Think about the last time you purchased an automobile and how many choices were available. Narrowing those choices to a specific make and model with the right options and a reasonable price can be overwhelming. Investing in employee training can be a similarly daunting prospect.
You probably feel the way many managers and high-level decision makers feel about employee training. You're tempted to spend a lot of money on expensive training, just as you might be tempted to purchase a new General Motors Cadillac or Ford Lincoln: You'll probably get great quality, but are you spending more money than you need to? However, in this economy, something less expensive and more practical—something along the lines of a Honda Civic or Ford Escort—might make more sense.
Another consideration is the amount of customization you want. Will the same training be suitable for a large group of employees, or do you need to tailor solutions to individual needs? The degree of customization generally depends on the company. One company might find that all its workers are happy driving identical Toyota Camrys to work, but another firm might find that its employees prefer to make different choices that better suit their individual personalities.
As I discuss the various training methods available, think of me as a car salesman taking you through the lot and giving you advice while you kick the tires. I'll even go a step further and unveil some training methods that might not have occurred to you. In essence, I'll show you a couple of cars on the lot that most people might not notice but that are actually among the best buys. Let's begin by checking out the bargain lot.
Economy Training
The economic conditions of the past 2 years have squeezed many IT budgets. In the late 1990s, many companies were spending vast amounts of money on training because of the explosion of the Internet and the approach of Y2K. Since then, these same companies have had to significantly scale back their training expenditures, which has led many of them to search for more cost-effective ways to train their employees.
Computer-based training (CBT) is one of the most popular ways to train workers for less money. CBT students run a computer program that teaches material related to a certain subject or software application. Often, these courses are integrated with the application, giving students hands-on experience while they learn. CBT students can work through modules at their own pace. If material is difficult to understand, the student can repeat it as many times as necessary; if the material is easy, the student can breeze through it. Also, CBT lets students train when they have no other work waiting. For example, a Help desk employee might work through a CBT course module between calls. This efficient use of time can lead to increased productivity for an organization because workers don't need to be absent for days at a time to attend training.
Although CBT's cost and flexibility are two excellent benefits, CBT courses aren't for everyone. Many people learn better from a live instructor because they can ask questions about the material, which often isn't possible with CBT courses. Students that struggle with the material are usually better suited to situations in which they can receive individualized help. Another reason that people learn better from live teaching is that they're more accustomed to it. After all, almost everyone has spent years in the classroom.
A close cousin to CBT is Web-based training. WBT frees students from having to carry around a bunch of training CD-ROMs. However, the quality of WBT courses is often contingent on the speed of the student's Internet connection. Trying to take a WBT course over a slow Internet connection can be the educational equivalent of undergoing a root canal.
Although CBT and WBT courses are significantly cheaper than a typical classroom course, they can still be expensive—from several hundred to several thousand dollars per course. If a company has 1000 employees and each employee takes two courses a year at an average cost of $1000 each, the training expenditure climbs to $2 million. Large companies often purchase licenses that let their employees take a fixed or unlimited number of courses at a reduced cost. (For a list of vendors that offer CBT and WBT, see Table 1, page 41.)
Of course, when it comes to imparting knowledge inexpensively, few things compare with good old-fashioned books. For the cost of sending one employee to a typical $2000 Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) course, a company could purchase one hundred $20 books. Provided employees actually read the books, chances are good that they will learn more from the books. In addition, books remain valuable as references long after the training is finished, whereas employees rarely return to a CBT course to look up an answer.