Bersin & Associates Study Shows U.K. Corporations Cut Training Budgets and Staff, Gained New Efficiencies in Development and Delivery Methods

Study contains extensive market analysis and guidelines for training and development executives to benchmark their organisations with industry trends in U.K. and U.S.

OAKLAND, California, May 13, 2010 - Organisations in the U.K. cut their training and development budgets by
4% and reduced training staff by 5% last year. This is according to a new
Bersin & Associates study, The U.K. Training and Development Factbook 2010:
Benchmarks, Trends and Analysis of the U.K. Training Market
(www.bersin.com/Lib/Rs/Details.aspx?Docid=103312060). Companies
surveyed spent an average of GBP 621 per learner last year, with
an average headcount of 7.1 training staff for every 1,000 learners.

In light of spending and staffing cuts, some companies are turning to a
"leaders teaching leaders" model, using internal managers and subject matter
experts to teach programmes rather than rely on internal trainers or pay for
outside facilitators. In addition, budget cuts have led some U.K. companies
to restructure their operations. For example, disparate training groups have
been combined into centralised or "shared services" operations, which can
help eliminate redundancies in learning programmes and technologies and
improve alignment with corporate goals.

According to Josh Bersin, president, the economic recession has impacted
training organisations on both sides of the Atlantic, with 11% cutbacks
experienced by organisations in the U.S. last year. "While the cuts were
steeper in the U.S. last year, the study showed that U.K. organisations are
certainly feeling the pinch as well. But we found that some training
organisations in the U.K. have used this recession as an opportunity to
rethink priorities and find ways to add value - from changing development and
delivery methods to restructuring their learning operations to redefining job
roles. If training organisations can carry these practices forward, they can
emerge in a better position than before the cutbacks."

Other key findings of the study include:

    - The largest chunk of funding - 27% of training budgets in the U.K. -
      went toward profession and industry-specific training programmes such as
      professional certifications and other training specific to a job or
      industry. The second largest area of funding was leadership
      development, which claimed 23% of total spending.

    - A typical learner in the U.K. spent approximately 16 hours in formal
      training in 2009 (compared to 12 hours per learner in the U.S.), with
      most of that time spent in the classroom. But classroom training
      carries an enormous amount of overhead, and some organisations in the
      U.K. are beginning to embrace technology-based training in an effort to
      reduce costs. While e-learning and virtual classroom training accounted
      for just 14% of all training hours consumed (companies in the U.S., by
      comparison, delivered twice as much training through online methods),
      Bersin & Associates expects use of technology-based delivery methods to
      increase as financial pressures continue.

    - Informal and social learning approaches are still in their infancy in
      the U.K. But as organisations realise that most learning takes place
      outside of the classroom or online course, they are putting in place
      coaching, experiential and social learning environments.

The research is a companion study to Bersin & Associates' Corporate
Learning Factbook, the firm's annual research on U.S. corporate training
budgets, spending, delivery volumes, staffing, and trends. Data for the U.K.
study was collected in November 2009 through a partnership with the Sift
Media publication, TrainingZone (www.trainingzone.co.uk/). The study
involved more than 120 training organisations of all sizes and across a wide
variety of industries. In addition, Bersin & Associates analysts conducted
in-depth phone interviews to identify best practices, many of which are
interspersed throughout the study as case-in-point examples.

In addition to facts and statistics on training spending, staffing and
programmes, the U.K. Training and Development Factbook 2010 contains
extensive market analysis and guidelines for training and development
executives to benchmark their organisations and establish key efficiency
metrics. These metrics include: expenditures per learner, cost per student
hour, budget allocations, staff to learner ratios, payroll costs to total
spending, technology costs to total spending, and outsourcing practices.

"Training managers want to know — particularly in today's economy –
whether their training investments are on par with similar organisations,"
said Karen O'Leonard, principal analyst and author of the study. "This report
provides metrics that training managers can use to make decisions about their
training investments."

The U.K. Training and Development Factbook 2010 is available at no cost
to all Bersin & Associates research members. Non-members can purchase the
study for GBP 395. For more details, including an executive
summary and a table of contents click here
(www.bersin.com/Store/Details.aspx?docid=103311678). A brief audio
overview presented by Karen O'Leonard, principal analyst and author of the
study, is available here
(www.bersin.com/media/UkFactbook2010/player.html).

Bersin & Associates also offers customised benchmarking for learning
organisations that leverages the U.K. Training and Development Factbook 2010
and the firm's other research. Benchmarking services include defining
metrics, developing and executing a benchmarking plan, conducting customised
research, and providing data analysis and reporting to key stakeholders. For
more details, contact Donna Tomlinson at +1-561-455-0622 or
donna.tomlinson@bersin.com.

About Bersin & Associates

Bersin & Associates is the only research and advisory firm focused solely
on research in enterprise learning, talent management, and talent
acquisition. The company's WhatWorks(R) membership program offers actionable
guidance, improves operational effectiveness, and delivers business impact to
companies in all industry segments.

Bersin & Associates research members gain access to a comprehensive
library of best practices, case studies, benchmarks, and in-depth market
analyses designed to assist professionals in making fast and confident
decisions. Members also have direct access to analysts and a wide range of
tested tools and models to address both strategic and day-to-day challenges.

More than 5,000 organisations worldwide have used Bersin & Associates'
research and advisory services to guide talent and corporate learning
strategies. Research areas include planning and strategy, learning programs
and delivery, talent management, leadership development and succession
planning, talent acquisition, technology and infrastructure, informal
learning, social networking, measurement and analytics.

For more information, go to www.bersin.com or call
+1-561-455-0622.

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Josh Bersin

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Linda Galloway of Bersin & Associates, +1-203-790-1591, linda.galloway at bersin.com