The economy may be showing tentative signs of recovery, but learning and development (L&D) professionals are still expected to tighten their belts and find significant savings in their L&D budgets.
XpertHR’s 2013 survey of learning budgets found that 55% of organisations had taken steps to reduce L&D costs or create efficiency savings in the past year. The 10 most popular methods taken by employers to rein in training costs are provided below.
Learning budgets survey 2013 | |
XpertHR sets out the main findings of the second part of its research into learning budgets and focuses on the steps employers are taking to try to increase efficiency of training and development spending. The full data on methods of increasing efficiency in learning budgets are provided by XpertHR’s benchmarking service, including findings broken down by sector and size of organisation. | |
- Increased online learning
- More use of informal learning methods
- Greater involvement of managers in delivering training
- More cross-organisational collaboration to achieve better economies of scale
- Better focus on evaluating and reviewing learning and development activities
- More rigorous training needs analysis against business strategy
- Reduced use of external L&D providers
- Making more use of government training schemes and funds
- Reviewing and consolidating contracts with external L&D providers
- Reducing the overall output of training and development activities
Janet Egan, author of the survey report, further discusses these budget-busting methods, along with considering which are most cost-effective. The report also shares tips on how the cost-saving measures were delivered from industry sectors including manufacturing, public-sector bodies and care providers.
Hmmm
is #7 the threat held out over the external providers when carryiong out #9