Training your Team on a Tight Budget

Every good company understands the benefits of corporate training, but if budgets need to tighten, it can often be one of the first areas chosen for cutbacks.

Conversely, this would be the time when your company would most benefit from the professional development of its staff in order to advance your teams’ knowledge and skills, improve staff morale, raise operational efficiency, and increase productivity and turnover.

In order to help firms avoid cutting training at such crucial moments, training providers and modern workplaces have endeavoured to discover methods for delivering corporate training that offer diverse, good quality, relevant training courses but with less expense than conventional training.

The following tips show how you can train your team on a tight budget.

1. Coaching, Mentoring and Peer-to Peer Training

Peer-to-peer training is often used by firms when training new employees or when training for in-house promotions but this tends to be limited to a single trainee or specific to certain tasks or roles.

However, by utilising peer-to-peer training, coaching and mentoring on a larger scale, within the business as a whole, it is possible to upskill your team with minimal expense.

Of course, it is vital that those offering the training are well equipped with the necessary skills to perform the role, and this can be achieved through targeted coaching and mentoring training for management teams from a reputable training provider, but it will be a fraction of the cost of outsourcing all your training requirements.

This type of training has the benefit of various options for implementation such as, in person, online, by telephone or in a classroom setting if there are multiple trainees, and its main virtues are its flexibility and adaptability.

2. E-Learning

The last few years have seen an increase in the use of training delivered online.

It has proved popular due to a number of factors including:

• Money saving – with minimal physical resources, e-learning is often less expensive than conventional training methods.

• Accessibility – available anywhere, online training offers full accessibility virtually anywhere in the world with an internet connection.

• Flexibility – flexible working schedules are becoming the norm so flexibility is similarly required for training.

• Online support – online training can also come with support that can be accessed as needed by trainees.

The success of online training often depends upon the trainees learning preferences – some learners may prefer classroom based learning where interaction with peers can reinforce learning, while others may gain more from working at their own pace without the pressure of additional peers as is the case with some online training.

Online learning can offer the same networking options as classroom based learning, however, not all e-learning allows for this so check with your chosen training provider to see the various options available to you and your trainees.

When offering e-learning on a budget it is worth considering the desired outcome of the learning. If you are aiming to educate your staff about cybersecurity then choose a training provider that can show the long-term effectiveness of its cybersecurity courses.

Don’t just select a training provider based upon low-costs, as it is not worth paying for training if it isn’t effective, relevant and high quality.

3. Workplace Workshops

Workplace workshops can make effective use of time and money as they can be easily adapted to suit purpose, offer flexible time schedules, and do not require the additional costs of travel or accommodation.

Workshops such as, live event training, pre-recorded training DVDs, specialist presentations and so on, can be a good way to ensure learners are engaged, kept up-to-date with procedures or technology, and are able to make effective use of their time.

They might take the form of:

• Webinars – can be performed by in-house teams or specialist trainers.

• Q and A – are easily offered online and can be hosted by those in management or outsourced to training providers

• Lunchtime Learning – ideal for use with in-house trainers or management level staff, they can be tailored to specific topics or general such as, health and safety

• Half-day workshops – delegates can avoid missing extended periods of work as training can be offered in smaller chunks. Again, these might be offered by in-house trainers or bespoke courses created by professional training company

4. Combined Learning Options

Structured, professional training courses are not a cheap option, but when used in combination with the above alternatives, it can offer a way to increase productivity, improve staff morale, aid learning objectives and improve training success.

Many training methods can be used in combination with great results, so it is worth asking your training providers how they can help you achieve an integrated learning system for your staff that suits both your objectives, and your budget.

If you would like to discuss training options available from Creative Word Training, please contact our experts who will be happy to talk you through the training opportunities we offer.