Training Industry Magazine - Training Outsourcing 2015 Special Edition - (Page 28)

CHOOSING THE RIGHT TRAINING PARTNER & MODALITY TO ACHIEVE THE BEST RESULTS By Lynne Wagner Even with the widespread acceptance of business process outsourcing (BPO) today, there are still companies reluctant to engage in this practice, or do so to a minimal degree. While every organization is unique, it's unlikely that any company is efficient and effective at every business function. Insourcing, the practice of using an organization's own personnel to accomplish a task, appears to make the most sense for a company's core business functions. After all, your employees are the most aligned with your company's goals and vision, and are the best suited to evangelize and sell your products or services. However, organizations that hold tightly to every business function may be doing themselves a great disservice - wasting valuable time, at sometimes greater costs, and often receiving inferior results. When it comes to the learning function, the tide is definitely changing in favor of outsourcing. In fact, a recent research study, "Sourcing Training Solutions: Best Practices for the Best Partnerships," revealed that 55 percent of organizations outsource learning and development services as an established business practice. These companies are recognizing the real benefits associated with outsourcing learning services, including the ability to bolster learning effectiveness and reach, cost savings, providing competitive advantage, bringing new ideas into the company, ability to focus on core business functions, and offering course topics and learning modalities beyond the skillsets of in-house L&D staff. Subsequently, when these companies are faced with a learning initiative outside the scope of their in-house staff, their primary challenge is not deciding whether or not they should outsource to an external learning provider, rather how to select an external provider. So, how are companies finding external 28 learning providers? What types of providers and services are being sought and what is the selection process they use to ensure a successful outcome? FINDING EXTERNAL PROVIDERS According to the aforementioned research study, companies are locating learning providers in a number of ways, with peer referrals and existing relationships topping the list. Companies are also finding providers through external intelligence gathering from sources such as industry conferences, web searches, thought leadership pieces, and webinars. L&D SERVICES AND TOPICS SOUGHT FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDERS External L&D service providers are being used to augment existing staff for expertise that is not inherent in the company's inhouse staff (e.g., subjects, delivery methods, curriculum development, etc.), as well as for large-scale rollouts. FIGURE 1 (on page 29) displays the top services and topics cited for leveraging external L&D providers. PREFERRED TYPES OF EXTERNAL PROVIDERS Interestingly, when it comes to selecting the type of service provider, the research revealed that 61 percent of organizations prefer to outsource to specialized learning providers as opposed to generalists or independent training contractors. These companies seek out external providers that specialize in specific L&D functions or services, learning modalities, subject matter, or industries. CRITERIA FOR SELECTING EXTERNAL PROVIDERS The scale, scope, subject matter, budget, and time constraints of a company's learning project are major considerations for selecting an external provider. Depending on the project's complexity, many companies will solicit quotes or proposals from a number of external learning vendors where the downselection criteria generally includes cost, trust in the provider to deliver, quality of resources, industry expertise and reputation, culture fit, and the ability to customize solutions. http://www.trainingindustry.com/training-outsourcing/products/research/sourcing-training-solutions-best-practices-for-the-best-partnerships.aspx

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Training Outsourcing 2015 Special Edition

Perspectives on Training Outsourcing
Table of Contents
Infographic
Be the CEO of Your Learning Organization
Training as a Service: Making Training More Effective & Profitable
Finding the Right Training Partner to Minimize Risk in High Consequence Environments
Proving Your Relevance: How to Flex More Muscle Through Outsourcing
Defining the Link between Performance and Results
Higher Value Outsourcing: Moving to an Integrated Workforce Development Model
Five Steps to Ensure a Successful Shift to Digital Learning
I Don't Really Know' is No Longer an Option
Choosing the Right Training Partner & Modality to Achieve the Best Results
Transforming Learning and Development Through Training Outsourcing
Setting the 'Gold Standard' in Video E-Learning
10 Lessons for Success in Managed Learning
How to Select a Provider for Outsourcing Training Services
Three Rules to Begin a Great Partnership with a Custom E-Learning Provider
What's Online
Company News

Training Industry Magazine - Training Outsourcing 2015 Special Edition