Outsourcing Training and Development: Can It Really Benefit Your Business in Tough Times?

In today's business scenario, is it possible to completely outsource the training and development function? Will it make business sense? Also, how do you think the training and development department can assist the business requirements during this recession period?

This is just the right time to train/develop people in the organization. When the business goes full throttle, many times the focus shifts from people development to business development.

However, the training outsourcing decision depends on a lot of factors - starting with the size of the organization, the size of the target audience, organizational culture and philosophies, organizational readiness, etc.

When considering the Taj Group of hotels, you would need to do an analysis on WHY you want to outsource functions like training. What is the driving factor - cost, development, measurement of effectiveness, or IDP? Also, which element of training do you wish to outsource - content, trainer, assessment, or the process itself?

During a recession, Training & Development would help you engage people in productive work, prepare for the upturn, manage employee morale, competency expansion, etc.

All of the above may seem like simple English - each one of them is a well-thought-out, long-drawn process that needs deep brainstorming.

We can continue to have such ideas posted here. I don't want to put in copied text from the internet and hope no one else does it. Let's hear it from people around and see what they can share from their experiences.

Right, dude?

Outsourcing or conducting the training programs in-house is not an issue. A training manager is responsible for maintaining and upgrading the skills inventory of the employees. Now, this upgrading is a major challenge whether you do the training programs in-house or outsourced.

If you conduct the training program in-house, you do so because you have no option but to use the services of the person available at hand. What are the criteria on which you certify that trainer? Your success depends on the yardstick of your measurement. On the flip side, in-house trainers often take a quite blinkered view because of the limited exposure to various industries.

Secondly, your industry is famous for giving lopsided importance to "Verbal Communication Skills." Few trainers are smart enough to camouflage their deficiencies by using their good communication skills, and there is every possibility for the average hospitality manager to fall prey to his/her game.

Following are excerpts of the interview of Dr. Srinivas Kandula published in "Business Line" on 06 Oct 2008:

"What is your view on communication as a tool?

Communication has been the most misused and misunderstood mechanism or system within an organization. Most of our organizations are biased towards those who are supposed to have good communication. Good communication does not mean good performance. Often, the so-called good communication results in dysfunctional implications for the organization. A person with good communication will very quickly be able to create within the company an image of what he is not. Some of the organizations have gone to the extent of equating performance with communication capabilities."

You can click here to read the complete interview. Really, it is very good.

If you outsource the training program, the training company should understand your business needs well. The needs should be translated into the actual training. But most of the training companies, if not all, in turn outsource training programs to freelance trainers. This forces needy business organizations to deal with a third party, but the credit is grabbed by the training company.

Whether you conduct the training program in-house or outsource, you should be absolutely clear about the change that you want to bring about. Failure is on either side. The success of training depends on:

a) Your management

b) Your superior managers

c) Your organizational culture

d) Participants

e) The person who trains

I had written an article in Deccan Herald "Why Employee Training Fails?".