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Re: [Off Topic] Technical Training: On-site vs Open Enrollment
Subject:Re: [Off Topic] Technical Training: On-site vs Open Enrollment From:jrondeau -at- fabtrol -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 21 Oct 2003 10:10:52 -0600
Hi Bob,
First of all, your subject doesn't seem off-topic to me. I write user
docs, including training materials, and optimal delivery is always an
issue for us.
In addition to the other suggestions folks have made (and I think Geoff
Hart offers the best approach to your original question about coming up
with numbers), I'd like to mention a third training option we use, which
falls somewhere between onsite and
local-at-our-office-and-training-facility. We offer regional trainings
once every quarter. These are hosted in major metropolitan areas, at
high-end training facilities (easy to come by these days), and are
generally much cheaper for customers to get to than home classroom
trainings and more effective than on-sites for all the reasons you
mentioned. They increasingly seem like the best option of the three, in
fact -- so much so that we are looking at expanding our offerings to six
times a year. They require less wear-and-tear on our overbooked trainers,
reduce customer distraction, and generally send everybody away happier.
We are also looking at developing a real certification program and
integrating its value into development in the industry as a whole (steel
fabrication), but such things are time-consuming(in our case, at least)
where human resources of all sorts are increasingly scarce.
Hence, too, the problem of distracted employees on site. What Geoff Hart
says about employers needing to commit to the value of onsite training is
absolutely true, but often not a viable reality for folks simply
struggling to stay in business. The regional training option also helps
them think more clearly about their training investment.
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