Elearning - February/March 2008 - (Page 29) FINAL PREPARATIONS Once you have chosen a training partner, you must thoroughly exercise due diligence before signing the dotted line. In large and complex transactions, this includes the legal tracking and disclosure of specific reports, documents and databases. In smaller transactions, the process is less formal. If your top choice for a training partner appears at this time to be the correct one, initial negotiations can begin. With your new partner, define specific terms of the agreement and devise a formal document. This stage is often the most strategic, most demanding and most lengthy, depending on the sophistication, scope and scale of the agreement. Two forms of contracts comprise most corporate agreements: a Master Services Agreement (MSA) that defines generic terms to each functional area; and a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that defines specific deliverables and service requirements. A pricing schedule is included in the SLA. The contract also should stipulate a system to determine if the employee is actually applying the knowledge and skills and thus if the outsourcing partner is being effective. Finally, it should spell out the conditions under which either party can terminate the relationship, as well as an orderly process by which operations can be returned to the business or transferred to another outsourcing firm upon termination. Contracts are executed for a period of one to five years, depending on your demands and the capabilities of your partner. Once the contract is signed, there follows a transitory period. Thereafter, you must work with the partner to monitor and evaluate its continuing performance. Near the end of the contract, of course, comes a time when you must make your final decision: continue the existing relationship with your training partner, bring training back in house, or seek a new training partner. At that point, the decision may be an easy one. MOVE CAREFULLY Particularly if you are a small business, you have to exercise good judgment in making your training decisions. “Ideally, an outsourcer will treat your business and its data at least as carefully as you would,” opined an article in Business Week magazine. “But in reality, a small business is just one of the outsourcing company’s many clients, and probably not the largest one. Moreover, the outsourcing company’s standard contract often doesn’t provide for the kind of care and priority that a small business would place on its own operations.” Bersin notes that the disadvantages to outsourcing include the challenge of making and following decentralized budgets, and limitations on the technical flexibility of your training program. “At best, and outsourcing company can become a ready partner, providing access to revenue-enhancing technology without incurring up-front training and equipment costs,” notes a leading business magazine. “Done improperly, it can result in delayed operations, unhappy customers and significant costs.” The lesson? Move carefully! Elearning! February/March 2008 29 http://www.tellmemore.com/corporate http://www.tellmemore.com/corporate
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