22 June 2006 | Rebecca Ellinor

HR needs purchasers' help to make the most of its training budget, according to research.

The study by Loudhouse Research for Thales Training and Consultancy, found 47 per cent of budgets are likely to remain static for the next 12 months. This means HR managers are under pressure to do more with the same amount of money.

The study also found while much training (84 per cent) was on legal and compliance issues, soft skills training was more likely to improve a firm's overall effectiveness.

Rachel Kay, business development manager at Thales, said: "Many training budgets are not rising, so people need help getting the best value out of them."

Marc Sellis, head of training services at Thales, said procurement could help HR decide what training could be outsourced.

"Procurement can lead the way on deciding what's core and what's not to reduce costs," he said.

The survey covered 100 public and private UK organisations.

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