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Why have an Academy?

By Growth Engineering - Added 11th of August 2009

Why have an online academy?
Research shows that the difference between a non-graduate and graduate salary over a lifetime is £400k. Within the first year a graduate will earn between £6-24k more that a non graduate (depending on the field they are entering).

A recent report by the OEDC states that graduates who left university a decade ago, their average earning are 77% higher than non-graduates .
Education and training within a corporate training environment has a similar return on investment, if done correctly.  A companies training investment will deliver a payback when:-
a) It is held accountable i.e. can visibly report the results by individuals, departments and across the company of progress towards goals, and when those results are visible and transparent to all,
b) The training given is directly relevant to the persons role and responsibilities i.e. training is given as result of an assessment or detailed within a personal development plan
c) When the individuals are tracked, monitored and supported individually and when there is a system in place to ensure accountability for improvements.
So if the system is right – how does the company see the results on the bottom line ?
1.    Efficiency – training helps you do your job faster. For example a sales person takes a call from a customer about a new phone that they want. He has seen an elearning module on that phone, taken a test on that course and is certified in how to sell that phone. As a result he spends less time per call, he does not have to refer to people to get the answers and he can handle more calls.
2.    Effectiveness: Training and accreditation helps you do your job better. Because you know the subject you are better able to handle the call.
3.    Cost Avoidance: You’re not spending money on travel, hotels and time away from the job for classroom training.
4.    Customer Satisfaction:  Because the person is better able to handle the call, the relationship with the customer is better and which improves your brand reputation and standing in the market.

One large global IT company reports that for every £1 they spend they receive £4 back, On average employees see a 24 percent increase in efficiency as a result of training and even those who get no time saving see a 17% gain in effectiveness.  However they found the impact on channel partners was even more impressive.  Based on self assessments completed by 3,560 partners who used their Academy portal, 74% reported an improvement in the ability to sell or service clients and 76 percent said that customer satisfaction jumped by 50 percent or more going through the online Academy offering .
Typically our customers would expect to see a return on investment within 3 months of academy launch.  This would depend on the extent of the roll out, however our experience shows that the more wide spread the academy role out is and the wider the content the quicker the return on investment can be seen.  Typically an organisation spending £40,000 within in the first year can see a return on investment of £120,000 - £180,000.  The longer the academy runs for the better the return on investment.

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Written by Growth Engineering (www.growthacademy.co.uk).

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