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In-House Training vs. Outsourced Training: Which Option is More Effective?
Antara Harve
January 31, 2024

In-House Training vs. Outsourced Training: Which Option is More Effective?

Employee training is a critical organizational function. 59% of employees do not receive training to learn new skills or upskill to keep up with rapidly changing trends in technology. Exposure to newer, better, technology-underpinned, and more efficient ways of executing responsibilities gives employees a competitive edge.

The decision to upskill employees comes with two choices: outsourcing training or conducting in-house training. Both have their pros and cons. As the manager, you need to make an informed choice to ensure choosing the optimum fit for your organization.

Table of Contents:

In-house and Outsourced Training

In-house Training:

An in-house training program refers to the corporate training that is imparted by dedicated internal staff or experienced professionals on the roll by utilizing the company’s resources and relying on acquired expertise. The focus is on improving the productivity, efficiency, and knowledge of employees to help them keep pace with the latest trends.

Outsourced Training:

Outsourcing services refers to strategic partnerships with institutions that are extraneous to the organization but offer training to build the skills of the employees on a contractual basis. Expert and dedicated trainers craft the training programs by factoring in the upskilling needs of employees. Customizable learning modules are often presented through proprietary learning platforms to address skill gaps.

Also Read: AI in Training and Development: Know About Personalization, Automation & the Future of Learning

Outsourced Training vs. In-House Training: Which is Better?

It is prudent to summarily go through the pros and cons of both options before deciding which is better.

Pros of In-House Training

  • In-house training is cost-efficient as regular employees impart training in the organizational set-up
  • Saving of travel and accommodation costs payable to employees for outstation training
  • More role-oriented training based on work examples and learning from failures
  • Convenient scheduling of training
  • Promotion of a culture of teamwork through collective learning

Cons of In-House Training

  • Depreciation of value of assets, like a simulator purchased for training
  • Complete reliance on the wisdom of in-house trainers
  • Additional administrative overheads for conducting training
  • Training is not taken seriously, as peers act as trainers
  • Non-exposure to functional aspects of the latest innovations or technological advancements

Pros of Outsourced Training

  • Access to expert trainers, well-developed learning platforms, and innovative learning management systems of external partner 
  • Training can be customized to meet employees’ needs and knowledge levels
  • Advanced analytics help in assessing skill gaps and determining if they are adequately addressed through training
  • Fresh perspectives help learners keep pace with industry trends

Cons of Outsourced Training

  • Higher onboarding time for external trainers as familiarization with the company’s culture can be time-intensive
  • Employees may feel disconnected from the trainer
  • The scope of providing generic training may not be relevant to the organization’s mission
  • Higher cost of training

The Verdict: Outsourcing Training Is Better

Outsourced companies should be entrusted with the job of honing the efficacy of the skills acquired by organizational employees. Several arguments, as listed below, can be floated in favor of this.

1. More Effective Closing of Performance Gaps

Outsourced companies adopt an approach that is outcome-based. They have service-level agreements with organizations whose stipulations have to be fulfilled. Their experts undertake a thorough analysis of prevailing training trends from the perspective of competing organizations. Accordingly, skill gaps are identified, and training modules are devised to facilitate the achievement of organizational goals.

Learning management companies are best suited to identify the right training objectives that complement the business outcomes important for organizational success.

2. Better Alignment of Business Goals with Learning Objectives

The outsourced service provider would undertake a comprehensive analysis of the training needs of employees from the perspective of understanding how your business goals are suffering due to skill gaps.

Accordingly, training content would be developed in strategic alignment with your corporate mission. The focus will be on closing knowledge gaps. In-house training doesn’t take such an exhaustive view while developing training programs.

3. Enhanced Organizational Agility

After the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses have become more conscious about their abilities to quickly adapt to disruptive changes and endure challenges more effectively. By outsourcing training, organizations can scale the skills of employees at times when disastrous effects on business have to be diluted.  

Outsourcing imparts agility that an in-house training team can’t provide at par with changing business dynamics.

4. Better Scalability For Becoming A Knowledge-Driven Organization

In today’s competitive business landscape experiencing rapid technological flux, the survival of organizations is contingent on how well they assimilate contemporary knowledge and leverage it. This entails plugging knowledge gaps through small refresher courses as well as elaborate e-learning modules, as the situation demands.

Further, the training needs of in-house and remote staff may be different. Furthermore, the training content may require changes on various scales within a short span to reflect the changing priorities of the business.

An in-house team may lack the expertise, exposure, and experience to measure up to the aforementioned training requirements. Further, significant expenditures will be incurred to train the team, which will subsequently upskill employees. When the training program development is outsourced, scalability is accomplished at a lower cost and within a reasonable time. 

5. Lower Turnaround Time For Business Outcome Delivery

The outsourced training team is equipped with contemporary and cutting-edge tools and resources in sync with the demands of the present market. If a change is gathering momentum, the outsourced partner will quickly adapt its learning program to minimize the impact of the same. This preemptive action is lacking in the in-house team.

Consequently, outsourcing will help you increase the speed of marketing for a new product or service. Employees can be trained quickly to facilitate the conversion of an apparent roadblock into a competitive advantage. This fast adaptability will lessen the turnaround of your business initiatives.

6. Enhanced Professionalism In Training

Employees who are subjected to training by an in-house team may not take it seriously. This can happen if they are unimpressed by the skills of the trainer or view the exercise as an amateurish attempt to upskill.

The efficacy of training significantly improves when a professional team of trainers from an outsourced partner enlightens employees with state-of-the-art pedagogic tools and immersive techniques. The outcomes are better as the engagement quotient is higher and the techniques appeal to the shorter attention spans of learners.

7. Easier Measurement of Training’s Impact

In-house trainers often lack scientific tools and analytics software to measure the conceptual progress of learners and acquire proficiency in the topics taught.

A training service provider offers learning analytics outsourcing services. The scientific yardstick of trainers includes strategic tools and processes like surveying and learning analysis. The efficacy of employee development modules can be adequately and tangibly measured. This increases the return on investment in training as actionable data helps in reaching conclusions regarding improvements in employee capabilities.

8. Lower Safety Risks

Training should not be viewed from a provincial standpoint, with only the organization’s internal affairs in focus. The fast-changing business landscape mandates that industry experts’ knowledge be factored in to prepare employees for newer responsibilities. External educational publishing and training partners bring in updated know-how that internal trainers don’t have.

External trainers can create different realistic training scenarios with the latest technologies, which your organization may not be practically aware of. Such training lowers organizational safety risks as professionals are mindful of things to be included in knowledge sessions to prevent unwarranted damages and expenses. Employees become more empowered to ward off unpredicted risks.

Check out EXCLUSIVE: Hurix Mini-Book: Effective Training Techniques For Enterprises With Distributed Workforce

Final Thoughts

Hurix Digital has been offering strategic support to organizations desirous of outsourcing training. Our experience and expertise in this domain help us craft failsafe training solutions that give your organization a competitive edge by taking the skills of your employees to the next level. By leveraging advanced technologies, we advance the contemporary knowledge of your staff so that you can focus on your business’s core functions.

Connect with Hurix Digital to get the skill gaps of your employees ascertained and have cutting-edge training modules devised in alignment with your organizational mission. Our discerning team will not fall short of your expectations.