Verizon picked up the No. 1 spot on the Training Top 125 for the second year in a row, earning its induction into the Top 10 Hall of Fame in 2014 after securing positions in the Top 10 for the last four consecutive years. No. 4 Farmers Insurance likewise punched its ticket to the Top 10 Hall of Fame next year. Top 5 newcomers Jiffy Lube International, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, and CHG Healthcare Services nabbed Nos. 2, 3, and 5, respectively.
Some 25 new companies broke into the Top 125 this year. The majority of the companies are in the health/medical services, finance/banking, real estate/insurance, and technology industries.
Here are some overall statistics from the quantitative analysis of the 2013 Training Top 125 applications:
- The mean revenue was $5.4 billion U.S. and $10.2 billion worldwide. The mean training budget was $31.5 million, representing 4.58 percent of payroll.
- The mean number of total employees trained per organization (including independent contractors and franchisees) was 55,771, with 18,498 trained in the classroom and 35,805 trained online. A mean of 540 courses were offered as instructor-led sessions; 1,738 were offered as online self-paced modules; and 156 were offered as virtual instructor-led classrooms. Some 98 percent of applicants have a technological infrastructure to support training delivery and management.
- The average number of full- and part-time trainers was 241 and 582, respectively.
- Some 96 percent of applicants have a tuition reimbursement program. A mean of 7 percent of eligible employees made use of tuition reimbursement programs in the last year. Organizations spent a mean of $2.3 million on tuition reimbursement programs.
- Some 98 percent of applicants use employee satisfaction surveys, and 97 percent use competency maps and personal/individual development plans. Only 66 percent tie managers’ compensation directly to the development of their direct reports.
- On the evaluation side, 68 percent of applicants utilize Return on Value; 71 percent utilize Return on Investment; 56 percent utilize balanced scorecards; and 47 percent utilize Six Sigma. The Kirkpatrick Levels of Evaluation are more widely used: Level 1 (97 percent), Levels 2 and 3 (94 percent), and Level 4 (88 percent).
- The average length of employee service was seven years, and the average turnover rate was 19 percent.
- Internal candidates filled a mean of 36.2 percent of job openings, while employees referred a mean of 26.3 percent of new hires.
Following this week’s successful Training 2013 Conference & Expo, I’m happy to announce our next big event: Training’s Online Learning Conference to be held September 17-19, 2013, in Chicago (http://www.OnlineLearningConference.com). Join us as we embark on a two-day journey to solve the mystery of effectively using online learning to optimize performance. We’ll explore story and experience-based e-learning design, video, mobile learning, and more. Creativity plays a starring role—with keynotes by Simpsons writer Joel Cohen and Second City improv artists. The plot thickens!