If you're unfamiliar with any training or learning management solutions, you may want to read our article on "What is a Training / Learning Management System?" before trying to figure out what system is right for you.

So Why Do I Need a Solution?

You should consider investing in a system if you are:

• Managing a department or organization responsible for training others or monitoring job skills
• Frustrated by spreadsheets and databases you are currently using
• Constantly copy and paste information between documents, or manually create e-mails to students
• Using HTML or PDF forms to register students for training
• Grading exams manually
• Printing and mailing student certificates
• Charging fees to students or their organizations / departments for training or materials

You should look carefully at your training organization and find the key areas that a solution can help you with.  For example, TrainingForce does three basic things extremely well, even though it has hundreds of features:

Manage -- The core reason for purchasing a training or learning management software package is to manage the learning function itself: classroom, enrollments, course catalog and instructors.

Communicate --  The system that manages your training data should allow you to communicate with students in a variety of ways, both through the web site and via e-mail or regular mail.

Deliver -- An system should facilitate delivery of your programs the way you intend, including e-learning. Any system should also collect data to help you analyze the effectiveness of your training programs and improve skills or competency.

Is it Worth the Money?

Yes.  A well implemented training solution often does work equivalent to one or more employees.  Every organization has its own formula for calculating a return on investment in training. Most managers will admit that calculating the value of training is difficult. Gains in efficiency often allow you to take on additional projects or simply create additional training programs.  Some can see returns because resources such as training seats, cancellations, or books are now billed more efficiently.  One of the quickest returns on your investment is when your organization is able to stop printing and mailing certificates.

Assuming your organization trains 5,000 people per year:
  -- Certificates @ $0.25 per certificate (based on a standard inkjet printer at 25% coverage) = $1,250
  -- Envelopes @ $0.15 each = $750
  -- Mailing Labels @ $0.02 each = $100
  -- Postage @ $0.45 each = $2,250
  -- Labor Costs:  5 Minutes per certificate for a person making $7.25/hour = $3,020.86
       Total Cost For 5,000 Certificates:  $7,370.80