The Real Cost of Custom Learning Solutions

The term “custom” instantly makes people think “expensive." And the truth is that custom-made can be more expensive or at least carry a higher up front cost. But the adage “you get what you pay for” is particularly true when referring to an entire learning and development strategy for your organization.

Creating custom content includes a lot of moving parts, such as developing courseware and curriculum, hiring learning professionals and subject matter experts, and custom interactivity of your solution, including designing multimedia components and finding a learning management system platform to deliver content to employees. Because of the number of pieces that you need to get right to have a successful solution, it can be a significant investment, but like many other services, it’s often more cost effective to outsource content creation to a vendor. Here are some of the other benefits of choosing custom learning.

The Benefits of Custom Learning Solutions

1. Higher engagement and knowledge retention: Standardized, generic, or “off the shelf” training may be “good enough”, but it’s likely there will be knowledge gaps, as something generic can’t cover everything that’s unique to your organization. Employees can easily get bored with something that doesn’t seem relevant to your business or to their jobs.
2. Increased productivity: Because custom learning solutions are hyper-relevant, your employees don’t have to wade through layers of extraneous material to get to the meaning and message. A more focused, customized content solution gives your employees the tools they need to learn faster and apply that knowledge more quickly.
3. Easier to modify and add to: Rather than restarting the strategy process or resourcing a vendor for relevant materials as your brand or business goals change, custom solutions can be updated with your learning and development vendor and reused for years.
4. Reduced turnover and attrition: Custom learning solutions help to change the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of your employees, and when your employees feel equipped to do their jobs and understand how their roles align with the big picture, they’re more likely to have higher job satisfaction and stay on board long term.

Like any significant investment, the real benefits of custom learning solutions are realized over time. Learning and development isn’t just about doing the bare minimum to help onboard new employees or train sales teams; to create a lasting impact that drives real business results, L&D can’t just be another task to check off on a long to-do list. Custom learning solutions help connect your overall business goals to real, relevant action.

Connect with us today to find out how we can help you create a learning solution that can really make a difference in your organization.