Here is the challenge: it may ultimately save in travel costs, but it doesn’t necessarily reduce the cost to the business.
As a former director of training for a large corporation, what I found is that the need came first. Effectiveness and timeliness of communication came in second and third. Down the list of priorities was how to deliver the message. In some cases, an e-mail did the trick. In others, it was a conference call, webinar, computer-based training, etc. In others, it required face-to-face interaction.
In our case, we designed an online training course for the company’s computer system It eliminated the need for new employees to travel to the corporate office in order to learn how to use it. It eliminated their travel costs, provided a training tool to new employees immediately, and was available to all employees, not just the two managers required to attend. Was there a cost savings? On travel, yes. On educating new employees on the system yes, as they were properly trained on how to use it. On the corporate side, training development consts increased.