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Survey reveals a growing inclination to contract out training administration

HR practitioners are warming to the idea of freeing-up their time and resources by using external providers to undertake training administration tasks, according to a new survey.

During July and August 2004, Learning services company KnowledgePool asked 95 HR directors, departmental heads and training managers of UK organisations about this issue.

In a previous survey, undertaken in 2002 by IT Skills Research, only 17 per cent of practitioners were considering or using such services. In a significant shift, 38 per cent of HR practitioners now say they are in favour of contracting out time-consuming training tasks which have traditionally been performed in-house. This includes administrative tasks such as booking training events, inviting delegates, managing cancellations, gathering feedback and generating reports - as well as third party supplier procurement and management.

"The concept of using external providers for training administration tasks is gaining ground in the UK because HR practitioners would rather spend their time and resources on pressing HR concerns, such as setting the learning strategy and managing the broader human resources activities", said Rod Edwards, Chief Executive of KnowledgePool. "There's also a growing recognition that external providers can offer economies of scale."

The survey, conducted in July and August 2004, reported that 60 per cent of HR practitioners believe that training administration and support tasks should only be undertaken by independent, ‘vendor neutral' service providers. The survey also showed that HR practitioners in the private sector appear to be slightly more inclined to contract out training administration tasks than their counterparts in the public sector.

External link

For more information about KnowledgePool visit: www.knowledgepool.com

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