Employee leadership and development training suppliers meet your businesses’ training needs by offering a variety of topics, from computer skills to health and security with multiple delivery options Qsuch as classroom and e-learning. Training providers give workers the development abilities they need to increase their project performance.
To help support modest businesses, we looked at six nationwide worker development and leadership training providers offering an assortment of training topics — such as safety and compliance training, office skills training, sales training, leadership development, and engineering skills — to recognize the very best for smaller businesses.
Training Providers Summary Table
| Best For | |
|---|---|
| GP Plans | Firms in all industries with custom and off-the-shelf topics to support small company demands |
| New Horizons | Computer skills and IT training topics at a hands-on classroom setting |
| American Management Association (AMA) | Management and office skills training, including small business finance and strategy, with both classroom and online sessions |
| Udemy | Widest selection of online classes (65,000) with classes that begin as low as $10 |
| Skillsoft | Compliance training along with an LMS system to track it, picked from a library of well-designed Internet Business courses |
| Sandler Training | Revenue training using a blended learning strategy for sales staff members, executives and professional services |
How We Evaluated Training Providers
Training providers come in all sizes and shapes, with a range of delivery formats and topics they specialize in. By way of example, one training provider may concentrate solely on a business like transport whereas another may focus on industries on a subject like leadership or sales. Therefore, we looked for the best training providers for small business who had the following:
- A nationwide presence so that your workers wouldn’t have to travel far for classes
- Affordable courseware that’s realistic on a small business budget
- Issues that spanned industries like computer skills, sales and direction
- Multiple training delivery modalities, for example classroom-based and e-learning
- Testing so You could confirm whether your worker heard something
- Industry certificate so You could be sure the courseware is high Excellent
We excluded niche providers, such as training providers that just offer instructional programs in a specific industry or profession like property. We also excluded training companies focused on developing highly customized coaching, like directions on how best to work your little manufacturing company’s specific gear.
Greatest Training Provider Across All Industries and Topics: GP Strategies
We advocate GP Strategies because they give a broad assortment of training topics, including leadership development, safety, customer support and sales. It has off-the-shelf training courses for specific occupations like maintenance employees and equipment operators. It will conduct a training needs assessment and then offer present classes like the ones shown below or custom coaching provided online or onsite.
GP Strategies off-site leadership classes
Working with GP Plans as your training provider is like getting your personal training department. Its off-the-shelf courses use a blended learning strategy following sound instructional design methodology. Additionally, it may customize its courseware (for an upcharge) to meet your business needs.
GP Strategies Pricing
GP Plans costs between $250 and $500 each year per employee for a seat permit. The rate declines as you include more students and a few specialized categories, such as electrical or power/energy, price more as does customization. Its installation fee begins at $2,500 and supplies you with an LMS to assign and monitor employee training. Should you renew the site licenses, you are no longer charged a setup fee following the next year.
GP Plans Features
Unlike other training vendors offering courseware and focus solely on topics such as computer training or revenue classes, GP strategies is a coaching consultancy. While it’s off-the-shelf classes, many small companies want customized coaching, such as on its unique customer service strategy, revenue plan or software. GP Plans offers these options:
- Off-the-shelf classes in multiple content regions
- Custom course development and delivery
- Training provided in its Website or yours
- A technical training laboratory for hands-on equipment training
- OSHA-compliant security training
The manner GP Strategies works is by using a four-step approach to instruction, which it describes as a Progression Pyramid: Foundational, Fundamentals, Applied Fundamentals and Site Specific. This indicates is that it ensures your workers have the entry-level abilities and knowledge , and then it builds your employees abilities with hands-on adventures.
GP Plans’s technical training pyramid for compliance and safety
GP Plans Courseware
Even though GP Strategies’ course catalog isn’t too big as Skillsoft or Udemy, the course content often delves deeper into each subject. For instance, Skillsoft supplies online security training but GP Strategies’ safety training uses a blended learning strategy that includes onsite training, online hands-on and training practice. Content areas include:
- Control and leadership, including teamwork and change direction
- Revenue and customer service, such as sales performance, communication and advertising
- OSHA security and compliance training like personal protective gear, lockout-tagout and gear operator
- Technical engineering such as asset management, construction and procurement
- Human capital management including individuals development and culture
Much like Udemy and Skillsoft, GP Strategies provides an LMS system so you don’t need to buy one separately to track employee training enrollment, successful course completion or reports.
Additional Recommended Providers Much like GP Plans
You will find other training providers like GP strategies that offer both off-the-shelf content and will help customize courses to your company such as Alliance Training and Consulting and Unicorn. In addition, many HR vendors give standard business classes and training as part of their general HR outsourcing service supplies.
