Hi all,

We currently buy in our Digital Learning for compliance type training but it can be difficult to find a supplier that provides consistantly good material. As a result of this and the recent purchase of a new LMS we are looking to see whether it makes sense to bring the development of this material in-house. We currently have about 7,000 staff across the globe and we are a financial services organisation.

I would appreciate any experience you have of the benefits of bringing the design and development in house and if you believe that this has prodcued cost savings for the organisation (as well as increased engagement in the material).

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Replies

  • Wow!

    Thank you all for your responses they have been great and really helpful and insightful. I think the mixed approach works best and I like the idea of building the internal capability in some of the more basic aspects of course building and bringing in the experts to build the more specialised sections. This helps us really create a progrssive approach to developing the teams skills whilst still ensuring we get value for money.

    Ill be picking this up with my colleagues and will let you know how we get on.

  • Hi Richard, one of my last interim roles was with a global company, a little smaller than yourselves but with ambitious plans for growth.  The HRD was very tech-savvy and wanted to move their e-learning strategy forward.  When I joined, not only were they paying for external creation, they were also shelling out significantly for modules to be translated into German and French, with costs being circa £10K/module for text and audio per language

    Because the current approach just couldn't continue in terms of costs, we changed tactic.  I identified someone in the team that wanted to develop their e-skills and started an intensive development programme, combining technical IT skills with media/storyboarding fundamentals plus mentoring.  

    I also recruited two L&D administrators, fluent in French and German and took them overseas for a couple of weeks to build relationships with the L&D and operational teams, learn about the company and understand the technical terms used. Until we built the e-approach, it was critical for us that all compliance activity was logged centrally, and we needed the overseas buy-in to achieve this.  Once back in the UK, they became dual-purpose, providing L&D admin and then translating and doing voice-over as our own e-learning began to be made.

    As Mike says it takes a bit of effort and investment to get an internal approach up and running but it's so much more flexible and cost-effective once you do.  When I left they were taking first steps into user-generated learning!  

  • Hi Richard great to see you here - hope you're well.

    I worked for a very large corporate in a previous role and it was insane how much £££ we spent on outsourcing compliance eLearning - seriously we're talking £20K + per module depending on length.

    This was over 5 years ago and in that time the tools, market and skills around eLearning have changed. More and more in-house teams are assigning some of this budget on developing internal skills and capability as well as the tools required to develop and produce materials. The recent benchmark report from Towards Maturity shows that the top deck (25%) of successful organisations are developing the digital capability of their teams to support their organisations. 

    Internal teams *can be* more flexible, adaptable, agile and tend to be closer to the business and subject matter experts, plus using high quality authoring tools means internal teams can produce good looking and engaging content and there are plenty of training courses available to develop those skills.

    However approach with caution - just because you have the ingredients doesn't mean were all Mary Berry's of the eLearning world and one of the reasons why people outsource development of eLearning is because creating highly engaging well designed eLearning isn't easy and can take to develop and master those skills.

    These things can take time so perhaps it's a transitional approach you take?

     

    • Hi Richard. 

      This is a great question. I saw it a few days ago and I've been mulling this over in my mind on various dog walks since! It's a long reply. So much to say on the topic!

      I sit on the fence when it comes to this question. I don't see it as being the case that you either have in-house OR outsource. The best approaches seem to be when there is a combination of both. Here's why...

      When I lead the development of a new digital learning approach for an organisation, we selected a supplier that built our custom platform and bespoke e-learning modules for us. A similar bracket for cost per module, you could see this as expensive, but I didn't. The work they did for us was cutting edge, with stunning animation, gamification, CGI graphics and videos. More expensive than developing internally, but well worth it.

      However, those sorts of costs just aren't sustainable. It became the case, I think, that the business saved developing online learning for the projects with the big budgets. It was like online learning had become a luxury that wasn't always affordable. There was so much more learning that could and should have been delivered in that way. But cost got too prohibitive and it was seen as a luxury we would spend on as and when it was really absolutely necessary.

      By developing in-house digital skills, we were able to shave a bit off the external costs. We got involved in the bits that we could do and left the more advanced stuff that was out of our reach to our supplier. For example, I started crafting my skills in voiceover saving the cost of getting these done externally. Eventually, the business moved to using e-learning authoring tools, with the in-house team doing the basics and leaving the external team to fill the placeholders we left with professionally produced animations, videos, games etc. However, again over time, in-house we started producing basic videos ourselves again calling on the external skills where things were a bit more complex and skillful.

      I agree with Mike. A transitional approach is something that is well worth exploring. With all this in mind, my preferred approach is:

      - A supplier who develops, builds, manages and supports the learning platform itself, keeping up to date with new features. The requirements for platforms change so rapidly and regularly, I'd rather the external experts look after this

      - Content, where possible, developed in-house, led by L&D but supported by others. It's a question of what bits could we do in-house and what skills do we need to develop to get there. It's not just L&D that gets involved in this. There are probably people hiding away in your business that could contribute by doing a voiceover, filming or starring in a video, producing music, photography, graphic design and more!

      - Buy in external expertise where it's required to do more complex bits of content or where the skills aren't present in-house. This externally developed content can be 'imported' into the in-house developed course.

      The reality is, our external spend probably didn't shrink. However, what did seem to happen is we were able to put more learning out there without spending more. our courses became much more relevant and targeted given the knowledge of the in-house team developing. I also found others in the business, SME's for example, getting more engaged in developing online content in partnership with L&D.

      As I say, so much to say on all this so keep the conversation going.

      How does all this sound Richard?

      • We have been buying in e-learning for certain compliance training courses,even though I have not been entirely satisfied with the content. It has been driving me nuts for the last 3 years. We have been using courses designed for the general food manufacturing industry as there are no courses on the market specifically for the drinks industry - astonishing when you consider the size of the drinks industry.

        I keep on asking the providers to develop a bespoke course for us, but they have never found the time.

        I did find a small company that created a bespoke GMP induction course (with multiple choice test and associated certificate) and an annual refresher quiz for us, but the development process was very time consuming. I had to spend a long time explaining the subject matter and what I was hoping for by way of deliverable, then I had to create all the written content and do all the proof reading once they had built it into their programme.

        At last, our current e learning provider has agreed to amend one of their courses for me this year, based on bespoke content that I will provide. It can only make sense as there would definitely be a market for it. I have been amazed by the reluctance of all the companies I have tried to persuade.

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