(based on a case study) Should Shane outsource his employee training programme

Outsourcing is when a business subcontracts a process to another organisation. Turners, a famous hotel has found increasing difficulty keeping up with competitors and as such is considering whether outsourcing its staff training programme is a good option rather than the on-the-job training that they usually do.

The problem that would occur if they were to outsource the training programme would be that they would need to find an appropriate agency to outsource the work to. Shane keeps a very high standard at the hotel and as such the agency would need to meet these high standards. If these high standards were not met by the agency then Shane may have to face even more problems than he initially begun with. In terms of how the employees may feel, it could be demotivating as they may feel that Shane does not trust in their ability. Due to the high stress on them already as a consequence of increased complaints by customers it could lead to further deterioration in employee motivation and atmosphere in the company overall.  

On the other hand, there are many advantages that would come with Shane’s move to off-the-job training such as outsourcing this work. Firstly it would satisfy many different stakeholders, it would show many people who are invested in the company that Shane is listening to the complaints and is putting work into the improvement of the company. In the long run, this training could also lead to an increase in efficiency, customer satisfaction and motivation. The agency which Turners could use for their training would benefit from economies of scale and also would specialise in this area which would lead to it being cheaper than on-the-job training, as the stimulus states - 9%. This means that Shane would be able to afford even more improvements for the hotel.

To conclude, whilst there are a few disadvantages to the option of outsourcing the work, there are many more benefits. Although Shane does take on the risk that the outsourced agency may not be good enough, with research into the agency beforehand should enable him to choose and appropriate one. He must also ensure that his clearly communicates to his staff that this extra training is by no means a punishment and is to their benefit as well as his.By reducing the costs and improving customer service many of the issues with his company could be fixed and therefore it would be easier for him to compete against his competitors.