Training and Healthcare Blogs
How to save money on your staff training without cutting corners
When budgets get tight in an organisation, you can guarantee the training budget is one of the first things to be scrutinised to see if any savings can be made.
But staff training is hugely important, and you don't want to cut corners just to save a few pounds! The training your staff receives is vital to ensure your workers are competent and have the skills and knowledge they need to do the job and ensure you can continue offering a quality service.
So here are a few ways you can save money on your staff training without 'cutting corners' and still maintaining the quality.
- Chose a provider with low overhead costs. They tend to be a more cost-effective option. But do not compromise on quality! Check their feedback and make sure they are the right provider for your company.
- Look at the full portfolio of courses on offer from your provider - if you currently use several companies for your training, consider using the one provider for as much of the training as you can. The more training you do with them the more possibility you have of negotiating discounts.
- If you need short courses, booking two short courses on one day rather than over two separate days can save you money. This can reduce costs of venue hire; staff travel and again there could be negotiation on price with the provider as it doesn't take up a trainer for 2 days.
- If you need regular training, talk to your training provider about the possibility of setting up a training agreement. This usually involves you committing to X amount of days training per month in exchange for a discounted rate. Obviously, the more training days you need, it is likely the higher the discount would be.
- Fill the courses! Try to coordinate your team, in order to fill a course with the maximum number of delegates you can. Instead of paying for 2 courses on 2 separate days for 6 people on each course, can you change the rota's around to allow all 12 people to attend on the one day - this could half your training costs!
- Hold recruitment drives throughout the year. This way staff are recruited as a group and can be trained as a group. This is far more cost effective than arranging training for very small numbers on a regular basis.
- Encourage attendance. Staff being absent from a course can be costly for you, it may even involve you having to set up another course just for those that were absent. You could put an incentive in place for attendance or have a reserve list who you can call on at short notice to fill spaces of anyone who is absent on the day.
- Virtual training. This isn't for everyone, and it isn't available for every course, but it is cost effective if it suits your needs. You can save money with no venue costs and no staff travel costs. You may be able to have larger delegate numbers as you are not restricted by the size of the venue (particularly in COVID times). This is also a great cost saving solution if you have teams in different geographical areas across the country - you don't have to set up 4 courses one in each of the 4 areas you have teams. Just do one virtual training course that they can all attend.
So, if you are at risk of having your training budget cut, before you start cancelling courses or reducing the amount of people you are going to have trained up, (which could cost your company more in the long run), try some of these cost saving ideas and see how much you can save!
