Can you actually reduce training costs without compromising quality?

But let’s start with the beginning. Why do you need training in the first place? Let’s see some numbers around the topic. 

• 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development (source)
• Employees who feel that their skills are not being put to good use in their current job are 10 times more likely to be looking for a new job (source)

So, at a first glance through the most recent workforce related statistics, poor learning and development programs are a primary cause of employee turnover. And according to the Society for Human Resource Management, “on average it costs a company 6 to 9 months of an employee’s salary to replace the specific employee” (source). And as you surely know, this is a huge waste of money and time. 

But let’s say an employee leaves anyway, what’s the most appropriate and cost effective way to keep the business going using corporate training as an ally? 54% of L&D professionals would say that internal mobility, according to the LinkedIn 2022 Workforce Report. A good way to foster internal mobility is upskilling and reskilling the current workforce, and according to this survey, 68% of companies invest in upskilling and reskilling training to handle changes within the organization and 65% to train employees on new technologies. 

So, we are all on the same page when it comes to the importance of corporate training, right? Let’s see how we can optimize it and reduce costs, while increasing productivity and deal with the challenges of employee turnover. 

Training costs: an overview

People tend to believe that one of the greatest benefits of eLearning is to reduce training costs. And this belief has its roots in. But do you know why is this? How can eLearning optimize your training expenditure? What are the actual costs that are reduced by means of an eLearning platform? 

Logistical costs

If you are a company or a multinational having teams all over the country or the world, you know that the face to face training includes traveling to the training venue costs, venue hire, overnight accommodation, food and refreshments. The cost of running training courses for staff is, therefore, relatively high and, in addition, running training courses requires considerable management and time-commitment from organizers, line management and staff. 

But these costs can be easily cut off with the usage of an eLearning platform. Everyone can learn from the comfort of their own home or office, without being required to travel to a certain location. Also, this requires a lot of time, and according to a Forbes article, “the No. 1 reason employees say that they feel held back from learning is because they do not have time to learn the skills they need.” Thus, every way in which the training time can be reduced is highly appreciated. 

High administrative costs

It’s hard to organize a training process, but it’s even harder to keep track of the learning results if you do not have an automated way to do so. That’s why analytics tools are present on every checklist L&D professionals have to check when choosing an eLearning platform. Analytical reports allow administrators to have a more clear and informed view of each learner’s progress, which leads to a rapid gain in productivity, and to a smooth administration process. 

These have two business consequences. First, the cost and effort running face to face training is a barrier that limits the number and frequency training can realistically be offered to staff, regardless of business need. The second business consequence is that the capabilities, skills and knowledge of staff members may not be being developed such that they are able to contribute fully to the business or meet their true personal potential. 

Training costs: face to face vs eLearning

We can speak about training costs in general, but we prefer to show a real price comparison. One of our clients created a learning academy, offering training programs to both salespeople and broker owners. One of the training programs they are currently delivering, if delivered in a face to face environment, costs 300 EUR + VAT/person for a 2 day training. Additionally to that, the logistics involve a cost of 200 EUR/day. They have to train 950 people, which means 285.000 EUR for a 2 day training. To this, they add the logistics cost, which means another 400 EUR. With Knolyx, they pay 2228 EUR/month for all the 950 people. 

This is a really big difference that eLearing makes when it comes to delivering training programs. However, there are cases when courses cannot be organized entirely online, so a hybrid learning environment is a better solution. But even so, combining traditional training programs with a LMS means serious cuts in the training cots. 

Some (final) thoughts