Blog post
How to make your training budget go further
By Samantha Allen 14 Sep 2018
Money doesn’t grow on trees. As a business owner, managing director or line manager, watching the bottom line and not wasting money is always important. Money is the lifeblood of business.
As business people we know that you have spend money to make money. The key is to invest money rather than waste it. One of the best investments you could make is in the people that work for you. So investing in training is vital. But how do you get the most out of your training budget? There’s always more you’d like to invest in, but the budget is always limited.
At Go.Courses a huge part of our mission is to save you money while providing you with the best training possible, so you can be the best you possibly can be. Read on to find out how to save money on training, without sacrificing anything. You may be surprised by some of these suggestions but we promise it’s all true!
How to save money on training
Have the training in-house
This may be stating the obvious, but by having your training in your own office, you save money. No travel costs, no paying for hotels or food and drinks expenses in major cities. By having the training in your own office you’ll save plenty of money.
But what if you need some training tailored to your specific needs? You might expect bespoke in-house training to cost the earth, but it doesn’t have to. Not every training provider can offer this service, but every course at Go.Courses can be delivered in your own office or venue. This saves you money, but even more importantly it will save you time and hassle. All your staff need to do is turn up to work as usual. The training will come to them. Find out more HERE.
Be efficient with time.
Splitting a full day in half and having 2 half day sessions running back to back will save you money as well as time. By running a morning training session for one group and an afternoon training session for another group, your staff will have less time away from their desks. They’re also likely to have more energy and pay more attention with a half day of training.
So be sure to ask your training provider for back to back sessions to get the most from your training budget. This is something Go.Courses can easily do for you but other training providers may not be as flexible.
Conduct a training needs analysis
You know your business and you know your team members. Before booking training for them be sure to evaluate who needs what. It would be a complete waste of time and money to teach someone a skill they already have.
Most courses come in beginner, intermediate or advanced levels, so it’s important to figure out which level your team members are currently on, and which level of training they need. The last thing you want is to pay for a team member to do a 3 day training course that they don’t understand. Some of your staff may even surprise you with hidden skills you didn’t know they had. Don’t waste money on training they don’t need.
Figure out how many people to train at once.
Whether you’re booking training courses at a choice of locations or having the training in your own office, figuring out how many team members need the same training will affect the price you pay. Once you’ve done your training needs analysis you will have a clear idea of who needs what. So being logical and having multiple team members on the same training course can make it more cost effective and save you money.
If you’re having your training in-house with Go.Courses the minimum number of delegates is just 2 people. So if your staff don’t need the same training, don’t waste time and money training your whole department if it’s not necessary. If you’re looking for some clear guidance on how to make the most of your training budget we’re here to help.
Purchase your training upfront with a skills licence.
A skills licence is the most effective way to make the most of your training budget. If you’ve not come across this before, it’s really quite simple. With a skills licence you can flexibly book multiple days of training in advance at a discounted rate. So you can plan your training needs ahead and save plenty of money. To find out more about skills licences get in touch here.
Need a chat to figure out how to get the most from your training budget? We’re here to help.
Drop us a message or give us a call and we’ll answer any questions you have.