Best Practices in Training Procurement, Part I - Defining the Need

This is the first of a 4-part series on Best Practices in Training Procurement.


Overview


Classroom training. E-learning. Blended learning. Synchronous vs. asynchronous distance learning. Self-study. The training world is becoming increasingly complex, with new products & services being created every day. How do we know we’re making the right purchase to meet our training need? In today’s economy, we need to be certain that our limited training budgets are being utilized with maximum benefit to the organization.


Every training organization in the world wants your money. Many will do whatever they have to do, and promise whatever they need to promise, in order to get your business, and some will claim capabilities that they do not yet have in order to win your business. Training vendors likely mail you catalogs every day, and send regular emails featuring the special of the week, or the latest and greatest curriculum. The trainer that deserves your business is the one that fully understands your need, and is interested in maximizing the benefit that your organization is looking for. How do you as the training buyer make sure that happens? Well, that’s a complicated question with a more complicated answer.


When you buy a physical product, you can take it out of the box right away, follow the instructions, and verify that it works. If it’s defective, you can return it for a new product or your money back. Training is much more ambiguous, since ROI won’t be fully realized until long after the training is completed and your dollars have been spent. If you follow a defined procurement plan, you will have much better odds of getting the training that exactly meets your organization’s needs.


Define the Need


How extensive is the training need? To what extent does it impact the organization as a whole? It’s critical to your success as a training manager to diagnose before you prescribe. In other words, you need to fully understand the problem before you implement a solution.


If John Smith in Finance needs to learn more effective pivot tables in Excel 2007 to produce a particular report, then your need is very well defined the moment you learn of it.


Say your IT department is adopting a formal Project Management methodology as a new practice. A little more exploration will ensure the correct training solution is implemented. What type of process are they moving over from? Why are they adopting a new methodology? Who in the IT department already has project management experience? To what extent does the entire department need training, and does anyone need to be certified? Is there a timeline for everyone to be trained? More exploration is required before you can fully understand the need.


However, if the entire Finance department is performing a major systems upgrade with customization to meet new government regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley, then you have quite a bit of homework to do. You’ll want to be involved with the people performing the upgrade. You’ll want to interview as many people as possible do determine the impact on their daily tasks. It’s important to understand the desired result from management, but it is equally important to understand the impact on the end-user, and what they would like to achieve as well. You’ll also want to understand the output of the changed processes, and how that may impact other parts of the company. What resources internal to the company already exist that could serve as training resources?


By fully defining the training need, you will be better equipped to begin searching for the proper solution.


In the next segment, "Learn What's Out There", we'll begin to explore the available resources, and how to qualify them.