In an era defined by AI-driven tools, online learning platforms, and high employee turnover, the traditional corporate training model is under scrutiny.

Many leaders are asking: Is formal training still a smart investment?

This article explores multiple dimensions of this complex decision, drawing from real-world procurement challenges, emerging technologies, cultural considerations, and the evolving expectations of today’s workforce.

The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. It’s about designing smarter, outcome-driven capability strategies that reflect today’s realities. To approach the matter in a holistic manner, aiming for educated decisions, we believe that the following questions need to be answered:

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Online self-learning: The ideal approach?

Online platforms such as Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, edX, Udemy and others offer high-quality, low-cost access to nearly any topic. Tools like ChatGPT provide personalized, real-time answers and support, enabling employees to learn on-demand. These resources are covering an impressive breadth of individual training needs, being at the same time available 24/7, affordable, scalable.

From a budget and accessibility perspective, this seems like a no-brainer. Why pay for training when knowledge is already out there? However: Knowledge doesn’t always translate into performance. Without application, structure, and reinforcement, most of what is learned remains unused.

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The Power of On-the-Job Learning (and its Limitations)

Another common perspective is that people learn best by doing: taking on stretch projects, shadowing senior colleagues, rotating roles. This is especially true in dynamic procurement environments where stakeholder management and supplier dynamics vary daily.

Real benefits include:

• Immediate context and relevance

• Faster development through exposure to pressure

• Stronger informal mentoring bonds

But this approach also carries risks:

• No guarantee of best-practice transfer

• Inconsistent learning quality across teams

• Increased exposure to costly trial-and-error

Without reflection, structure, or feedback loops, experiential learning can lead to eternal continuation of bad habits leading to missed opportunities.

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The Loyalty Dilemma: Why Train People Who Might Leave?

This is perhaps the most common objection: Why invest in training people who could resign tomorrow?

It’s a valid concern. Attrition is high, especially among early-career professionals. Training improves their market value, and ironically, can make them more attractive to other employers.

However, withholding training isn’t a solution, as lack of development opportunities is a top reason why people leave. There are many studies indicating that the risk of attrition is higher without training, while it is also evident that retaining under-skilled employees creates hidden costs.

Training should be seen as a cultural signal: We invest in people who matter. This is liable to enhance employee retention, when done right.

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Employer Branding and Talent Attraction

Apart from employee retention, talent attraction is also related to a company's investment in employee trainings. High-potential candidates increasingly look for employers who commit to professional development. Failing to provide learning opportunities can undermine recruitment efforts, or damage employer branding on platforms like Glassdoor or LinkedIn.

In contrast, companies known for consistently investing in employee upskilling can become magnets for talent.

Training as a catalyst for Cultural Alignment

Training isn’t just about skills. It’s about building a shared language, aligning ways of working, embedding new behaviors across teams and functions.

Especially for procurement functions having to handle a multitude of diverse targets, such as particular supply category targets, ESG targets, digitization, or transformation efforts, training is a structured way to ensure everyone shares a common understanding of the company's expectations, hence reducing siloed interpretations of strategy. Without it, organizations risk slower adoption, friction, even compliance failures.

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Conclusion:  A Smarter Way Forward | Rethinking Corporate Training

Leading procurement functions are moving toward by:

• Blending learning models: combining live sessions, coaching, AI, and micro-learning

• Enhancing learners' experience utilising relevant examples, such as real life case studies

• Mixing internal expertise with external facilitation

• Encouraging assimilation with modern technologies, including tools such as ChatGPT, not instead of training, but as a complimentary resource

 

Sources:

Renaud, S., & Morin, L. (2020), The impact of training on firm outcomes: longitudinal evidence from Canada. International Journal of Manpower, 41(2), 117–131. 

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LinkedIn Learning Report (2020), Workplace Learning Report 2020.  (https://learning.linkedin.com/resources/workplace-learning-report)

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ATD (Association for Talent Development),  The Business Case for Learning. (https://www.td.org)

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McKinsey & Company (2023), Aim higher and move faster for successful procurement-led transformation.  (https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/transformation/our-insights/aim-higher-and-move-faster-for-successful-procurement-led-transformation)

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📌 Beta Procurement helps organizations identify skill gaps, design and execute personnel training plans, drawing on decades of experience across diverse spend categories.