Cost-Effective Training for Small to Medium-Sized Businesses

It’s 2011 and most businesses are looking around at their internal talent and heaving a small sigh of relief—relief that the company survived the horrendous economic downturn and relief that they have been able to retain as many key employees as they could. 

Even so, savvy leaders know that as the economy improves, their employees will be looking for what the company is doing to support them—including the key element of employee training and development.  While offering quality learning opportunities to staff is a critical component for talent retention, small to medium-sized businesses often face bigger challenges in providing development and training for their employees.  Frequently, without in-house training staff and always with limited budgets, these companies have had to do more with less, and they continue to do so in 2011 and beyond.

Some Positive Examples

MultiAd, a 200+ person marketing solutions company headquartered in Peoria, IL, has always believed in the power and importance of training its workforce.  However, like most companies of its size, it has relied upon external resources for its workforce training programs.  According to James Douglas, President and CEO, “we often look outside the company for training on subjects we feel will help continuously build and improve the performance of our employees.  Even during the recession, we continued to offer classroom-based programs on topics such as goal setting, performance management, team work and even ‘Changing & Growing - Without Going Crazy!’” MultiAd is a member of AAIM Employers’ Association, a non-profit membership organization serving four Midwestern states, and it receives HR services, including interactive, classroom-based training as part of its membership fees.

MKTG Inc, a 200+ marketing services firm with headquarters in New York City and offices in Cincinnati, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, while still not large enough to have trainers on staff, has an HR Director with a passion for learning and a “think outside the box” penchant for finding solutions to budget and geographically-dispersed workforce challenges.