Why successful SME’s outsource their Learning & Development

Why Successful SMEs Outsource their Learning & Development

Fast growing and lean SME’s today are looking at outsourcing their non-essential activities to specialist partners who provide non-core activities, such as Learning & Development as part of a value-added suit so that owners of SME’s can focus on where they add most value to their customers. Traditionally outsourcing was focused around legal and technical compliance, HR and IT, but today many SME’s have outsourced far more to close partners.

Developing people is critical in a modern workforce. Whether you are trying to stay ahead in a competitive market or upskilling your most valuable assets. Don’t leave investing in people matters. For the SME employees’ the struggle is being available, there is little time to develop people in costly feelgood away-day courses.

For SME’s keeping employees is highly important. The average cost of just recruiting an employee is around £4,500, and full replacement costs can exceed over £10,000. So, keeping good people is vital for SME’s who don’t have the resources of an in-house HR department or the budget of a PLC, (Public Limited Company). The modern answer is to look at developing people using innovative learning solutions.

The first solution for Learning & Development is to use technology rather than old school classrooms and books. Online learning is where most people prefer to get their knowledge, from Googling it to TED talks people are learning what they need, when they need it on their phones, laptops and tablets. Online learning is now an extremely common way to learn, especially for younger audiences who are used to reaching for internet rather than the handbook.

For SME’s experienced L&D, (Learning & Development), partners will provide turn-key solutions, that include access to LMS’s, (Learning Management Systems), best-in-class content development tools, industry-leading virtual classrooms, and so much more through learning platforms like IMPROVE.

Tailoring learning & development to employee’s business roles and needs, is easier and more focused when it is designed using an online Learning Management System. At IMPROVE, partners can move modules together into a single relevant course enabling learning to be personal, focused, short and even tested to ensure users achieved the set goals for their learning.

The other useful feature in course design is that your L&D partner can design and pull-in relevant courses, which can be added to the employees learning profiles, providing a bespoke solution to your needs. From a headline talk or relevant video, through to unique ideas or company specific learning, IMPROVE provides a flexible platform to provide tailored learning on.

For many companies delivering induction or compliance learning, such as Health and Safety (HSE), training is often challenging without an online solution and for many younger professionals Continual Professional Development, (CPD) is vital for their personal growth.

The final element that is driving SME owners’ decisions about outsourcing L&D is the ability to both reduce costs and get a better return on investment. An IMPROVE learning platform starts at just £30 per month for a company with up to 20 people, that’s just £1.50 per month per employee. For a flexible, 24/7 available, tailorable learning platform. For half the price of a cup of coffee it’s a straightforward economic decision.

For outsourced partners they can offer IMPROVE as an addition to their existing support package. This then allows them to move from being a compliance, keeping them legal partner, through to a strategic business partner.