Customer Support
GP Strategies provides administrative support for you and your workers by telephone during regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 8 pm to five p.m. Eastern time.
What Is Missing From GP Plans
Unlike Udemy, AMA or New Horizons, you can not simply sign up for one class. You have to register for an whole bundle and buy chair permits like you do with Skillsoft. If you are only looking for one or two coaching courses, for example client support skills or how to use Microsoft Office, then GP Plans will likely cost too much. It is perfect for those who want to invest in a learning culture, not different courses.
Stop by GP Plans
Best Training Provider for IT and Computer Skills: New Horizons
We recommend New Horizons as the best training provider for information technology and computer skills instruction. It provides classes in Microsoft, Adobe, SQL and applications like SAP and Salesforce. They also provide project management and Six Sigma training and certification to support technical service-type businesses and IT projects. Additionally, they have basic offerings in leadership and human resource management and supply training in several modalities.
New Horizons software and computer training course topics
New Horizons Pricing
New Horizons prices start at free and go up to $1,500 per class. Free webinar topics range from leadership development to technology. Classroom-based workshop costs range from $275 per day for a Microsoft Excel class to $395 for project management fundamentals, up to $1,500 for a convention on leadership. They also provide free IT content on topics such as cybersecurity, ERPs and invention.
New Horizons also offers volume pricing discounts. Club memberships, like the live internet training unlimited club membership, costs $1,495 a year; or the fundamental office skills training classes for just $360 annually. Both offer videos, online manuals, self-paced courseware, hands on labs and printable job aids, making sure your office worker can learn MS Office.
New Horizons Characteristics
New Horizons delivers classes in numerous ways, such as instructor-led training, courses at your website or in one of its training centers worldwide. Additionally, it has online training, recorded e-learning and instructor-led webinars. As an alternative, you may choose mentored learning or even a private course for your team. In addition, it can help you set up a custom training portal with branding, similar to what other training providers offer in an LMS.
Additionally, New Horizons provides space rentals with computers in order that in the event that you want to offer training on your custom or off-the-shelf software, you can use its centre to do so. That is something you get with New Horizons that additional training providers don’t offer.
Additional Recommended Providers Like New Horizons
If you’re searching specifically for IT classes, training providers like International Knowledge and Learning Tree also offer a massive range of subjects. Global Knowledge is somewhat more technical with topics like program development and cybersecurity, and Learning Tree will be costly as compared to New Horizons.
New Horizons Courseware
While New Horizons strength is in IT and computer topics, it provides certification courses and other classes that little business leaders and staff may need. These include:
- Leadership training
- Business analysis
- Basic Microsoft Office skills training
- Project management training and certification
- Software training such as QuickBooks and Crystal Reports
- Graphics and Web training like internet designing, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Adobe
Customer Service
New Horizons offers a live help desk to phone, or you could contact the local training centre Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. New Horizons also offers internet chat where you’ll interact with a live individual, not a chatbot.
What Is Missing From New Horizons
With a focus on technology training delivery, instead of custom development and instructional design, it could be difficult to tailor the training to the particular way you use your applications without significant upcharges. In that way, it’s more like sending your employees to a college-like training centre than having customized classes.
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Greatest Training Provider for both Management and Office Skills: AMA
We recommend the American Management Association (AMA) for all types of business coaching, from managing an office to client service. It provides courses in 25 subject areas and hosts its own workshops reside or online providing flexibility similar to that offered by New Horizons and Udemy. Its content is offered through seminars, web events and even publications, white papers and podcasts.
AMA web page screenshot showing an Assortment of learning options
AMA Pricing
AMA seminars cost from $1,295 for a one-day presentation skills workshop to $2,345 to get a two-day workshop on leading virtual teams. However, most podcasts are liberated on subjects from how to become a first-time supervisor to improving writing skills. Webinars are somewhat less expensive; for example, courses on Mastering Excel Pivot Tables or Enhancing Productivity Using Microsoft office price just $199 each.
Additionally, lots of the webinars are free. Discounts are available for those who turn into a small company AMA member for $2,295 a year or purchase an e-membership program for $50.
AMA Characteristics
AMA offers the most number of content and training delivery, from newsletters to podcasts, online courses and classroom-based classes. You may choose to try AMA out by seeing totally free webinars and podcasts prior to attending live sessions since there’s so much variety in what it provides and how it provides them.
AMA Courseware
AMA offers seminars in 25 different areas. Each conference runs from one to five times. These are in addition to this lower-priced (or free) podcasts and webinars and cover most of what company owners might need for their own and their team members.
AMA provides training seminars in 25 topic areas ideal for small business coaching
Other Recommended Providers Like AMA
Another training seller using a massive range of courses like AMA is SkillPath, wherever your employees can discover seminars by topic or ZIP code, along with online courses. You may also find similar courses offered in a community college in your town.
