UK training sector crash?
With budgets being squeezed it is not surprising that training is taking a hit like many other business services. Traditionally external spend on training has been cut early on but internal training resources allowed to continue to develop.
Today I received an advert from Gower – a well respected provider of books and paper based resources on management, HR and training. Usually the sort of spent that is so small – £20-£100 per item, that this is barely impacted, but what i saw today shocked me. Most prices on a list of over 100 products. Most were discounted at least 50% many up to 75% – this is unheard of from this provider. It is cheaper to buy from the publisher than Amazon!
If low cost items are being reduced by 50% what is that going to mean for the freelance and provider market?
Is the training market now a commodity market? does this mean that as a profession we have failed to educate managers the value of having educated and competent people?
Many will argue that to survive any downturn firms need to focus on investing in sales and training – not cutting them. It about more than just survival – it is about being in a position to raise from the fire like the phoenix after the slowdown, if we don’t then our organisations risk not being there – or worse, in the rapid growing world of innovation and web 2.0 there will be new, leaner competitors waiting to pick off the sales.
RapidBI is an organizational effectiveness consultancy based in the UK but working internationally.
© RapidBI & Mike Morrison 2011 - this article/ page is free to copy and use on the condition that an active link back and reference is made to this site and page. Thank you for your understanding and co-operation.
Related posts that may be of interest to you:
- Evaluating the impact of training – another failure
- Training – commodity or professional service
- Training, learning and Twitter
One Response to “UK training sector crash?”
Comment from scientificleader
Time December 10, 2008 at 13:58
I feel bad that the great Trainers in the UK and elsewhere will be hit by this recession, as it appears Training is among the first to be cut in a downturn. But the silver lining could be that there is more leadership support for transferring the new skills to the job, which is the #1 predictor of whether training helps people do a better job. More silver linings to the current financial crisis are here
3 Trackbacks to UK training sector crash?