There is no doubt about the number of substantial benefits proper employee training brings to your organization. However, no matter how beneficial these training programs might be, THEY. ARE. EXPENSIVE.
And while the high initial costs for training software might not be an issue for established enterprises, pulling out a big chunk of money is not an easy game for startups and SMBs.
So does it mean that the businesses running on a limited budget should not train their employees? Not at all. Training is a crucial requirement for a business to grow — but you’ve got to Spend money to Earn Money.
However, the amount of this money or rather, capital investment, can be optimized to fit your budget without any compromise to the quality of training.
If you are intrigued about how this can be done, read on.
eLearning is the word
Living in the digital world, there is nothing in the world (except driving) that we cannot learn online. And besides being versatile, highly accessible and accommodating, eLearning offers a myriad of financial savings to businesses.
Enrolling in an online course can cut down a lot of costs, such as, travel, accommodation, buying the learning software and its implementation, etc.
And finally, it also keeps the workplace productivity optimal while the training continues.
Cross-training
This is what happens when colleagues work together to train each other. In cross-training, you determine the most suited employees, based on their positions, responsibilities, past experiences or knowledge, for a professionally-led training program. And these employees will be responsible for training their peers later on. Additionally, this can even be turned into an incentivized mentoring program.
This way, a company does not lose all of its productivity, as it would have if all the eligible-for-training employees suddenly enrolled in a training program. Plus, the total costs of this model are substantially lower since only a few employees or leaders are being sent for training.
Although, this model does require that you create an internal training course and content yourself based on your trained employees’ learnings. And it also requires immediate practical implementation of the learnings for a better outcome.
Learning management systems
With the name of LMS, you must be thinking that these are one of the most expensive solutions for employee training, but, there is amazingly affordable LMS software on the market that can fulfil your organization’s training requirements as you like without costing you an arm and a leg.
With the concept of Software-as-a-service (SaaS), LMS has given the world a sophisticated system spawned with the benefits of remote learning. In fact, these systems have revolutionized the methods of creation and conduction of corporate training, as well as academic learning.
Furthermore, with their customization capabilities, mobile compatibility, and gamification, learning management systems like Litmos LMS, Talent LMS, eFront etc., are extremely affordable and guarantee a quick return on investment as well.
Stretch assignments and projects
This method can prove to be the most productive of the lot. With the help of elaborate assignments, the learning and the implementation of learning into practical usage can go hand-in-hand.
If you have a new project coming which can only be taken by an employee of the higher hierarchy, assign one or two new employees to the team as well. So, instead of following a traditional, theoretical training approach, these new joiners can learn on-the-job.
Additionally, this kind of training structure can be good leadership and team management practice for your senior employees as well.
In the end
Training of employees is crucial but so is the cost-effectiveness of these training programs. Now you know that even with a budget crunch, you can devise innovative ways of training your workforce well. So, identify the learning activities, make evaluable exercises out of them, and motivate your workers to enhance their skills — it’s that easy.
