5 Reasons Why Bespoke Training Is Better Than Off-the-Shelf Training

Introduction

When it comes to employee training and development, businesses face a key decision: bespoke training versus off-the-shelf training.

This article explains the difference between both training solution options and examines five reasons why bespoke training is more effective than off-the-shelf options. We will cover relevance, engagement, flexibility and scalability, long-term impact, and competitive advantage, showing how customized programs deliver better results for both employees and the organization.

What is Bespoke Training?

Bespoke training is a learning program specifically designed to meet the unique needs of a company and its employees.

Unlike off-the-shelf courses, which offer generic content for a broad audience, bespoke training is tailored to reflect a company’s processes, goals, culture, and compliance requirements.

Bespoke training is usually more expensive upfront, but more relevant and easier to scale because the company will own the training outright and be able to deploy it as they wish, for as long as they like (short term cost).

What is Off-the-shelf Training?

Off-the-shelf training refers to pre-made learning programs designed for a broad audience, rather than tailored to a specific company or workforce.

These courses cover general topics and standard industry practices using a one-size-fits-all approach, offering a convenient and quick solution for employee training.

Off-the-shelf training is usually more beneficial for training providers, since they own the training solutions, they only need to produce the training content once and can sell the same training solutions to hundreds of different companies, often by continuous subscription per user (long-term costs).

Benefits of Bespoke Training

1. Relevance to Your Business Needs

One of the greatest strengths of bespoke training is its direct alignment with your company’s objectives, processes, and challenges.

• According to a study by SHRM (a HR association), 24% of employees believe their training is not relevant to their role (SHRM Workplace Learning & Development Trends Report, 2022)
• And according to the same study, 38% of employees want training that is more relevant to their actual job responsibilities.

For bespoke training:

Addresses the unique skill gaps of each role or department and uses scenarios drawn directly from the actual workplace, ensuring employees gain knowledge and experience they can immediately apply on the job. A great example of a training method that takes advantage of relevancy and shows powerful results are Learning From Incidents (LFI) training videos which usually uses real-life incident examples directly from the workplace’s past incidents, where employees are doing the same work processes.

For off-the-shelf training:

Off-the-shelf training often include irrelevant content and use examples that are not specific to your company, which can limit engagement and reduce the practical value of the learning. Imagine working in a chemical plant and taking an off-the-shelf PPE training course, and the training video shows workers in a generic lab using equipment and protective gear that your company doesn’t use, so much of the guidance doesn’t apply to your actual workplace or safety requirements.

Why relevant training matters:

• Relevant training is tailored to company goals and culture
• More relevant training addresses specific skill gaps within your workforce
• Higher relevancy training aligns with company policies and compliance requirements
• When training is relevant it helps employees handle company-specific challenges
• Reflects the company’s workflow and standard operating procedures
• Provides practical examples from actual workplace scenarios
• Reduces wasted time on irrelevant material
• Ensures consistency in employee knowledge across teams
• Encourages employees to apply learning immediately on the job

By embedding real-world company scenarios, bespoke training makes learning actionable and instantly applicable, without workers needing to spend time trying to understand how it actually connects to what they will be doing in their work.

2. Higher Engagement and Retention

Employee engagement is a major factor in the effectiveness of any training program, which is boosted by bespoke training.

• According to a study by SHRM, 25% of employees believe the training material is forgotten soon afterwards (SHRM Workplace Learning & Development Trends Report, 2022)
• From the same study, 33% of employees feel a lack of motivation for training at work is the cause of failure to train employees effectively (SHRM Workplace Learning & Development Trends Report, 2022)

For bespoke training:

Bespoke training is specifically designed to engage employees by reflecting their real responsibilities. Role-specific scenarios and relevant examples make learning meaningful, which increases retention and motivates employees to apply their knowledge immediately. When learners are actively involved and can relate the content to their day-to-day tasks, retention improves significantly.

For off-the-shelf training:

Off-the-shelf training often struggles to engage employees because it is generic and not tailored to their specific roles. Learners may skip sections or lose interest, leading to lower retention and limited application of skills in the workplace.

Why engaging training matters:

• Boosts motivation to complete the training
• Increases learner attention and focus
• Improves knowledge retention and recall
• ⁠Encourages active participation instead of passive learning
• Makes the learning experience more enjoyable
• Reduces boredom and disengagement/distraction
• Increases likelihood that learners will retain and use information long-term

3. Flexibility and Scalability

With bespoke training, organizations grow and change, and their training programs need to adapt accordingly.

• According to Intellum’s article on employee training statistics, among companies that experienced increased revenue, those that valued scalable learning were most likely to see increased revenue.
• According to SHRM’S 2022 Workplace Learning and Development 32% of employees said they want to be sure that what they’re learning is current.

For bespoke training:

Bespoke training can be adjusted to accommodate new teams, departments, or locations without requiring a complete redesign. Updates to reflect changes in processes or policies can be implemented quickly, maintaining relevance and consistency across the workforce. On top of this, it’s cheaper to scale bespoke training, as long as you own the training you can provide it any number of employees you desire, without any additional cost per employee.

Training that can grow with the company ensures consistent knowledge, addresses emerging challenges, and supports new roles or processes. Flexible programs reduce the need for repeated or redundant training while keeping employees aligned with company goals.

