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2006 Training Industry Survey -
Professional Information Needs, Resources, Satisfaction and Usage Study

September 2006

We conducted an important industry study of training and HR management professionals in the September 2006. There were more than 600 responses to our survey, providing one of the largest response to a training industry study.

We consider it very important to provide our readers with an opportunity to express their opinions on what topics are most importance and interest to them. We also look to readers to help direct us on what resources you count on for training and HR information.

Doing more with less is a common theme for the training and HR leaders who responded to the survey. Time, budget and staff are precious and limited resources according to readers. It would seem that we are all being stretched to the limit. Measurement and ROI are imprtant to training professionals as are training program effectiveness.

Two readers’ responses to the question, “What is your greatest challenge?” sum it up well.

”We know how to measure results and we believe in the value of training. We don't go into training looking for some vague hope of perfection; we go in with specific goals and metrics in mind. We do a cost-benefit analysis and if the program doesn't seem to meet criteria, we simply don't take part."

"We are a small training department trying to meet the diverse professional development and performance improvement needs of entire organization.”

There are a number of valued resources, including web sites, associations, magazines and trade shows that professionals rely on for quality information.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND KEY FINDINGS

WHO RESPONDED

We heard from a great cross-section of respondents, from a number of industries, company sizes and professional titles.

All of the respondents are involved in training or HR management, in some capacity for their organization.

• 57% of respondents are directly responsible for Training, or HR/Training management
• 14% identified themselves as trainers
• 12% are responsible for corporate or administration management (VP or above)
• 20% were in an education, military or government setting
• 17% are in a manufacturing setting
• 16% are involved in a business services or consulting organization

The first step in measuring the respondents’ capacity for training is to ask about their training budget, excluding salaries and overhead expenses.

• 34% indicated their training budget exceeded $100,000
• 18% of the respondents reported budgets in excess of half a million dollars
• About half of all respondents had budgets between $10,000 and $500,000
• 28% reported budgets of less than $10,000
  

WHAT TYPES OF INFORMATION ARE NEEDED?

When learning the types of information needed by the survey audience, a list of 17 topics was presented. Respondents were asked to evaluate their interest in each of the topic areas on a 3 point scale of importance.

The topics identified that are of the greatest importance were:

• Coaching/mentoring
• Content/Instructional design
• Leadership/management training information
• Training assessment/evaluation
• Blended learning techniques

The topics that are least sought in terms of importance were:

• Simulation/Game design/usage information
• Sales training information

WHERE YOU FIND INFORMATION?

Professionals seek information from a variety of sources. The most often selected resource for professional information was the Internet/Web sites
(90%). This indicates that there is a great reliance on the technology as a delivery tool, but also indicates the fact that seeking information requires a personal level of engagement.

Professional associations (66%), Colleague (65%), Conferences/Trade Shows
(55%), Webinars (48%), Trade publications (44%), Corporate/Personal library
(43%) and Trade Industry newsletters (41%) were the other options that were noted by more than 40% of the respondents.

HOW YOU VALUE INFORMATION?

Satisfaction is generally high with the specific publications. There appears to be greater affinity for association publications, which translates to a higher satisfaction score. These products are paid for through a portion of the association dues, so there is an investment in the product on behalf of the respondent.

The publication that respondents most often identified as “Very satisfied” was
T + D Magazine, from ASTD (36%). HR Magazine, published by SHRM, was next most positively received with 30% selecting Very Satisfied.

Between 2% and 3% of all respondents were "Not Satisfied" with each of the magazines identified.

Web sites are considered a very useful resource by those survey respondents who expressed an opinion. The most useful site, based on satisfaction scores, is the ASTD site (64% satisfied) followed by the SHRM site (48%).

The survey, having identified publications and Web sites, evaluated awareness, readership and satisfaction, and having provided respondents the opportunity to provide additional resources they rely on for professional information, we asked a simple question about whether or not they felt the level of information available to them was adequate.

• 78% felt that there was either a possibility or definite need for
  more/higher level information
• 16% indicated that there was a definite need for higher level information
• 22% of respondents felt that information was adequate

YOUR ROLES IN SELECTING TRAINING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

When asked what types of training is conducted/provided by their organization…

• The respondents indicated that the most often delivered type of training is application or Job Specific Skills training (77%).
• Management/supervisory Skills training (70%) and Coaching (60%) were the next most often cited training delivered.
• Other types of training offered were below 60%. The least offered training, at least through the training department, was customer education (22%) and sales training, offered by 29%.

The Chart Below illustrates the types of Training respondents provide:

As previously mentioned, they represent a variety of industries, and are generally well funded (based on budget) and represent significant sized firms, based on number of employees.

The audience surveyed is heavily involved in selecting training products and services for their organizations.

• 89% of respondents have some role in the purchase process
  of training materials, equipment, or services
• 11% have no direct role

ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION'S TRAINING DELIVERY PLANS AND OBSTACLES

As we identified the respondents’ training budget, we asked them to identify, on a 3 point scale, how they perceived a number of possible obstacles were to their ability to achieve their training initiatives for their organization.

• Budget was the highest obstacle – 86% identified that item as either a moderate or major obstacle.
• Time to implement was mentioned by 81% as an obstacle
• The items least often mentioned as obstacles were:
  o Lack of quality information and solutions (49%)
  o Ineffective training materials or content (46%)