When having career discussions with your team, one of the most frequent requests is access to more training. With corporate budgets stretched thin,  the education fund is an easy line item to reduce or eliminate. The thought being that it's discretionary and can be postponed. Our staff usually has a different view and believes that education and training are critical to their success.

Jerry Loza over at TechRepublic shows us ten low cost alternatives to traditional training. His list is focused on technical jobs but can be adapted to any industry. I've included the list below. Check out his full article for all of the details.

1. The Public Library. An obvious choice but often overlooked as a resource. Today's libraries have a wealth of business books, audio and DVDs on every topic. Some will even loan software applications.
2. Company Resources. Most large corporations have a vibrant intranet that contains company and product information, competitive analysis, discussion forums and online training modules.
3. Vendor Training. If your staff uses certain products or software, the vendor may have complementary training or be willing to hold a special class at your location after a purchase.
4. Pod casts. You can find a podcast on almost any topic. Search the Internet for those that apply.
5. Webinars and Telesummits. These virtual meetings are gaining in popularity as travel budgets get restricted. Some are set up to use the internet for both voice and video so that you don't even incur a phone charge.
6. Associations and User Groups. Local user groups have low or no cost memberships and frequently offer education as part of their services.
7. Volunteering. Here's where you as the manager can help the employee by letting them volunteer for an assignment that will let them acquire or improve a skill they want to learn.
8. Internet. Even simple searches on the topic of our choice can yield results from complete text books to entire sites devoted to your topic.
9. Continuing education. Community centers, adult education or career centers can offer free courses to people who live in the neighborhood.
10. Community Colleges. Most offer affordable courses that don't require enrollment in a degree program.

Besides the low cost of these suggestions, they may also fit better into an individual's lifestyle. They require no travel and some can be scheduled on demand helping your team balance work and family obligations.