Maintaining a competitive advantage in your industry requires you to have talented and knowledgeable people on your payroll. And in order to keep your staff up to date on the latest trends and developments, you have to make an investment in regular education and training. But as you’ve noticed, the costs can quickly add up. Learning how to lower these costs will make effective training a more feasible task.
Why Employee Training is Critical to Business Success
Employee training programs can be expensive. According to one study on the topic, organizations spend an average of $1,283 per employee on training. But financial investments are not the only important consideration. In 2024, companies spend an average of 47 hours per employee training, which is time that could otherwise be dedicated towards sales or more profitable initiatives.
But as expensive as employee training can be, it’s even more costly to not implement a training or education program. Here are some compelling statistics:
- 74% of workers believe that lack of training opportunities is preventing them from reaching their full potential.
- 87% of millennial employees rate "professional or career growth and development opportunities" as important in a job.
- If a company invests in employees’ careers, 94% said they would stay at the company longer.
- Organizations that invest strategically in employee development report 11% greater profitability and are twice as likely to retain their employees.
Without proper training, businesses often suffer from high employee turnover, fail to exploit the full value of new hires, miss out on establishing competitive advantages, fail to maximize productivity, and come up short in terms of creativity and innovation.
So the question isn’t: how can your business avoid training costs? The question you should be asking is: how can we mitigate the cost of employee training in a way that maximizes our ROI?
Smart Ways to Lower Employee Training Costs
Here are some good ways to get started down this path:
1. Use a Learning Management System
If you’re developing custom learning materials from scratch, look into using a Learning Management System (LMS) to structure the course and organize the material. An LMS helps structure and deliver training content while organizing everything from course materials and multimedia assets to assessments and feedback loops all in one centralized platform. With the right LMS, teams can create modules, track learner progress, issue certifications, and continuously refine content based on analytics.
There are two main types of learning management systems.
- SaaS LMS (Cloud-Based): SaaS LMS platforms are hosted in the cloud and typically require a monthly or annual subscription. They’re popular for their ease of implementation, low upfront costs, and scalability. Since updates, security patches, and server maintenance are handled by the vendor, your internal IT resources are freed up for other priorities.
- Self-hosted LMS: Self-hosted platforms are purchased as a software package and installed on your own servers or infrastructure. While this route requires more in-house tech expertise and higher upfront investment, it provides unmatched flexibility and you maintain full control.
Neither SaaS nor self-hosted LMS is better. It all depends on your needs and the mitigating factors in your situation. But you can be sure that the right LMS will make a lasting impact on your ability to deliver consistent, high-quality training across your organization.
2. Leverage Video
Studies show that visual learning can improve learning outcomes by up to 400%, with individuals remembering as much as 65% of the visual content they see. That makes video one of the most powerful tools for employee development.
The majority of your workforce are likely visual learners—people who absorb and retain information more effectively through images, demonstrations, and video-based content. That’s why so many organizations are turning to audio/video (A/V) recording systems to power their training strategies.
Using video for corporate training helps reduce the need for repeat in-person sessions, cuts down on travel and facility costs, and creates reusable assets for future learners.
By capturing training sessions with tools like IVS’s VALT software, organizations can deliver consistent messaging, promote knowledge retention, and make learning accessible across departments and locations.
See first-hand how one organization leverages video in training successfully in this case study.
3. Outsource When Possible
For non-specialized or widely applicable training topics, such as time management, software basics, or workplace compliance, outsourcing can be a smart and cost-effective strategy.
“You don’t need to reinvent the wheel for every training initiative,” says Bobby Handzhiev, entrepreneur and learning consultant. “If the content isn’t specific to your company’s operations, it often makes sense to leverage existing solutions from providers like Udemy, Coursera, or LinkedIn Learning.”
This is especially true for small and mid-sized businesses. According to the Training Industry Report, companies with fewer than 500 employees spend more per learner on average than larger organizations. Off-the-shelf training solutions can reduce internal resource strain, while still delivering high-quality instruction.
Outsourcing also accelerates implementation—giving teams access to structured content without the upfront time and cost of custom development.
4. Improve the Hiring Process
One effective way to reduce employee training costs is by hiring individuals who already have the skills and experience required to excel in their roles. While this may sound simple, it often requires a more structured and thoughtful hiring process.
By enhancing your interviewing and evaluation methods, you can better identify top candidates, shorten onboarding time, and reduce the learning curve.
Tools like IVS’s VALT video capture system can be used to record and review interview sessions, ensuring consistency, transparency, and collaboration across your hiring team.
For organizations conducting interviews across multiple locations or managing hybrid teams, VALT supports live observation and secure video archiving, allowing stakeholders to revisit interviews and make data-driven hiring decisions—ultimately improving outcomes and minimizing costly hiring mistakes.
Adding it All Up
Employee training is necessary, but it doesn’t have to be overly expensive. By planning ahead and identifying areas of high need, you can maximize every dollar spent and reap the rewards that come with having a highly educated and innovative workforce.
Discover How Leading Companies Are Using A/V Technology to Improve Operations
From training and compliance to collaboration and research, audio/video capture is transforming how corporate teams work. View our Corporate A/V Solutions Guide to learn how scalable A/V solutions can help your organization streamline processes, increase visibility, and boost decision-making across every department.
Here are some additional resources you may find valuable:
