Fostering a culture of learning within the organization is crucial to motivate staff to acquire additional training to develop themselves, ultimately enhancing their productivity. These goals are achievable by imparting adequate training and practical learning solutions and a viable solution to cater to this is outsourced training. This training format refers to hiring an external organization to provide training services to a company's employees.  

Outsourcing training services helps businesses save time and money while delivering high-quality training programs. Third party providers offer services at a fraction of the time and budget of an in-house training team. For example, developing an engaging training course of about 17 minutes can take approximately a month or more for an internal L&D team. On the other hand, external training providers need less time and budget because of their advanced in-house development technologies and subject matter expertise. The adoption of outsourced training has been rapid and estimated to become a market of $366.9 billion in 2020, according to a report by Deloitte. 

What are the Functions of Outsourced Trainers? 

The various functions of outsourced training providers are focused on providing best-fit training modules which enhance the overall L&D program of an organization. The functions include updating training technologies that match current trends. 

Let us look at the core functions of training:

  • Assessing Skill Gaps: The purpose of training is to address the performance gaps related to skills and knowledge, a thorough assessment of the root causes is necessary. 
  • Professional Analysis: The performance and skill gaps assessment has to be backed by analysis. This involves conducting training needs analysis (TNA) for specific staff, departments, or production lines. 
  • Design: Training programs are designed based on TNA findings and inputs from concerned line managers and supervisors.
  • Screen methodologies:  Best-fit methodologies for training and providers are screened prior to finalizing the training method.
  • Delivery Planning: Planning for the delivery of training programs at the individual level and for the entire batch of trainees is important. The delivery is constantly monitored and necessary guidance provided during the training process. 
  • Metrics: Performance of every trainee is evaluated against benchmarks and on-site expectations. 
  • ROI: Identifying each training investment's return on investment (ROI) rates is a critical step to evaluate effectiveness of training. 

Outsourcing training functions can gain value only when the processes are customized and training is available on-demand to learners.

Key Concepts of Outsourcing Training

Outsourced training offers businesses the following value-added services to improve their overall L&D performance. The services are:

  1. Customization: Customizing training programs according to the needs and goals of a company can help achieve maximum effectiveness. For example, a company might outsource a customized software training program to improve the skills of its employees in a particular area.
  2. Expertise: Outsourcing training can provide access to subject matter experts with specialized knowledge and experience. For example, a company might outsource safety training to an organization specializing in this area.
  3. Scalability: Outsourcing training can provide scalability by enabling companies to quickly and easily scale up or down their training programs. For example, a company might outsource its onboarding program during rapid growth.
  4. Cost-effectiveness: Outsourcing training can be cost-effective, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. For example, a company might outsource its compliance training to avoid the high cost of hiring a full-time compliance officer.
  5. Technology: Outsourcing training can provide access to the latest technology and tools, which can help enhance the effectiveness of training programs. For example, a company might outsource its e-learning program to an organization specializing in this area.

Thus, the core functions of outsourcing training improves employee learning outcomes, increases productivity and employee satisfaction.  

For years, non-core business activities have been outsourced successfully. The adoption of eLearning solutions offers an opportunity for mainstream outsourcing of learning functions. Third-party training companies typically have a wide-range of training topics to meet the needs of diverse roles of the contracting organization. They fill the gap for targeted training, since in-house experts are usually not competent in conducting effective training sessions. Besides, outsourced training can ensure scaling and availability of trainers in multiple locations as well. For in-house training such a possibility is expensive and logistically challenging.

Hence, businesses will have fewer challenges, bandwidth to repurpose cost and time saved from outsourcing, and have greater control and flexibility by contracting third party outsourced training. 

Wrapping up

Outsourced training can be an effective way for businesses to provide high-quality training programs while saving time and money. By understanding the critical concepts of outsourcing training, companies can select the right outsourcing partner and develop effective training programs that meet their needs. At Infopro Learning, we provide customized, scalable, cost-effective training solutions that help businesses achieve their training goals. Please speak to our experts today!