Customer Support
AMA provides customer service by phone, fax, email or via an internet web assistance request form, making its service one of the best. However, it doesn’t offer live chat.
What Is Missing From AMA
AMA doesn’t provide a totally free LMS to keep track of your employee’s progress, so you may have to buy an LMS or utilize HR software that has an LMS if you want to assign courses to employees and confirm course completion in one area. Additionally, it does not provide security and compliance training such as Skillsoft and GP Strategies.
Stop by AMA
Greatest Training Provider for Employee-directed Learning: Udemy
We recommend Udemy as the best training provider for employee-directed learning, which is when you allow the employee choose what classes they need for skills development out of the supplier’s 65,000 online courses. Udemy also supplies a business package that supplies 2,400 of the most frequent small business training issues, such as sales training and client service, as shown below.
Screenshot of Udemy’s business courses
Udemy offers a 14-day free trial so you can try out any of its courses like the revenue, HR or project management courses for free.
Udemy Pricing
Udemy classes start as low as $10 per course for one-off courses your workers might take. Prices range from $9.99 to $199 per class with volume reductions. However, a business package will operate between $240 and $300 per year per employee with discounts as you add more employees. The difference between the Business package and the Enterprise bundle is the LMS features, customization and coverage you receive.
| Business (5-20 users) | Enterprise (21+ customers ) | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual Cost | $240/year per worker | $300/year per worker |
| Minimum Number of Users | 5 | 21 |
| On-demand and Mobile Access to Courses | ✔ | ✔ |
| Custom Logo and URL | ✔ | ✔ |
| LMS Characteristics | ✔ | |
| Custom Courses | ✔ | |
| Integrations | SSL and API | |
| Reports | Basic | Advanced |
| Customer Service | ✔ | Dedicated |
But until you are sure your employees will attend the classes you want them to take, you might be better off with the worker sign up and take courses by themselves, even if they submit the receipt to you for settlement. By way of instance, should they take only 1 course per month, such as Business Law for $13.99, the student cost might be cheaper than an yearly business subscription.
Udemy Features
With Udemy, as with Skillsoft and GP Plans, you can find the LMS functionality if you upgrade to the Enterprise package. But even without upgrading, your small business staff has access to an whole library of internet small business topics supplied via learning with live instructors.
If you want dedicated accounts, dedicated customer service and single sign-on, the Enterprise bundle is the one to select at just $60 annually per person extra.
Udemy Courseware
You can not find more class topics than on Udemy (65,000 courses), but they are all online, maybe not onsite courses just like you could get with New Horizons or even GP Strategies. Many are taught live by experts in their respective discipline, from legislation to HR. Udemy’s course catalogue is also one of the easiest and most intuitive to navigate. Its classes vary from finance to office productivity and also include personal development choices.
Business course topics available with Udemy
Other Recommended Providers Like Udemy
A number of low or no price open-source and online training sites have established in the past few years with a wide range of topics — from vendors like Coursera, Lynda.com and Khan Academy. As an example courses at the Khan Academy are liberated, whereas Lynda.com costs only about $25 per month with classes hosted on your complimentary Moodle Learning Management System.
Client Support
Udemy provides customer service through an internet help request form and online chat. They also have a library of self explanatory user support topics. Its hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 pm Central time. If you send a technical support query after hours, then its off-site support staff will usually contact you within a couple of hours. Furthermore, students who have a question on the training subject can email the teacher directly.
What’s Missing From Udemy
While Udemy offers security classes, they’re for learning purposes only, not guaranteed to be OSHA-compliant. Being an internet training stage, it also does not provide customized classes delivered at your work place.
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Best Training Provider for Compliance and Tracking: Skillsoft
We recommend Skillsoft as the very best training supplier for compliance training as well as an LMS to monitor it. In addition to compliance, it offers business and IT training like Udemy and GP Plans, but what it provides in terms of an LMS allows you to track certificates which are expected. When employees attend security or legal compliance instruction, Skillsoft will offer online documentation of what, when and that completed every course.
Like New Horizons, Skillsoft also provides a Large Number of IT certifications, such as Red Hat, Oracle, Cisco, Google and Amazon.
Skillsoft Pricing
Skillsoft offers multiple pricing tiers, and it’s best to contact the provider directly to determine the class content you would like first. Below is an illustration demonstrating prices from $500 for the Select package to $651 a month for Select Plus package (for a company with 25 employees). That ends up costing approximately $20 a month per employee, which is in precisely the same range as Udemy or GP Strategies.
| Select | Select Plus | Unique | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $500/month | $651/month | Call for pricing. Requires a setup session. |
| Users | 25 | 25 | Varies |
| Constructed Course Content | 300 courses included | 300 classes plus 100 leadership videos and books included | Depends on how many and what kind of courses chosen and allows you add your own course content |
Skillsoft Characteristics
Skillsoft was designed as a training material supplier and supplies both the courses and the LMS platform to host and monitor them . It gives a number of catalogs and users may choose a set of classes from one or more catalogs, such as compliance classes, or leadership subjects.
