As a business owner, it’s important to be able to delegate — not just when you’re planning your workday but also when you’re making decisions for your organization and its future. One way to help streamline your company’s processes is to outsource training your employees. Here’s everything you need to know about outsourcing employee training, including the pros, cons, and actionable strategies.
[Read More: What Is Employee Training and Development?]
Benefits of outsourcing employee training
One of the biggest benefits of outsourcing training is that it can save time and energy so that you and your employees can focus on other tasks that are essential for success. Not only that, outsourcing training can help you leverage the expertise of professionals outside of your organization who may have experience that in-house trainers lack.
This infusion of a fresh perspective helps keep your workforce diverse and multitalented, even if it’s coming from outside your payroll structure. Additionally, the new perspectives offered by outsourced workers can help your workforce quickly adapt to emerging industry trends.
[Read More: 7 Business Tasks You Can Outsource]
Continually monitor key performance indicators before, during, and after training.
Considerations before outsourcing employee training
Of course, not every business is suited for outsourced training. For example, if the cost of hiring outside help exceeds the cost of training your employees in house, it may not be the right strategy for you.
It’s also important to consider whether outside training programs meet your organization’s short-term needs. Even if the numbers add up, it may still be worth it to have the training done internally if it requires a special touch that only you and your people can provide.
When outsourcing training, it can take time to onboard training contractors. It is also worth considering whether training contractors have experience with your company’s software, hardware, and industry focus.
Finally, remember that you are planning for the long haul and not just one training class — you’ll also need to determine whether outsourcing your employee training processes will help your organization stay competitive and meet business goals in the future.
How to outsource your employee training
If you’re looking to outsource your employee training, take the following steps to ensure success.
Find the right training vendor.
To make an informed decision about whom you’re going to give your business to, you first must identify your training needs. The organization you contract with to train your employees should be a trusted adviser to your company, one that offers sage advice and counsel. When researching prospective vendors, determine what accreditations the trainers have, how effective they will be in supporting your company culture, and what training courses will look like on a day-to-day basis.
Create a collaborative training plan.
Your business will need to interact closely — and regularly — with outside vendors to create a collaborative plan that governs the training process. Be prepared to refer back to this plan and revise it, as the actual process is implemented by the trainers.
Other preparatory measures will likely include the actual signing of the contract between you and the training organization, sending calendar invites to your company’s trainees, and possibly even physical prep work by both groups, such as setting up conference rooms and preparing materials.
Ensure buy-in and relevancy.
Not only does the contracted training organization need to be fairly compensated for its work, but your employees need buy-in for additional training in addition to their original onboarding and prior education and experience. To make the process worthwhile to employees, the benefits of training need to be clearly communicated — not just for your company as a whole, but for your employees as individuals. In addition, any new training should be clearly relevant to your organization’s work and its goals.
Measure the success of your outsourced training program.
Lastly, like everything else involved with running a business, it’s important to quantify how successful the training is in improving your organization’s performance. Don’t just push employees through the process and move on — continually monitor key performance indicators before, during, and after training, and make changes to your strategy as necessary.
[Read More: Employee Training Best Practices for Enforcing Company Policies]
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