Seeking Insights on Training Costs and Learning Transfer Challenges in India: Can You Help?

Greetings,

REQUEST

Will anyone give me the following information:

1. An estimate of annual spending on Training & Development in the organized sector of India for the past three years or so.
2. An estimate percentage of expenditure that actually results in a transfer to the job in Indian conditions (Several studies show that less than 30% of what is actually taught transfers to the job in a way that enhances performance).

I will be delighted if any of my enlightened readers provide related findings regarding the transfer of learning in the Indian context and the barriers in the transfer of learning.

Thanks

Radhakrishnan,

I can throw some light on this subject, based on my experience overseas in countries like USA/UK/AUSTRALIA/SWEDEN.

The expenditure on training and development varies from industries to industries. In broad terms, it is considered as a % of sales:

- Consumer industries [1-2]% of sales.
[Here the bulk of training is in soft skills and a small portion in product knowledge]

- Industrial [2-4]% of sales
[Here it is 50% in product knowledge/50% in soft skills]

- IT/ITES [5-8]% of sales
[Here [70-80]% in technical skills/balance in soft skills]

- Financial services/service industries [3-5]%
[40% in product knowledge and 60% in soft skills]

The retention value depends on the instructional methods used in transferring the learning:

- Coaching [one-to-one instruction] 50%
- Coaching [in small groups of 3/4] 35%
- Workshops [interactive with a group of 10/12] 25%
- Lecturing [25-30] 15% with great difficulty
- Short training, say, 4 hours, has a greater impact than a one-day session.

The barriers to learning are many. The major factors are (not in any order):

- The learners' individual differences in learning.
- The method adopted.
- The lack of tools/systems for implementation on the job post-training.
- The lack of line managers' support in the follow-up to the training.
- Lack of regular refresher courses.
- The lack of monitoring closely on return to the job.
- Lack of sufficient funds for training.
- Lack of senior management support.

My knowledge about India is limited, mostly secondary information. There are no published statistics on this subject that I am aware of.

1. The majority of training is focused on technical/knowledge-based/product/systems/processes and very little on soft skills. However, it is changing, and more is being spent on soft skills due to the changing economic scenes.

2. Public sector companies, like LIC/steel plants, the government spends very little on training.

3. Large corporations, which are still managed by families, like Modi Group, Shree Ram Group, etc., spend a token on training/development.

4. Only large corporations like Hindustan Lever, Tata Group, Godrej, etc., spend a significant amount on training and development, but my best guess is it will be no more than 1% of the sales turnover.

The retention rate, again based on my knowledge of the training methods used, could be less than 15%.

Regards,

Leo Lingham