Today, I propose to start a series of articles focusing on the world of professional training. In this realm, we distinguish two main categories: inter-company training, which brings together learners from different companies, and intra-company training, which concerns only the employees of the same company. We will therefore develop these different formats of professional training to help you differentiate between inter and intra training, starting here with intra-company training.
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- Intra-company training: definition?
- What are the advantages of intra-company training?
- Freedom of scheduling
- Choosing the training location
- Choice of content
- Privacy
- Negotiation
- Efficiency
- And what are the disadvantages of intra-company training?
- Preparation
- Cost-effectiveness
- New formats are emerging
- Who is the training organization?
- In brief
Intra-company training: definition?
As we briefly mentioned earlier, this is a training session organized solely for the employees of the same company. It can take place at the employer’s premises, in a room at the training center organizing the session, or in a rented training room, for example during company seminars. Since it only involves one company and therefore one client for a training organization, intra-training has the main advantage of adapting to the candidate’s expectations.
Further reading : What is flora?
Unlike inter-company training, which we will develop in a future article, there is no pre-set schedule with imposed dates and no minimum number of participants: the rules are discussed directly between the client and the trainer.
What are the advantages of intra-company training?
Freedom of scheduling
The company that organizes, and usually finances this training, has the freedom to choose the dates on which the training takes place. Depending on the training plan, the availability of employees and the trainer, it can, for example, decide to organize it during the low activity periods of the company, thus limiting the loss of productivity of its employees by optimizing this time for training.
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Choice of training location
The employer can also decide on the location of the training based on the desired objective. It will be easier to gather employees who have responsibilities on their usual site, in a room provided by the company, if they need to be quickly on-site in case of an emergency. On the other hand, they may choose to organize the training in a remote or even isolated location to immerse learners in a training mindset, a kind of company “retreat,” and avoid the risk of lack of involvement precisely due to daily business issues. The training can also take place at the training organization’s premises.
Choice of content
The content can be targeted and tailored to the audience, to the specific needs of the company, which is not always the case when participants from various backgrounds are involved. By using a training organization, you will have access to a range of “ready-to-use” training programs with genuine expertise, which can be implemented quickly and even slightly modified to meet the candidate’s needs, such as a corporate language training that can address the vocabulary of the clients’ activities in the industry. However, the company may also need to create custom training to meet specific needs. An advisor will then set up a program according to the company’s specifications, which takes a bit more time than a turnkey solution.
Privacy
As we have seen, intra-company training brings together employees from a single company. It is therefore possible to share confidential information that must remain internal (it is preferable in this case to have an internal speaker or to have the trainer sign a confidentiality clause).
Negotiation
Another advantage of intra-training is that the company can negotiate costs directly with the organizer, particularly based on the number of participants, the period, or the duration. Like any business negotiation, generally, the more participants there are, the lower the cost per trained employee will be. If you have a fairly precise idea of the training you want, or even a defined specification, you might benefit from proposing a bidder to conclude a contract with a training organization. However, a certain number of participants are needed for this process to be advantageous.
Efficiency
Since most participants know each other, group cohesion is generally quickly achieved, leading to a beneficial dynamism for the progress of the training and allowing direct engagement on issues affecting the company in question.
And what are the disadvantages of intra-company training?
As often, the disadvantages for some will be the advantages for others and vice versa. Depending on the budget, schedule, and other constraints, intra-company training is not always the number one choice. There are two points that might lead to choosing another type of training.
Preparation
While many training organizations have, as we mentioned, already prepared programs, the interest of intra-training is nonetheless to organize customized training for the company. And this customization requires preparation work, meetings with the organization, trials, exchanges… which can be costly in terms of time.
Cost-effectiveness
Creating custom training for two people, with financial and time investments as we just mentioned, may not be the best solution, even if it involves gathering employees from remote sites in one location. In this case, it is preferable to turn to inter-company training. Experts in professional training estimate that it is cost-effective to create intra-training for 5 learners.
New formats are emerging
We have already described what is most often done in the context of intra-company training. However, professional training does not stray from the emergence of new technologies.
We are therefore seeing the emergence of intra-group training programs via videoconferencing: the trainer and the employees to be trained are filmed in different rooms and see each other through screens. Aside from this technical aspect, the modalities and benefits are the same as those of so-called “classic” intra-training. It can even save costs and time, particularly related to the travel of learners and/or trainers, room rentals… This method can meet a number of demands, such as corporate language training.
However, this format reaches its limits if the training requires dynamic interactions: it is more complicated to set up situations via videoconferencing, where human, visual, and gestural contact is essential. There are also material prerequisites: the company must have adequate multimedia equipment, a good internet connection, and, if possible, available IT support: nothing is more frustrating than following a conversation with a choppy image or crackling sound.
Which training organization?
Some training organizations are generalists, meaning they can organize training on many subjects. Other centers, on the contrary, are specialists in certain disciplines: marketing, management, languages… This choice is also a matter of “feeling,” each organization can propose its own method, and this must be respected. For example, some training centers offer learning through relaxation or even dramatization.
Contact different centers, check with your professional network to gather opinions on specific organizations, compare, and take your time. Many offer follow-up. Thus, even after the training is completed in your company, trained employees can contact the trainer if they have questions, comments, or suggestions. You need to find the organization that aligns with your company’s spirit; it is not just a matter of cost.
In brief
You will understand that, like any method, intra-company training has its advantages and disadvantages. Many parameters (human, budgetary, material…) must be taken into account and not overlooked: the quality of the training, the understanding of the trained employees, and thus the productivity of the company. Here, we have presented many characteristics of this category of professional training to help you see it more clearly. If you, a small entrepreneur or a large industrial group, need to organize training for your employees, whether for development or acquiring new skills, you are not alone in this choice. Contact a training professional who will present you with the different options based on your expectations, and consider consulting the primary interested parties as much as possible: your collaborators.
In a future article, we will discuss inter-company training. In the meantime, we recommend visiting the page dedicated to professional training on the Ministry of Labor’s website. You will find an inventory of the provisions related to the training of each individual (CPF, CIF-individual training leave,…) and articles explaining to employers the benefits of good training for their employees.
Tag: differences between inter-company training and intra-company training