Training Outsourcing
Best Practices Research Study
In January 2009, GP partnered with
Training Industry, Inc.
to identify best practices in achieving strong alignment between client organizations
and training providers. The result is a study entitled
Best Practices in Working with Learning Service Providers
(328KB PDF) .
To conduct this research, we interviewed 68 professionals representing a broad spectrum
of industries and company sizes. All were in the position of monitoring or overseeing
their organizations’ relationships with learning service providers. They indicated
that, while 74 percent of engagements begin with strong alignment, less than half
maintain that alignment throughout the engagement’s lifecycle.
What are the root causes of this drop-off in alignment? And, which practices best
contribute to maintaining strong alignment throughout an engagement? Our study provided
some firm answers. The key findings are summarized below, but in an effort to promote
best practices throughout the industry, we also invite you to
download the entire study
(328KB PDF) .
Insist on flexible, responsive providers.
The survey firmly indicated that provider inflexibility is a big obstacle to achieving
alignment. Respondents believe that providers’ inflexible financial models
and inadapability to change processes have a strong negative impact on alignment.
They also report that the number one reason they would replace a provider is a lack
of flexible or responsive service.
Create governance teams and define expectations.
Companies with strong alignments create governance teams and clearly define a future
state for contracted service more frequently than companies who don’t have
strong alignments with their learning providers.
When asked what respondents would do differently to ensure alignment, their most
frequent comments included adding clarity and specificity to contracts and ensuring
providers clearly understood goals.
Maintain proactive practices.
The survey indicated that proactive practices like communicating and establishing
goals have a stronger impact on performance than practices like rewards and penalties.
Respondents felt that defining services, communicating frequently and setting achievable
goals and metrics have a stronger impact on driving provider performance than incentives
do.
Communicate regularly to maintain strong alignment.
Companies who feel strongly aligned with their learning providers engage in communication
more often than companies who don’t feel strongly aligned. Regardless, less
than a third of our survey participants create formal communication plans.
Our study recommends communicating with providers every other week and holding partner
meetings every other month. In addition, metrics should be reviewed for performance
monthly and reevaluated bimonthly.
Learn more about getting better results.
Whether you hire learning outsourcers or are a learning provider yourself, GP is
dedicated to contributing to industry-wide best practices. Best Practices in Working
with Learning Service Providers delivers more insights that can help you build and
maintain stronger alignment with partners throughout learning engagements. We invite
you to
download our study today
(328KB PDF) (no registration required).