In past recessions many companies have taken the short-term soft options of cutting back on training and freezing graduate recruitment. However, the companies that actually analysed what happened as economies came out of previous recessions found that these options greatly impacted their ability to respond to the up take in demand for their services and products. However, companies do have to respond to a reduction in orders, so what options are available with regards to training? Well, as with many departments in the good times, the training function in companies has grown over the last few years in terms of the number of people employed, budgets allocated and the scope of work undertaken. So at this point in the economic cycle a review of the training department with Tom Peter's mantra of "stick to the knitting" in mind may reap dividends. Is your company in the training business or, at its core, a focused organization providing products and services efficiency to your customers? Are there elements of the training department's remit that are unnecessary in the short term? What are the core training competences that will provide you with the necessary launch-pad as the economy begins to grow? Which areas of the business do you need to focus on to provide the best return on investment for your training budgets? Are there other options that could be considered to provide training without the large, on-going budgets that many training departments now consume? One approach is to consider outsourcing specific training programs to independent professional training companies with the resources and experience to manage your training requirements on an end to end basis. Obviously company specific training such as new product launches needs to be kept in-house. But sales skills training and management training programs are good examples of self-contained units that could be outsourced providing the contextual elements of training, such as sales role plays that are specific to your company, are incorporated. This is a fundamental issue, ensuring that training is still relevant to your workforce and your customers even if it is delivered by an outside organization. Many elements of training budgets that are currently subject to potential overrun can be delivered at a fixed price to the business, with just in time training, without the large current overheads. This is especially true if you are a pan-European company requiring training in multiple languages, with all the issues around translation of materials and sourcing trainers with the required language capabilities. This approach can also be very effective for smaller companies. Some SME companies have even outsourced all of their training requirements to independent training companies with the skills, experience and resources to fully meet their needs. To adopt this approach effectively both the outsourced training provider and your company need to work as partners, and the training company should be seen as your training arm, with their trainers fully understanding your values and philosophy. The commitment needed from both parties means that this is not a quick fix, but an ongoing working relationship. The whole point is to be able to be up-skilled and ready for the recovery without burning cash you don't have now. For more information about sales training please visit http://www.sales-training-consultants.co.uk