Skillsoft also makes courseware accessible through a mobile program, such as on an employee’s iPad as shown below.
Mobile learning available with Skillsoft
Skillsoft Courseware
Although Skillsoft does not have 65,000 classes like Udemy, the classes it does have are designed for business and company students and cover the range of topics any small company might need. Catalogs are grouped into similar Kinds of courses:
- Business collection: plan, finance, HR, sales and advertising
- Desktop applications: Adobe, MAC, MS Office, Google, Skype
- Environmental safety and health training classes
- Legal and national compliance courses
- IT: software, Web, web, ERP, networking, operating systems and servers classes
- Learning groups: project management and Microsoft Office
Additional Recommended Providers Like Skillsoft
Skillsoft is very much is a class all of its own. It’s a best in class LMS (Skillport) as well high-quality course material. We recommend Kineo and SkillPath as other vendors with courseware very similar to Skillsoft. Kineo supplies courseware via its LMS similar to Skillsoft, but SkillPath does not have that LMS feature. Most training vendors offer courses or an LMS, not like Skillsoft.
Client Support
Skillsoft provides support online 24/7, and it also has site discussion, so either the training administrator, like a supervisor, or the workers themselves may get help. Based upon the courses you purchase, you might also get a committed LMS administrator to support your account during regular business hours.
What’s Missing From Skillsoft
Skillsoft, such as GP Strategies, does not sell courses one-off the manner Udemy and New Horizons perform, so you will want to consider your entire organizational training needs prior to investing in Skillsoft’s training platform. In addition, you will need to contact the provider directly for pricing because it is based on the package of courses you want.
Visit Skillsoft
Best Training Provider for Sales Training: Sandler Training
We advocate Sandler Training since the best training provider for companies that want solid sales growth. In addition to online classes, books, audio programs and motivational tools, it offers four levels of revenue accreditation. It provides a train-the-trainer method which permits your sales leader to attend instruction, become certified and then cascade that sales training to your group.
Four levels of sales certification Provided by Sandler Training
Other training providers provide sales and sales management courses but, together with Sandler, that’s its only focus. Sandler is a franchised sales training firm with 250 worldwide places so you are able to find a sales trainer close to your small business. You and your staff can also choose online courses like the ones shown below:
Online classes, books and audio programs available from Sandler Coaching
Sandler Training Replies
Online classes on Sandler are priced individually and operate between $47 and $249 each course. However, the actual value of Sandler Training is having onsite sales training customized to your industry, together with your CRM applications and tailored to your sales funnel. To get a quote for customized training, you’ll want to contact the Sandler Training place nearest your business.
Sandler Training Characteristics
In addition to sales training, support and tools, Sandler Training offers an annual sales and advertising conference for sales leaders to attend, network with and learn from other sales professionals. Because Sandler is a franchise sales training company, the tools and training you receive will be fairly consistent in addition to established globally.
Sandler Training Courseware
Sandler Training courseware is based on its proprietary coaching version, but it divides it into your enterprise, including looking at your industry, business size, customer base and revenue objectives. It provides training on all aspects of the sales cycle, marketing, communication, sales funnel, business planning and client service, such as.
Additionally, it supplies industry-specific sales training to support expert service providers like accountants, medical professionals and lawyers to develop and expand their business.
Additional Recommended Providers Like Sandler Training
There are a range of top notch sales training providers, both private and public, in addition to those that provide online training options. We showcase 20 examples within our post on sales training applications in addition to provide a listing of the best sales training videos.
Customer Support
Sandler Training client service is Monday through Friday dependent on the office hours of this certified Sandler Training place you operate with. The offices are usually open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on your own time zone.
What’s Missing From Sandler Training
Sandler Training provides certified sales trainers, but it is not going to have an LMS such as the businesses that offer training on multiple subjects. Its online catalogue of courses is fairly small. This provider is more classroom and on-site based in its approach. Additionally, you have to contact the provider to talk about your sales goals so for it to provide you with a training proposal that is suitable for your business.
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The Most Important Thing
While FitSmallBusiness is not a training provider, our totally free small business articles are enlightening. In addition, we provide free webinars and how-to guides on subjects like bookkeeping, QuickBooks, payroll, hiring or rolling over your 401k to begin a small business.
However, when those are not enough, we expect among the training providers explained above will meet your needs for employee training and development.
