Dear Workforce What Could We Do to Avoid Cuts to Our Training Programs?

Dear Anxious:

Is your training designed and delivered by in-house staff, or is it outsourced? This will make a difference in how you interpret my answer.

1. Cut costs by providing more self-help workbooks and on-the-job aids.

2. Enlist local experts or coaches to take the place of some training sessions.

3. Cut non-value-add training sessions—those that don’t really advance real organizational objectives.

4. Review your list of training suppliers for more economical alternatives.

5. Rationalize your list of training suppliers to obtain volume discounts.

6. Save on material costs by printing on both sides of paper when producing learning materials or sending out soft-copy versions of learning guides.

7. Demonstrate the achievement of organizational objectives—how learning produces real benefits to your organization—and the return on investment of your training programs.

Finally, these suggestions go along with the idea that companies need to tighten their belts in tough times, and the training function is not sacrosanct. Your training function will be more respected if you can replace a “Yes, but …” response with one that says, “Yes, and this is what we are doing about it.”

The final suggestion uses a different approach. It is based on the belief that if you cut training programs, the organization actually will lose money. The two approaches, of course, are not mutually exclusive.

SOURCE: Les Allan, Business Performance Pty Ltd., Melbourne, Australia, January 16, 2009

LEARN MORE: Please see “Workforce Training in the Budget Cross Hairs.“

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.