When you are working in a small L&D or HR team, you want to be spending your time on what really matters:
Understanding and addressing the needs of those around you.
No matter what size of organization you support, it is the nature of people development that the potential is infinite. You can always do that little bit more, but when you have limited resources, you often find yourself spending too much time on doing the stuff that lies behind helping others.
Effective L&D outcomes cannot take place without a pile of admin.
However, if that admin is confused and muddled, that pile quickly becomes a mountain.
We carried out a study a while ago that it takes four hours to source and book training per requirement. Four hours. That is half a day. With investment in people being such a priority, multiple requirements every month might result in entire days being lost.
However, as with all admin, it is never this simple.
The thing is that this is an ongoing process, with the final solutions appearing piece by piece. You get distracted by a call to this provider, or 20 minutes of internet research on another topic, and suddenly you have lost your train of thought entirely.
Admin work takes you out of the present and into a deep hole of “I’ve got to get through this.” When you have real people who need your undivided attention, the cost of being bogged down in admin could be far more significant that we realise.
As organisations get to grips with the outsourcing-led movement that is driving the gig-economy and driven by technological advances, many organisations are now starting to question whether the cost of all the admin is worth it – especially in a people-facing role.
If the cost of outsourcing training arrangements to an external provider is less than the human cost of having a frazzled and remote L&D person, why wouldn’t you investigate it?
The value of taking on outside help for any reason lies mainly in the fact that they are experts in their own narrow field. While an internal person might spend hours floundering around the internet and chatting with potential providers of any service, it will always take twice as long and be three times more of a lottery in terms of quality.
Any service that takes the admin strain off the shoulders of L&D ensures that they are able to spend their energy where it matters most: talking with their people.
If you would like less admin work and more time spent understanding the needs of your people we can help you with a bespoke service.
Contact Blake at blake.henegan@optimuslearningservices.com or call him on 0845 519 7408
