeking out training a larger organization, you can schedule multiple sessions with the same provider to ensure that the training is consistent.

Benefit 3 - Build a Relationship With Training Providers: This can be a cost-saver since many providers will offer discounts if training is booked for multiple people, over multiple sessions. Once you've established a relationship with a training provider, more consistent and tailored training can be offered year-over-year.

According to Optimus Learning Services, additional benefits of in-house training include saving time and money, tailoring training to your business needs, and promoting team building within the company. This tactic can also allow the company and employees to create a relationship with the trainer and develop skills while being in a comfortable and familiar environment.

Train-to-Retain

Many companies try to save a dollar or two by avoiding or postponing employee training. This can work for a short period of time, but in the long-run this can hurt employee spirit and an organization's overall bottom line. Studies show that 40 percent of poorly trained employees will leave their positions before the first year is over due to a shortage of skills training and development opportunities.

Employees who are trained properly are more likely to be productive, experience greater job satisfaction and feel inspired to grow with an organization. Training may appear initially as a high budget incurment, but the cost of recruiting new employees and having inefficient employees working for you can often cost more in the long-term. Take a train-to-retain approach when investing in employee training and see a decrease in your turnover rate to achieve results for the future.