Training Companies

Organizations have training requirements related to various business functions, such as compliance, customer services, and sales. However, they may not have the resources or time to create and implement dedicated in-house training programs.

Training companies provide corporate training services to organizations and save them the trouble of having to hire full-time training staff. They use the latest tools, techniques, and resources to develop and implement employee training courses, either on-site or virtually.

Choosing a training company that best meets your needs and budget is important. To help you with vendor selection, we’ve created a buyers guide that includes all the information you'll need.

Here's what we'll cover:

• What are training companies?
• Common offerings of training companies
• What type of client are you?
• Benefits of training companies
• Key considerations when selecting training companies
• Market trend to understand

What are training companies?

Training companies are HR service providers that allow organizations to outsource their employee training processes. Third-party training companies offer a range of services, including general business, employee development, compliance, and industry-specific training. Some companies also conduct informal training sessions, such as team building and soft skills.

To set up these sessions, training companies coordinate with the human resources (HR) departments of organizations. They work with HR professionals to customize employee training programs as per the individual needs of businesses.

Virtual training sessions in Zenefits (Source)

Common offerings of training companies

In this section, we’ve listed some of the most common services offered by training companies.

In-person classroom sessions	Traditional classroom-based training programs that are conducted at the client’s location for a single employee or a group of employees.
Virtual instructor-led sessions	Online training sessions that employees can attend from their work desks or as a group from a meeting room. Trainers usually use video conferencing tools to conduct these sessions.
Recorded video sessions	Prerecorded training sessions that are provided to client organizations, who can share them with their employees as required.
Train-the-trainer sessions	A training model that coaches subject matter experts or other potential candidates at client organizations to become trainers. These individuals can then train other employees.
Employee self-service resources	Training content, resources, and links that are provided to client organizations, who can upload them on internal HR systems or mobile apps for their employees.
Certifications	Certifications provided to employees who participate and successfully complete professional training programs.

What type of client are you?

Before you start evaluating third-party training companies, you'll want to know which buyer category you belong to. Most clients belong to one of the below categories.

• Clients that need to outsource the entire training function: For some businesses, managing training processes in-house can lead to ignoring their core business operations and sometimes higher expenses. These businesses wish to outsource their entire training function to third-party service providers who can manage it on their behalf.
• Clients that need to outsource specific training processes: These organizations need training assistance with specific processes, such as employee personality development or training the trainer. They usually have in-house training staff, but they lack training experience in the required functions. Such clients should opt for training companies that specialize in the processes with which they need help.

Benefits of training companies

While some of the benefits of training companies may be clear from our discussion above, we've listed the most notable ones in this section.

• Provide access to training expertise: Training companies offer access to the best-in-class corporate trainers with expertise across domains, including leadership development and career development. You can leverage the expertise of these specialists to plan training calendars and policies for your organization.
• Save time: Training companies maintain a central repository of training resources that can be quickly matched with the requirements of your business. This helps save the time and effort required to identify and shortlist effective training programs, thereby allowing you to focus more on your core business operations.

Key considerations when selecting training companies

Listed below are some important points to consider when evaluating the services of a training company.

• Total cost of training: Training companies offer a host of training services, each available at a different price. When choosing a service provider, you should be careful about the total costs incurred. Set an expenditure limit, and select a training company that offers all the services you need within your designated budget.
• Security of business data: Training companies may ask you to provide employees’ confidential personal data, such as job profile, age, educational background, and skill set, to prepare a customized training program. When shortlisting service providers, check which data they’ll need access to. Also, inquire if they have any data security and privacy measures in place and if their services are compliant with industry regulations.

Market trend to understand

Here's a recent trend in the training services market that you should be aware of:

• Employers are taking the assistance of training partners: A growing number of employers in the U.S. are working with training partners to educate and upskill their employees. Employers are also allocating a dedicated training budget to support the professional development needs of their workforce.

Note: The application selected in this article is an example to show a feature in context and isn’t intended as an endorsement or a recommendation. It has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.