Will Training Outsourcing Really Work?
SMT
Outsourcing of HR activities has been on for a long time now. Starting somewhere in early 90's many of the transactional aspects of HR started to be outsourced. One of the first activities that where third party agencies stepped in to help organizations (in HR), was Pay Roll processing and Benefits Administration. And like other spaces, the outsourcing moved up and down the HR value chain, capturing other areas over a period of time. And one such activity which therefore organizations started to look for outside help was Training. Today, there are number of large and small players offering a wide variety of services in the Training space, as an outsourced services model for organizations.
Like in the case of other outsourcing processes, organizations often grapple with the issue if the LPO/TPO (Learning Process Outsourcing or Training Process Outsourcing) is delivering the results that are required by the organization. The answer for this often lies is how well the organization has established its processes to measure this efficacy, and has been able to do the same prior to the process of outsourcing. Outsourcing a process where you do not have core competency is one thing, and doing it not knowing what to expect is another. If an organization has to successfully outsource its Training process, then it should ensure
1. That the Learning Strategy is in place and is aligned with the business strategy
2. The business case for the Learning & Training process are in place and that the business case itself can be monitored based on definitive metrics which includes besides cost, the learning impact on business results, capability improvement index, internal customer satisfaction and other organization specific aspects.
3. Partner for Learning outsourcing has been identified after a thorough due diligence and that the partner brings credentials to the effect of having worked with similar organizations (of size, growth aspirations, employee profile, technology adaptation, learning culture etc)
4. The SLA has been properly worked and that they have are amalgamation of the organization prior practices (which worked) and partners best practices from other client echo systems.
5. Review mechanism which ensure the organization monitors on a regular basis the SLA parameters and ensures that corrective actions are taken in a timely manner.
When an organization follows a systematic method, only then shall it be able to derive the benefits or LPO/TPO.
