It’s been established by now, that for a company to thrive and grow, its employees need to be well-trained. It’s also true that in many companies, employee training is considered to be a waste of money.
But, did you know that refusing to train your employees can be a more expensive feat than deciding to train them? Besides, who says that employee training can’t be done on a budget?
Various options can help you save money while still providing great training options for your employees. If you’re intrigued, check out these couple of ways to train your employees on a budget.
1.   Needs and goals
The whole point of employee training is to accomplish your company’s goals, as well as your employees’ goals. Before you sign them up for any training, the first step is to do some assessment. The assessment is easily done by looking at the weak areas and knowledge gaps.
You can also find out what these gaps are by reviewing your employees. Once you know all the gaps, it will be easier for you to look for appropriate training options.
Also, don’t forget to consult your employees about what they want to learn. Having a say in this type of thing will make your employees more motivated to learn.
2.   Create a training budget
Once you know exactly what you’re looking for, it’ll be much easier to create a training budget. You should create a separate line item for training in your yearly budget instead of using the leftover money when it’s available.
When creating a budget, consider the costs of briefing about the training program, training classes, video tutorials, eLearning, and similar course fees.
The next things that you also need to factor into your budget are training materials such as quality RTO training resources, workbooks, videos, then staff time, instructor fees, ongoing training, contingencies and finally travel, lodging, and meal expenses required to participate – if needed.
Once the budget has been planned out and approved, it’s up to the HR team to carefully manage the budget so that you can stay on track and not overspend.
3.   Pairing employees and mentorship
If you want to save more money on employee training, a good way to do so is by introducing employee-led training. This way, more experienced employees can act as mentors/teachers, and you won’t have to give huge amounts of money on travel, lodgings, hiring expensive teachers, and similar expenses.
Additionally, do encourage teamwork and sharing of knowledge and skills between each other. Organize training with leaders and managers and have them share their knowledge and skill with other team members. Simply, don’t go looking outside of your company for what you already have inside.
4.   Encourage learning outside the company
When we say learning outside the company, we mean sending employees on low-cost learning options such as seminars, conferences, meetings, and presentations. These events provide perfect opportunities for employees to learn about both general and specific topics.
To be up to date with these sorts of events, keep in touch with other companies in your industry. Checking with other companies can also help you gain insight into how they train their employees and which associations can be most beneficial to you and your employees.
5.   Find training opportunities on the internet
Since we have it, it would be such a waste not to make the most of the internet. The internet is brimming with different kinds of learning opportunities that are both effective and inexpensive, not to talk about how convenient they are.
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are just one example of free online courses available for anyone to enroll in. These courses are mainly free, but you can also find paid ones or a combination of both.
6.   Gamification
When you combine games and training, you’ll get gamification. This relatively new strategy has been created to enhance organizations and services, and encourage employees to complete tasks and get rewards such as avatars, leaderboards, badges, and so on.
A gamification program is, without a doubt, a great way to engage and motivate your employees. Plus, with this type of program, they will immediately receive feedback on performance and be guided towards new achievements.
To create a gamification program, you need creativity more than money, which means that you can employ your staff to participate in the development and design of new game concepts.
You can also look for inexpensive or even free gamification platforms that offer what you need to get your employees to collaborate, share and interact with each other.
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You can find clever and inexpensive ways to successfully help your employees enhance their knowledge and skills. Providing employee training will not only benefit your workers but your company as well. So, creating a budget for employee training can pay off big time in the long term. Don’t waste your time, educate your employee right now!