Training costs fall by 80 percent at Northumberland County Council: Learning-management system improves access, efficiency and course quality

Abstract

Purpose

Explains how Northumberland County Council in England cut its training costs by 80 percent.

Design/methodology/approach

Describes how a new learning-management system has improved efficiency, access and course quality and opened up new opportunities for the future.

Findings

Charts the benefits as: a new online-appraisal process that will link individual performance objectives with individual and team learning and development plans; the future development of 360-degree feedback tools that will provide employees with the ability to seek and receive objective feedback on their performance and how their managers, peers and customers feel that they demonstrate the competencies and behavioral-success factors espoused by the council; having one central place for learning and improving consistency of delivery that will meet the needs of the council and its partners; savings in time and money from delivering training more quickly than with a traditional classroom approach; effective management of programs and the ability to avoid costly licensing fees; swift updates to learning, saving time and money; and extensive support offered by Learning Pool, the team that installed the learning-management system.

Practical implications

Demonstrates how savings have been achieved through a combination of: online training in place of more than 10,000 hours of classroom delivery; self-service functionality for course bookings, which has saved more than 1,200 hours of administration time; the creation of more than 20 hours of bespoke content; and a reduction in CO2 omissions and fuel savings, all while improving consistency and scalability.

Originality/value

Provides the inside story of how a 6,000-plus employee council revolutionized its training delivery and made significant savings into the bargain.

Citation

(2014), "Training costs fall by 80 percent at Northumberland County Council: Learning-management system improves access, efficiency and course quality", Human Resource Management International Digest, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 18-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/HRMID-01-2014-0007