Benefits March 14, 2007

Companies Predict Hike in Training Budgets for Administration and Operations

March 14, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Over the next two years 60% of companies expect they will have to increase what they spend on administrative and operational functions, an area where some already spend more than half of their training budgets, according to a recent survey.

Reported by

Adrien Martin

The survey by Expertus, which provides training outsourcing services, found that about 70% of respondents said that administrative operations could be improved if their company upgraded current technology, followed by those who said increasing staff sizes would help (34.7%) and increasing staff training (28.4%).

The survey also found that 7.3% of respondents said their companies spent more than 50% of their training budgets on administration and operations; 10% spent between 36% and 50%; and 30% spent between 20% and 35%.

While about 60% said they would likely increase spending on administration and operation, 15.7% said spending in that area would remain stagnant, 5.4% predicted it would decrease and 18.4% said spending would likely fluctuate.

The most common administrative and operational functions used for training are:

Program scheduling, 83.8%,
Program evaluations, 78.1%,
Material fulfillment, 75.4%,
Registration services, 73.7%, and
Student and program reporting, 74.1%.

“We believe training administration and operations are areas where most companies – no matter their size – can gain significant efficiencies,” said Mohana Radhakrishnan, vice president of client services, in a press release. “Most companies view these expenses as necessary and fixed. However, we’ve seen companies reduce administrative expenses by as much as 55% to 60% through the effective use of technology, personnel resources, and shared services.”

For the full survey results visit http://www.expertus.com/survey/results5/TrainingAdmin.pdf .