CBT Or On The Job Training

Hi All,
I want to know which method will be the most cheapest and effective method to impart basic technical skills training ,On the job training or CBT.
Awaiting reply with reasons.
Thanks & Regards,
Diksha

In my opinion on- the-job training will be cheaper and effective. Provided you assign an active employee from each department as departmental trainers who will impart training to the new hire as well as existing employees. Method of delivery can be group training or one-on-one training.
Cheers
Enzo
Maldives

By CBT I presume you mean Computer Based Training. There is no simple answer to your question. There are many variables to consider.

Some of these are:

-Do you already have in-house expertise for developing CBT training? -for OJT training? (CBT training is very expensive to develop.)

-Are your trainees geographically dispersed? (CBT is more cost effective for dispersed populations as it avoids transporting trainers and trainees.)

-How is CBT to be dispersed? (Dispersing over an existing network is more cost-effective than producing and shipping out CDROMs.)

-How many people do you need trained? (Because of the high initial expense of developing CBT, pay back period decreases the more times you use it.)

-Do your trainees need to develop difficult hands-on skills or moreso mental capabilities? (OJT is well suited to imparting hands-on skills whereas CBT is not as effective.)

-How important is consistency of training? (OJT is more variable because of the inherent variability of trainers.)

-Do you already have competent OJT trainers or will you need to buy in or develop them? (OJT will be more cost effective if you already have expert resources.)

These are just some of the variables. I am sure there are more.

Vicki Heath

Human Resources Software and Resources

http://www.businessperform.com

hi,
thanks for the reply.
However if you could tell which form of training gives more ROI i.e Computer Based Training or On the job Training.
Please explain with a suitable example that for imparting basic technical skills training,CBT ot OJT which method will give better ROI .
Regards ,
Diksha