Since the late 1960s studies have been conducted as to the effectiveness of CBT (and more recently, Multimedia, Web-Based Training and e-Learning). The results are consistent and irrefutable: CBT reduces training time by anywhere from 30-50% (see related article written July, 2006). Since the cost of “cheeks in seats” is the largest portion of today’s training dollar, this should be sufficient cost justification in itself.

To put some dollars around this:

If you can train 2,000 persons in only seven hours (14,000 student hours) vs. ten hours (20,000 student hours), you save 6,000 student hours (if the loaded hourly rate is $30/hour=$180,000 savings), not to mention savings in instructors, travel, training hardware and facilities.

There are several reasons for the reduction in training time:

• The content has been written down, reviewed and edited to make it clear and concise.
  


• The training doesn't go off on tangents.
  


• Pretesting can be incorporated to find out what the learner knows before training begins. Based on the results of the pretest, only the materials not yet mastered are presented.
  


• Since feedback is immediate, if the learner misunderstands a point, he or she is quickly brought back "on track" before further misunderstanding occurs.
  


• Learners can take the training when they're in the right frame of mind.
  


• Responses can be monitored to identify areas where the training is too detailed or is causing confusion. By fine-tuning an existing course, over time, its duration can typically be reduced even further.
  

Have the CBT Sell Itself

Our President, Travis Piper, has been in the custom CBT field for over twenty years. He has seen many CBT development organizations formed and dissolved. The main reason for their dissolution was that they did nothing to prove to their organization that they were making a positive contribution to the bottom line.

Consider this:

For your next project, ask your client how long it would take to train the same content in the classroom. Let's assume they tell you it would be a two day class. To be generous, call this 12 hours of instructor-led training. Then have them provide the following information as well:

Typical hourly wage for attendees: _______
Typical travel costs for each attendee: _______
Food and lodging costs for each attendee: _______

Typical hourly cost for instructor: _______
Typical travel costs for instructor: _______
Food and lodging costs for instructor: _______

Daily cost for facility and supplies: _______

Number of attendees in each class: _______

Now when the custom CBT has been implemented, track the number of completions each month and the average student completion time. You now have all of the data necessary to provide a monthly report to management which fills in these blanks:
" as a result of ____ students taking this training via CBT, instead of traditional methods, $______ was saved".

By creating a computer program and having the variables for each course reside in a computer table, such a report can be automatically produced each month which will prove to management that CBT or WBT is a true time (and money) saver when it comes to training —now that’s cost justification.

"E-learning will save you time, save your company money and provide a workforce of more highly trained people better able to meet today's challenges."

-Brandon Hall, e-Learning magazine, May-June 2000