L&D has become a top priority for organizations that are focusing their attention on employee reskilling this year. High-quality employee training programs play a critical role in helping business equip their employees with the knowledge and skills they need for success.
Training also plays a significant role during times of transition and transformation. This is why training outsourcing has become increasingly popular over the last year. However, training outsourcing can be expensive, and it can challenging to manage multiple vendors. This is where managed training service providers come in.
Managed training service providers offer end-to-end learning and development services. Unlike other L&D vendors that specialize in a single niche area, these organizations are larger. They provide services that cover the full range of the L&D spectrum, making it easier for you to fulfill your training outsourcing needs with a single vendor. The managed services framework can be broken down into five categories of offerings.
The Five Managed Learning Service Offerings
Learning Strategy
Many organizations today are revamping their L&D strategies to better meet changing employee needs. An experienced managed services provider will have a strategic process and a proven method they use to develop winning learning strategies. The best providers will help use an outcomes-based approach. They assess the organization’s goals, the current state of their learning programs and identify the changes that need to be made to drive business results.
Learning Administration
Managed learning service providers often offer administrative services that help streamline business processes related to L&D. Administrative services include tasks related to scheduling and logistics. Everyday administrative tasks include securing content for your learning programs, setting up VILT sessions, and creation of new classes.
They also often cover tasks related to tracking, reporting, and budgeting. These tasks commonly include tracking attendance, operational metrics, and the monitoring of participant feedback. They also include financial reporting and budget procurement.
One of the highest in-demand offerings managed service providers offer in this category today is LMS administration. Outsourced providers can assist with the management and maintenance of your learning management systems. They can assign an entire team to ensure that your system is running smoothly 24/7.
Instructor Facilitation
Managed learning providers can also assist your organization in recruiting, onboarding, and managing learning talent. The recent pandemic has created a growing need for learning talent as organizations expand their L&D teams to rapidly reskill the current workforce.
A managed training provider will already have a built-in pipeline of learning talent, making it easy to help find the best fit for your organization. Outsourcing instructor facilitation can help streamline the hiring and recruiting process. An outsourced provider can help you scale your team quickly and fill gaps at a moment’s notice.
Vendor Management
Enterprise organizations often work with multiple outsourced L&D vendors. This can quickly become expensive. It can slow down the speed to market your L&D programs and negatively impact quality. Working with a managed learning services provider can help your company reduce the number of vendors you work with. They provide end-to-end services, so you can outsource with a single provider. This can improve communication, speed up the training process, and ensure that each project is strategically aligned with your organization’s business goals.
Analytics and Measurement
Another line of services managed learning providers often offer are analytics and measurement. These services have become incredibly useful for program evaluation and optimization. An outsourced provider will be able to accurately evaluate the current state of the learning program using learning analytics, surveys, and interviews. They will be able to advise your organization about the next steps to take to improve training quality and its organizational impact.
Final Word
It is common for organizations’ L&D needs to change throughout the year. Today enterprise organizations have more outsourcing options to select from than ever before. There are learning vendors with highly niche skills. Training outsourcing with these providers can be useful, but managed learning service providers simplify the outsourcing process by making it easy to have all of your L&D needs taken care of by a single trusted source. Learn more about the future of training outsourcing and read the eBook Managed Learning Outlook 2021.
