Public course or in-house training? How to choose the right format for your 2027 team
You have identified a training need. The next question is how best to deliver it.
Should you send employees to a scheduled public course, or would an in-house programme work better for your team?
Neither format is automatically better. The right choice depends on how many people need the skill, how specific the training needs to be, and what you want employees to be able to do differently afterwards.
Choose a public course when a few people need the skill
A public course can work particularly well when one or two employees need training on a defined topic and can attend an existing scheduled date.
Public courses also give delegates the opportunity to learn alongside professionals from other organisations, which can introduce useful perspectives and practical examples.
For example, a newly appointed manager may benefit from attending a scheduled course on conducting a disciplinary enquiry rather than waiting until enough colleagues require the same training.
Our 2027 public course schedule will be available soon, covering a broad range of topics across HR, labour law, Employment Equity, B-BBEE, leadership, management, AI, business skills and more.
Consider in-house training when the team needs a shared approach
In-house training can be particularly effective when several employees need the same skills or when the learning needs to reflect the organisation's own environment.
Any of the programmes offered on our public course schedule can also be delivered in-house, either virtually or on-site.
But an in-house programme does not have to be an exact copy of the public course.
We can customise the content around:
Your organisation's training objectives;
The experience level of the delegates;
Internal policies and procedures;
Industry-specific challenges;
Real workplace scenarios;
The amount of time available;
The skills employees need to demonstrate afterwards.
This allows the programme to focus on what is actually relevant to the people in the room.
Why customise an in-house training programme?
The purpose of training should not simply be to complete a workshop.
It should result in knowledge and skills that employees can apply in their work.
Customised training allows examples, exercises and discussions to reflect the challenges employees actually encounter. It also gives teams an opportunity to develop a common understanding of how a particular process or responsibility should be handled within their organisation.
For example, instead of delivering generic grievance training, an in-house programme could focus specifically on helping managers:
Identify grievances correctly;
Follow the organisation's internal procedure;
Conduct the first meeting confidently;
Document the process consistently;
Know when a matter should be escalated.
The training objective becomes much clearer, and the programme can be built around achieving it.
When does in-house training make financial sense?
In-house delivery can also become attractive when several employees would otherwise attend the same public course.
Rather than making multiple individual bookings, the organisation can train a larger group together while gaining the additional benefit of customised content.
Other practical benefits can include:
Greater flexibility around dates;
Virtual or on-site delivery;
Reduced employee travel;
Training around operational schedules;
Consistent learning across teams;
More opportunity for organisation-specific discussion.
Start with the outcome you want
Before choosing a training format, define what success should look like.
For example:
“Our managers must be able to manage the first stages of a grievance consistently.”
is much more useful than:
“We need an HR workshop.”
Consider:
Who needs the training?
What do they need to know or do afterwards?
How many employees need the skill?
Are there organisation-specific policies or processes involved?
How much time is available?
Should the programme be virtual or on-site?
These answers help determine whether a public course or customised in-house programme will deliver the strongest result.
Public or in-house? You do not necessarily have to choose between them
Our public course schedule can also be used as a starting point for your organisation's internal training plan.
If you see a course that addresses a relevant need, we can deliver that programme in-house or adapt it around your organisation's specific objectives.
That could mean adjusting the duration, combining selected topics, incorporating internal policies, adding practical exercises or designing a broader programme around the capabilities your team needs to develop.
Our 2027 public course schedule will be live soon, but organisations planning their training for the year can already begin identifying priority skills and considering where public or customised in-house training would provide the most value.
The goal is not simply to deliver training.
It is to make sure the learning lands with your employees, builds the required capability and can be applied back in the workplace.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific legal guidance on protected disclosures, employment practices, or compliance obligations, consult a qualified labour law practitioner.
© 2026 Global Business Solutions (GBS). All rights reserved.
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