In-company or open-enrolment: choosing the right training format

Both formats work. The right choice depends on who needs to change, how quickly, and whether the people around the table share the same context. Choose in-company when the group is large enough and the challenges are shared; choose open-enrolment when you are developing one or a few people, or want them exposed to peers from other companies.

What in-company training does well

A bespoke programme is built around your organisation: your brands, your processes, your targets and your vocabulary. That fit shows up in three ways.

• →Relevance — examples, role-plays and action plans use your real situations, so participants apply what they learn the next morning instead of translating generic material.
• →Alignment — everyone hears the same message at the same time. New processes, standards and leadership expectations land as one coherent change, not as individual interpretations.
• →Momentum — a cohort from the same team keeps applying the skills together after each session, which is what turns a training into a habit.

The trade-off: it needs a meaningful group of participants and someone internally to own the outcomes.

What open-enrolment does well

A live online programme spread over several weekly sessions works differently. Participants join from different companies and markets, and that mix is the point.

• →It suits one to five people — a single Sales Manager or Area Manager can join without waiting for a company-wide rollout.
• →It brings outside perspective — hearing how peers in other networks handle the same negotiation or coaching conversation is something an internal programme cannot provide.
• →It is fast to start — no design phase, no procurement cycle; the next start date is the barrier.
• →It tests commitment — people who attend four sessions alongside their day job, and apply the tools in between, demonstrate the discipline the skills require.

How to decide

Ask three questions:

1. How many people need this, and how soon? A department of twenty points to in-company; two strong individuals point to open-enrolment. 2. Is the challenge shared? If everyone struggles with the same process or market condition, a bespoke programme pays for itself quickly. If the needs are individual, they do not. 3. Do you need the same message or a new perspective? Alignment argues for in-company; outside benchmarks argue for open-enrolment.

Many organisations do both: open cohorts for individuals and emerging talent, and a bespoke programme when the whole team is ready to move at once.

What matters in either format

Whichever route you take, the same things determine whether behaviour actually changes: sessions spaced over weeks rather than crammed into days, a facilitator who has worked in automotive retail rather than only read about it, and clear actions between sessions that participants bring back and review. If a provider cannot tell you how application happens between sessions, the format will not save it.