Training and Trainer Directory

Considerable amounts of money are spent in the corporate world in re-skilling, up-skilling and cross skilling employees. Training and Development budget of corporate America, alone was estimated to be over USD 160 Billion by ASTD. Though the exact estimates in other countries around the world are not available, it can be safely be assumed that (close to) USD 300 Billion is spent by corporate world to ensure that their employees are adequately trained to meet the competitive pressures of global business environment. Organizations are using multiple methods to train their employees. Let us consider the most typical methods that are often deployed (a) Training by internal staff (b) Training by external trainers/specialists/facilitators (c) Sponsoring for external programs (conducted by either educational institutions or by training firms or others), and (d) E-learning The increasing cost pressures have made Training & Development Departments or the internal agencies of organizations like HR which are responsible for people development, focus on methods (a) and (d) to ensure effective coverage within specified budgets. While larger organizations and those with significant internal talent have the luxury of the first option, SMEs have to fall back on the other three. Notwithstanding cost issues, organizations irrespective of their size continue to place a great amount of emphasis on (b) and (c) above, because they come with their set of advantages, which include (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Interaction with participants from other companies (peer learning is a important component of adult learning process) Getting an exposure which is beyond that which can be got in the organization (learning is as much about the setting in which it happens) Probability of learning from faculty who are known for their expertise (imagine learning TQM from Mr.Yagamguchi or strategy from Prof. Potter) Attending a program in a reputed institute (the morale boost from being a part of a Harvard program)

This article focuses on issues organizations face with when choosing option (b) and (c) above. While it would not be possible to cover all the aspects, we will focus on the core issues.

Conducting a Training Program with External Trainers: Across the world, irrespective of the type of theme which is being covered (i.e. whether it is functional, behavioral, leadership or equipment related) doing a training program with an external faculty is one of the most preferred modes. While logic would tell us that this external trainer needs to be the best that money (that is the budgeted amounts) could buy, this need not always be the fact or the rule. Reasons abound; but the most important one amongst them is a lack of information. The person charged with responsibility of coordinating the program, usually falls back on his/her network for identifying the training resource. Usually, for paucity of time, the identified resources are those that are known and available to the program co-coordinator. More likely than not, this leaves more than enough questions that are unanswered Is the trainer really the best fit?

Has he/she handled programs of a similar nature for a similar group of participants for a similar organization, beset with similar issues? What has been the performance of the trainer in the past few programs?, and Most importantly are there other options which could reduce costs and increase learning efficiencies?

In the absence of information, organizations continue to live with these problems. With internet there seems to be scope for addressing these problems. Imagine a portal or an internet enabled platform which will help access seamlessly information regarding trainers their availability, their program designs, ratings, participant feedback, organizational comments, professional fees etc. This kind of a Trainer Directory or Trainer information Service would remove any asymmetry that may exist in the decision making process of trainer identification and usage. This Trainer Directory or Trainer Database would enable organizations to quickly identify the right kind of resources that are apt for a given training requirement. Nominating for External Training Programs: Nominating employees for external programs is as much a big challenge for Training Managers (or HR managers) as it is for getting a program organized. Nominating for programs essentially consists of two types nominations for a program conducted by Educational Institutions or those conducted by other trainers/training firms. While in India and other Asian countries the second one is more popular (i.e. training programs conducted by firms/individuals), in America and Europe, the first one is the more chosen option. For instance, it is estimated that in USA alone, over $ 800 million dollars (or over INR 4800 crores) is spent on Executive Education. However, as in the case of the Trainer identification issue, similar problems plague this decision making process. Organizations do not have access to information (put otherwise, no Directory of Open and Executive Education programs is available) which can enable them to identify the most appropriate program to meet their needs, based on various considerations of location, cost, faculty, feedback of previous participants etc. Such a Training Directory could be of immense value not merely in terms of the costs but also in terms of the decision making that it can support. Decision-makers in HR and Training Departments of organizations would greatly benefit from training related data which is authentic and systematically collected from various sources made available at one place. Such Directory Services covering (i) Trainer Profile Data (ii) Executive Education Programs and (iii) Information on Training Programs is the need of the day to enable organizations to avail the best in training for building their human resources capabilities.

Regards, Content and Research Team SimplifyMyTraining.com Please connect us at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/simplifymytraining Please like us at: https://www.facebook.com/SimplifyMyTraining Please follow us at: https://twitter.com/simplifymytrain