Continuous learning is integral for any business to thrive. Learning and Development programs help leaders and employees improve their soft skills, stay updated with the company values, and help boost employee engagement and productivity. As per a report, companies that offer comprehensive training enjoy a 24% higher profit margin than those that spend less on training.
Bringing in an external L&D company is now favoured by many businesses. Keeping such roles in-house means employing dedicated staff who not only produce the material but must deliver it as well. For larger businesses, in particular, this position can be extremely demanding. By employing a dedicated company to deal with your learning and development training, you can focus your energy, time and money on your business.
There are always some careful considerations to be made before investing in a Learning and Development company to undertake the role. In this blog article, we discuss five important things to consider while choosing a learning program.
5 Things to Consider While Choosing a Learning and Development Program for your Company
With so many learning programs available, it can be overwhelming to choose the right learning partner for your training needs. Here are the top things you must consider before onboarding a learning and training program.
1. What are your training needs?
Knowing what you need from an external trainer is your first step to deciding on an L&D program. When approaching companies, a clear and defined instruction for what you expect the learning outcomes to be will help them analyse your training needs and expected business outcome to make suggestions. Any recommendations you receive will be built around the information you have provided.
Things to consider are the type of training they will manage. Will it be communication and language-based? Physical, personal, social, emotional? Your training may require quick decision-making, creativity, mathematical skills or problem-solving. There may be a mix of the aforementioned. A good learning and development trainer will create a program or a learning journey to suit the type of training you need.
2. What would be the type of training content?
Another consideration is the type of content your training will be composed of. This will form a large part of your learning strategy. This may also change from one program to the next, depending on which department or sector of your workforce the leaner will be working or works.
With many options to choose from, again, you may decide on multiple options for multiple programs or simply one. This will all be determined by requirement and what is best suited to your industry. Your learning and development trainer will guide and advise you on what is most suited and where.
3. What will be the mode of content delivery?
How the content is delivered will also come down to a preference. In the modern world, technology plays a big part in many learning and training strategies. With VR experiences, games, online conferencing apps, among some of the options, how your training is delivered offers flexibility and modern solutions.
Whether you opt for in-person sessions or a virtual group program, your learning and development trainer should be able to cater to your specific needs.
4. Who are the training consultants?
You need to have subject matter experts who will be delivering the training for maximum learning impact. The training consultant should be able to engage the participants. You need to look at the experience and the skills of the training consultants before you finalise the learning program.
5. What support and services does the L&D company offer?
Support should be on hand throughout any training you undertake through an external trainer. Once the program is complete, a good learning and development company should also offer aftercare. Training is often an ongoing process, and aftercare plays a key role in this. A complete training package takes this into account with top-ups, extra activities and reminders.
Choosing the right learning and development program requires careful consideration. You need a learning partner that champions people development and genuinely cares about improving people performance.
Biz Group is a leading Learning and Development company with over 28 years of experience helping some of the largest and most successful companies in the Middle East with learning solutions that deliver results to people and their businesses. We offer a wide range of L&D programs and Learning Journeys with award-winning training content that helps businesses achieve their End Game.
Feel free to get in touch with one of our experts for a personalised consultation, where we will analyse your training needs and present the best solution for you.
