Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/295251
[ 34 ] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | APRIL 2014 Learning • Many employers are facing an increasing skills shortage as well as engagement problems, says Gary Bragar, HR outsourcing researching director at NelsonHall. Corporate learning programs can help with both. "Several studies have shown that at least 50 percent of employees do not feel engaged at work and would change jobs tomorrow if they could," Bragar says. "Talent development is critical not just for specific job skills, but also for career development, and to retain skilled employees as companies recognize the shortage of talent in the marketplace." • Companies are also realizing that it's not enough to learn if employees are happy, "they need to learn whether they are fulfilled and productive," says Adam Stedham, senior vice president of learning solutions, at GP Strategies. "If an employee is productive but not fulfilled, then they are a flight risk and that needs to be addressed," Stedham says. "But if they are fulfilled but not productive, then the company needs to figure out how [the employees] can better add value." • Retaining people is important, but retaining customers is more important, says Edward Trolley, vice president of managed training services at NIIT. Research indicates that one of the primary reasons customers leave companies is because the person they've been doing business with left the company and their relationship was broken, Trolley says. "If keeping every person on the payroll forever does not help a company accomplish its objectives, then what's the point?" • Steven Stone, vice president of member contact learning at USAA Bank in San Antonio, Texas, says many companies "miss the pitch" in manager development. "Recognizing there may be some degree of truth in the old adage, 'employees don't leave companies, they leave managers,' one way to improve retention is to address the need to create a better manager with stronger skill sets, knowledge, and experience," Stone says. "That, I feel, is a key driver for learning organizations to help combat the loss of talent as the recovery from the recession opens up more tempting opportunities for employees." Current State of Spend According to TrainingIndustry.com, roughly 58 percent of employers' training budgets on average is spent on insourced resources, while 42 percent on average is spent on external suppliers. Overall, budgets collectively increased 15 percent in 2013. Companies outsource for centralization of learning management and administration, content development, and for advice on which technology can be integrated to reduce overall costs while increasing participation, says Mark Oliver, managing director of Raytheon Professional Services, EMEA. Buyers that have learning programs in multiple sites often have multiple spends, so they are looking for providers to identify areas of inefficiencies and redundancies, Oliver says. However, employers typically don't completely outsource high-potential learning—that tends to be kept close to the vest, with specialist elements given to third parties. Buyers are also trying to increase flexibility through cross- training and role standardization, and are looking to design standardized training components around best practices, Stedham says. "Some markets have the bandwidth for e-learning and some don't, or are not allowed to for certain content, such as According to a 2013 NelsonHall survey of 24 learning BPO providers in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, 55 percent of the market is now e-learning, including virtual instructor-led training, and is expected to grow another 5 percent in 2014.