For off-the-shelf training:

Off-the-shelf programs are fixed and inflexible. Scaling to larger workforces can be expensive and updating content often requires vendor involvement. As a result, these programs don’t meet evolving business needs effectively.

When a company uses inflexible training programs, they’ll have to search often for something that’s as relevant to their company as possible, but it’s impossible to find something that matches your all workplace’s requirements perfectly without bespoke training. Even if you request involvement from a vendor, there’s often a limit to how much they can change to the training and ends up costing money better spent on a fully custom training solution that covers all your needs from the get-go.

You might even end up paying multiple different subscriptions where half the content isn’t used in any of them, just so they add up to cover your training needs.

Why flexible, scalable training matters:

• Easily adapted for different roles or departments
• Updates quickly when policies, regulations, or procedures change
• Can scale across multiple locations without extra costs
• Supports growth of the company without creating new courses from scratch
• Allows modular expansion to cover new skills or topics, while maintaining consistency of previous training material
• Can incorporate changes to meet emerging business challenges

4. Improved Return on Investment (ROI) and Long-term Impact

Investing in training is only worthwhile if it produces measurable results and lasting benefits for both employees and the organization.

• From the a McKinsey study on sales staff training, the companies that outperformed their competition were 57% more likely to tailor their learning programs and 1.3 times more likely to outperform their peers in revenue growth compared to ‘slow growers’ using a one-size-fits-all training.

For bespoke training:

Bespoke training addresses specific skill gaps and reduces errors, accidents, or compliance risks that will have an actual effect on a company’s current training gaps, directly resolving those issues. By targeting the areas that matter most, it improves employee performance, efficiency, and overall productivity. Also, because the content is relevant and tailored, it fosters higher engagement and knowledge retention, creating measurable improvements in both individual and team performance. Over time, these benefits translate into a clear return on investment.

For off-the-shelf training:

Off-the-shelf training may leave gaps in employee knowledge and skills because it is generic. It can result in continued errors, lower efficiency, and limited measurable outcomes, which reduces its long-term value and effectiveness. Because the content is not tailored to your organization’s processes or objectives, it is difficult to measure its real impact, limiting the long-term value of the investment and often requiring supplemental training to achieve desired outcomes.

Also, with off-the-shelf training you’re often paying for a large library of training content, maybe a part of it will be useful but still not perfect, and the rest of the content will be useless but still being paid for for no reason. With bespoke training, you’re paying for what you need without extra baggage.

Why bespoke training has long-term benefits and high return on investment:

• Likelier to improve productivity and operational efficiency
• Higher reduction on mistakes, accidents, and costly errors
• Enhances compliance with regulations and standards
• Provides measurable improvements in performance
• Long-term investment that grows with the business
• Each training has a one-time cost as opposed to off-the-shelf which can need monthly or annual payments
• Aligns employee skills with company goals for tangible outcomes
• Demonstrates clear return on investment to management

5. Culture Building and Staff Retention

Investing in training is only worthwhile if it produces measurable results and lasting benefits for both employees and the organization.

• According to LinkedIn’s 2019 Workplace Learning Report, 94% of employees said they would stay longer at a company that invests in their career development, which highlights the strong link between training and staff retention.
• Lanes Group & Thames Water saw a +57% increase in staff retention as a result of SHIIFT’s bespoke VR training solutions. This result can be attributed partly to using unique training mediums like shared VR, but also because the training was bespoke and focused on Thames Water company culture and experiences.

For bespoke training:

Bespoke training reflects a company’s specific culture, values, and workflows, helping employees understand how their roles contribute to broader organizational goals. They use the same kind of language that’s consistent with their corporate or safety leadership teams, they also use visuals with company branding, logos and colors. This alignment strengthens engagement, boosts morale, and builds loyalty.

With all the training tied in and being fully owned by the company, it unites employees as one big team, and helps them feel recognized and supported in their professional growth, which increases retention and reduces turnover-related costs.

For off-the-shelf training:

Off-the-shelf training lacks connection to a company’s unique culture and values. While it can teach general skills, it rarely fosters a sense of belonging or aligns employees with the organization’s mission. As a result, staff may complete training without increased engagement or sense of belonging, causing the company to miss the opportunity to reduce turnover and strengthen its internal culture.

Why bespoke training benefits company culture and employee retention:

• Reinforces company values and mission
• Aligns employee behavior with organizational goals
• Builds a sense of belonging and identity within the organization
• Demonstrates that the company invests in its people
• Reduces staff turnover by improving job satisfaction
• Strengthens internal communication through shared knowledge and practices
• Boosts morale by making employees feel valued and supported
• Improves onboarding experience by immersing new hires in the company culture
• Promotes internal advocacy, where employees share and reinforce company values
• Creates a unified workforce that embodies the organization’s values
• Builds trust in leadership by showing investment in professional development
• Encourages accountability and responsibility in line with company standards
• Builds pride in the organization through branded, customized content
• Creates memorable experiences that reinforce corporate values

Direct Comparison of Bespoke Training and Off-the-shelf Training

Picture two different energy companies, each watching a safety video in separate training sessions to onboard employees. Company A has a video using off-the-shelf training, while Company B uses bespoke training and reaps the benefits.

Our Bespoke Training Examples

Here are 6 examples from SHIIFT’s portfolio demonstrating how bespoke training solutions have been taken advantage of by our clients.