In any company, regardless of it's size, there is employee training and development to be done within a set budget. To do this, you need to keep up with the pricing and costs of employee training materials. Through your research, you may even come across a less expensive way to train your employees that won't decrease the message that you are trying to get across with the training.

Before you begin your comparison, take stock of the types of training your company currently offers. Are you a multi-site corporation that uses both an in-house training department along with seminar based training? Or are you a small business that primarily uses employee training manuals? Prior to deciding on your next training event, consider the following:

1. What is your company's budget for business employee training?

2. How often are you planning to train your employees?

3. Are there any available discounts for training?

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Select cost-effective employee training for the size of your company

When shopping around for staff training and development materials, look for companies that offer training rates that are based on the amount of materials needed or number of employees attending and not just a set price. This is especially important for a small business.

I recommend: CRM Learning offers their online courses priced based on number of participants. The prices begin around $10 per person for 50 to 1,000 participants and approximately $8 per person for over 3,000 participants. The Richardson Company offers online streaming courses for around $6 per person for up to 1,000 participants and approximately $5 per person for 1,000 to 3,000 participants.

Plan for the frequency of new employee training

If your company has a lot of turnover or only hires seasonal employees, you will obviously have more sporadic training needs. Look for companies that will let you purchase or rent training materials that can be used for each batch of new employees that enter your company.

I recommend: Employee University has training videos for sale and to rent. Purchasing their videos will cost you anywhere from $695 to over $2,000 for purchase or $250 to over $700 for a seven day rental of the video. Business Training Media also offers training DVDs and videos for purchase or rental. Their prices range from $695 to approximately $950 to purchase and $295 to around $500 for a seven day rental.

Look for discounts on employee instructional materials

Look for discounts offered by the companies that provide employee training materials. Many companies offer discounts to educational, government or non-profit organizations.

I recommend: Advanced Training Source offers a discount of 10% to 30% off of the purchase price of their instructional materials for educational, government and non-profit based organizations, and they also offer volume based discounts. Enterprise Media offers 10% to 20% off for educational, government and non-profit based organizations, and they also offer a volume discount that ranges from 5% to 33% off.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When looking for discounted employee training materials, if the information is not listed on their website, it might be cost-effective for you to make a phone call and see if your company qualifies for a special discount.

Unless you work in a highly-specialized field, chances are you'll need to rely on employee training and development to make your business or organization run smoothly. And, whether your interests lie in business employee training for solid customer service support or training your employees to use machines, equipment or tools, communicating your company's expectations can address important issues. Even if you just want your staff to work better together, you can find materials, downloaded or printed, specific to your needs.

Look for business employee training that covers the following areas:

1. Basic employee training and development

2. Industry-specific or operation-specific training

3. Training to improve interpersonal skills

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Download new employee training manuals instantly online

Simple employee training manuals are available for instant download and printing from companies who employ human resource experts as well as attorneys to guide you in the right direction. Most of the time all you have to do is insert your company's name with your word processor's copy and paste function to tailor it for your staff. Even simple templates should include topics such as health insurance, equal employment and pay periods.

I recommend: Thompson can help you build employee training manuals that comply with federal law and are written by employment attorneys. CertifiedEmployeeHandbook.com offers pre-edited, simple templates to help get you started.

Find visual resources for training employees who use special equipment

If you're training employees to use special equipment, visual aids are what you need. Computer-based training videos can provide interactive exercises to help your employees not only use the equipment properly, but also help them avoid serious work-related injury and even death. Training companies that can replicate your equipment, whether it be through video or on paper, are best.

I recommend: Explainers provides visually stimulating operating instructions that are custom-made to your industry. Plant Maintenance Resource Center provides links to training materials sites for nearly 100 industries.

Look for interpersonal employee training materials for the most peaceful workplace

Promote a workplace where everyone gets along, or can at least handle conflicts in a productive manner. Good communication and negotiating skills are key to understanding and motivating others. They can also help you avoid sexual harassment law suits and other litigation surrounding sensitive subjects. Nearly half of Fortune 500 companies realize this and utilize employee training materials tailored to improving interpersonal skills.

I recommend: Best Instruments provides interpersonal training materials for employees. Find conflict resolution training materials for an unlimited number of users through Softskills Courseware.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Find a suitable location for viewing employee training and development videos. You want a place without loud distractions, and you also want to make your staff comfortable so they can withstand an hour or two or listening at a time.

If you want to begin making the most of employee training materials, you need to start thinking beyond the typical training held in a classroom that consists solely of instructional manuals for employees and dull presentations. Your employees should be captivated by the training so they reap the largest benefit from it, which in turn will keep your employees in the know and help them do their job quicker, safer and more efficient. Those three things can end up beefing up your bottom line.

Before you completely revamp your training regiment, take a look at your business and your employees. If you are running a business that has offices worldwide, has employees on multiple shifts or focuses on manufacturing, maybe classroom based training isn't the best option. Customer service reviews are important, and if you notice your company's reviews have been slipping, additional focus on training in that area might be needed. Consider the following when making the most of your employee training:

1. Determine the method of employee training that suits the needs of your business.

2. Locate companies with unique ways of delivering industry specific training.

3. Offer employees special interest or developmental training.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Select employee training materials that work with your business

To know what kind of training will be the most beneficial, you need to know your business. If the training you provide must be rolled out to multiple-locations, an online solution might be right for you. If it's a small group that you are looking to train, investigate how video training might work for your business.

I recommend: Research J.J. Keller & Associates and their custom software training solutions. They will work with your business to design a training program that can be accessed through a few different online methods. If you think a DVD or VHS training will work better, try Enterprise Media. They offer a variety of classes, some of which come with employee training manuals to reinforce what is taught during the training.

Provide unique industry specific employee training

If your business has employees that use heavy machinery or work in a construction zone, you should consider supplementing your basic employee training with a few specialized classes geared towards helping them stay safe and reducing workplace accidents. Look for a company that understands industrial business and knows that it's important to keep employees on-site in case you need them.

I recommend: Visit ITC Learning to view their selections in their video course line. You can choose from topics such as air conditioning and refrigeration, electrical safety and equipment operation. National Technology Transfer has an extensive line of safety and compliance training, and they will conduct employee training and development at your place of business so that your employees are close in case of a company emergency or need.

Look for special interest employee training opportunities

A study by Accenture showed that businesses that train their employees on interpersonal skills have 27% more productivity and 40% higher revenue than those that don't. If your employee training just covers the basics or if your teams are having trouble cooperating, take the time to research what is out there in the special interest training categories.

I recommend: Business Know How outlines the importance of training employees in soft skills, which are the customer service and business relationships area of training. CRM Learning has an extensive selection of diversity, ethics and communication skills training that can benefit your company.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you are going to be utilizing computer-based training for your employees, make sure that all employees, such as those in a warehouse or manufacturing plant, have access to a computer. In order to complete training quickly, make sure you purchase enough employee training software.
• •  Prior to conducting special interest training classes, make sure your employees know how the information will be relevant to their jobs and the kinds of benefits they can receive from completing the business employee training.