Posts Tagged ‘training’
Thursday, January 5th, 2012
You’ll hear a lot about the uptick in training, especially from the recent study from Training Magazine. What I like about this survey: pretty fresh data (gathered in early Summer) and no stats on government spending. Before we do a happy dance, let’s drill down.
Good news: spending to outsiders jumped $2B (yes, that’s billion) last year for a total of $9.1B USD. The key question: what are they paying outsiders for? One word: technology. Online learning tools get 38% of the outside budget pie. Consulting: 25%, certification programs are 24%, and content development is 30%. The biggest loser in our wheel house: only 16% in business skills.
And the sweet spot in the market? It’s not the industry giants anymore. Mid-sized companies have the biggest increase compared to 2010. Yes, they have less money to spend, but the big boys are cutting back. Their most important priority: reducing costs.
Want more? Check the study out for yourself at http://www.trainingmag.com/sites/default/files/trg_2011IR.pdf
Tags: budgets, strategy, training, Vickie Sullivan
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Tuesday, September 6th, 2011
Last week, I touched upon action learning as a trend to get ready for. Yes, action learning has been around for a while. Powerful outside forces will push this training approach to the forefront, so let’s drill down. What you need to know now:
- What’s driving the popularity: takes customization to a whole new level. Nuanced insights you only get from experience and additional (and creative) help in solving real challenges.
- What’s becoming obsolete: case studies. Experts teaching in traditional environments.
- What’s needed now: astute questions and reflective listening. Coaching groups through decision-making and acting on their decisions.
Prediction: watch this approach move to concurrent sessions in the association market. Why? So participants can leave with specific learning experiences, justifying the need to attend. Conventions and conferences will also use action learning to attract younger attendees.
Time to board this train before it leaves the station. Your next best step: take your expertise and apply it to specific challenges. Your approach will be seen as a conduit to get to those creative solutions.
Tags: consultants, education, experts, strategy, training, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, May 5th, 2011
First we had classroom-type training. Then Corporate America latched on to online training. Then they blended the two. What’s next? Tools that make trainers out of everyone.
Yes, technology is involved. According to this Fast Company article, cloud-based MindFlash has lowered the cost and raised the easy factor. Their goal: have a new user sign up, configure a course, and invite students in 15 minutes or less.
Where will this go? Too soon to tell. My prediction: Gen Y’s will jump on this quickly as they already have basic-multi-media skills. Unfortunately, many of them don’t have the expertise (or the war stories) of the Boomers. This will be a great bridge-builder between the generations. And Corporate America will make training everyone’s responsibility.
I wouldn’t fight this trend. Instead, let’s play the game. One way we can participate: experts like us can help make the training consistent. The last thing companies can tolerate is contradictory ways to do the same thing. And experts on curriculum development will see some great opportunities ahead.
Tags: experts, positioning, strategy, training, trends, Vickie Sullivan
Posted in Marketing, strategy | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 21st, 2010
I posted earlier this month about Training Magazine’s state of the industry report. After Thanksgiving, this voice of the industry announced their 2011 list of top 125 training organizations. I like their criteria of a leading training company: per employee investment, scope of development programs and my favorite — link to business objectives.
The interesting part: the breakdown by industry. Seeing the list from that vantage point can show you where the money is. The top three industries represented are those that are booming: healthcare, bank/financial services, and insurance. What is more interesting: there are sizable investments coming from industries less fortunate such as construction. (And yes, I counted.)
The blinding flash of the obvious: go where the money is. But the biggest lesson: you can find organizations who are willing to invest in any industry. So instead of marketing by industry, how about we market to the leaders? Working with the visionaries is fun and profitable. The only problem: be prepared to compete. The more money to invest, the more options of where to invest.
Tags: strategy, training, trends, Vickie Sullivan
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Thursday, December 9th, 2010
Good news: Training Magazine has continued its annual study on the training industry. Twenty-nine years strong, this survey featured data gathered in the summer, so the findings are relatively current for this depth. The respondents are corporate folks with at least 100 employees, with 20% final decision makers and 67% recommenders. The respondents are also categorized by number of employees: 39% are small (up to 999 employees), 36% are midsize (1,000 to 10,000) and 25% are large companies (more than 10,000).
The view at 30,000 feet:
- Total U.S. training spend is $52.8B, with 76% reporting that budgets stayed the same or decreased this year. Very small increase ($600M) from last year. Shows that training is not rebounding with the economy.
- Spending for outside vendors has decreased by almost half from $13.5B in 2005 to $6.9B in 2010.
The findings we experts care the most about:
- New growth area is management/supervisory training. Biggest increase for 2011 will be in supervisory/management training at 27%; executive development is only 12%.
- Small and midsize companies are focused on instructor-led and blended learning. Large corporations are focused on online and computer-based methods.
- Blinding flash of the obvious: online training is not embraced in executive development.
Priorities for 2011:
- Top choice: almost 40% cite online learning tools and systems; a respectable 27.5% say content development is on their list.
- Consulting 20.8%.
- Talent management tools and systems: only 14.3%.
Bottom line: executive development is super crowded for 2011, so think about how your expertise can apply to the front-line folks. And unless your business model has a lot of technology, go for the smaller to midsize firms. Click here for all the findings.
Tags: education, experts, Marketing, positioning, training, Vickie Sullivan
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Friday, October 2nd, 2009
This hasn’t reached critical mass but could next year: “informal” training — that is training based on social networking, and, yes, even Twitter — is gaining some traction.
Key vendors look to roll out new options in 2010 and some larger companies will bite to reach Gen Y’ers. Worst case scenario: look for an overhaul in classroom training, which will focus on more dynamic interactions. Prediction: this will happen regardless of the rise or fall of informal training. Again, it’s a generational thing.
Your next step: get ahead of the curve and adjust your courses now. When the big guys come out with social media options, you can capture the unsure buyers who want the best of both worlds.
Tags: dynamic, Gen Y, interaction, social media, social networking, training, Vickie Sullivan
Posted in Marketing, branding, strategy | No Comments »
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
No, it’s not your imagination. Corporate America has but back on training. Key question: what topics are considered “nice to have” and therefore being cut?
Workplace Options sheds some light on that question. Their recent poll shows only 39% of employers make time management, communications and leadership training available, and 32% offer personal growth topics, such as wellness, stress, and financial management. That’s an 18% drop for work-related skills training and a 15 percent drop on personal growth from the results in November last year.
Folks still need this information, so look for associations to pick up the slack. It won’t be in classroom format though. Webinars and other online formats will dominate these topics well into 2010. If you haven’t jumped on this bandwagon yet, now might be a good time.
Tags: Marketing, seminars, strategy, training, Vickie Sullivan, webinars
Posted in Marketing, Speaking, strategy | 1 Comment »
