Introduction

Creating or purchasing learning programmes to maintain or upskill your workforce is expensive. Off-the-shelf courses can cost between £600 and £12,000 per person, not including administration and logistics costs, leading to punishingly high learning bills for companies.

Often, these costs limit training to a few individuals, leaving new and specific skills with just a handful of employees. Consequently, the application and benefits of this learning are limited in scope and value to the organisation.

Many organisations still rely on the outdated view that formal learning is the only way to upskill employees. This stems from the decision makers’ educational experiences and a reluctance to change. Driven by the same experiences, employees also often believe their professional development is only supported if formal learning is provided.

Changing these views is essential to developing a Learning Culture within your organisation, and this cannot happen overnight. However, there are several drivers to motivate leadership to embrace this change:

1. Reduced overall learning costs per head by making better purchasing decisions and embracing complementary ways of learning.
2. Increased staff engagement, satisfaction, and overall performance.
3. Enhanced organisational brand and reputation.
4. Attraction and retention of higher-quality staff.

So, what are some of the cost-effective avenues for expanding learning in your organisation?

Ensure your Learning Programme purchases are smart!

• Test if the Learning Programme you finance is laser-targeted to fill the skills gaps in your organisation and if the new skills are applied and shared immediately and consistently.
• Shop for the best price and quality, using your organisation’s weight and purchasing power to reduce prices. Establish a relationship with the course provider to obtain preferential rates.

Develop a Learning Culture

Allocating large learning budgets alone does not create a Learning Culture. It requires much more, including:

• Leadership and managers understand, actively role-model, and support learning aligned with organisational objectives, creating an environment where learning is facilitated and valued.
• Staff are responsible for their development, creating opportunities and embracing every learning avenue.

Utilise Near-Zero Cost Learning Opportunities

Here are some cost-effective learning opportunities that can transfer new skills and knowledge within your organisation:

• Weekly Peer-to-Peer Learning Sessions: Encourage staff to share knowledge and learn from each other.
• Developing Learning Teams: Foster a culture where teams proactively share knowledge.
• Mentoring: Utilise experienced staff to mentor others within the team and organisation.
• Free Learning Resources: Use platforms like Moodle.org, free webinars, and other free resources.
• Social Learning: Leverage social interactions for informal learning opportunities.
• Learning Management System: Create a system to efficiently record, store, and distribute knowledge.

Conclusion

Having cost-effective and high-standard Learning and Development programmes is a primary driver of success. Organisations cannot grow, expand, and innovate unless the workforce is continuously upskilled and engaged.

As an L&D professional, I have witnessed the value of using all learning opportunities for individual staff, teams, leaders and the organisation.

Developing and embedding a Learning Culture and building a learning infrastructure within the organisation is inexpensive. This approach fully utilises existing learning budgets, maximises the spread of new knowledge and skills, and reduces overall training costs.

• Further reading:

o Formal and Informal Education: Explaining the Difference

o Almost half of younger workers would quit their jobs because of a lack of L&D, survey finds

o Creating Learning Cultures (Assessing the Evidence)