6: Beyond Budgets: How Learning Builds Talent Retention in Government | Randi Perry

Are you spending your L&D budget in the right places—or just checking a box?

Whether you’re working with a lean team or juggling a fluctuating budget, every HR and L&D professional faces the same question: What should we build in-house, and what should we bring in from outside experts? In this episode of The Learnit Lounge, host Mickey Fitch-Collins chats with Randi Perry, Learning and Development Manager for the City of San Jose, about how she balances outsourced, in-house, and hybrid learning programs for a 7,000-person workforce. Randi shares her strategy-rich insights on what works, what’s worth the effort, and what HR teams need to be thinking about long before a single training is booked.

This Episode Covers:

• When external facilitators help you get more honest feedback from employees
• How Randi’s team transitioned a program from external to internal facilitation—with better-than-expected results
• Why credibility is the true currency of any L&D initiative
• The myth that training can fix everything—and what to focus on instead
• A simple but powerful action step every L&D team should take before outsourcing or insourcing any program

Timestamped Highlights:

00:00 – Introduction to Randi Perry and today’s topic: outsourcing vs. insourcing L&D

01:30 – Strategic upsides of outsourcing: flexibility and access to specialized talent

04:10 – Why San Jose started its L&D program with outsourcing, and how they’re shifting

05:10 – Risks of in-house L&D: resource rigidity and employee job rights in government

06:30 – When in-house L&D becomes a liability in public sector organizations

08:15 – Why Randi believes in a hybrid L&D model—and how San Jose implements it

09:45 – How strategy, scale, and impact guide decisions on outsourcing vs. in-house

10:50 – Government-specific considerations: credibility, permanence, and long-term hires

12:20 – Why employees may be more candid with third-party facilitators

13:30 – The underrated importance of facilitator credibility and rapport

15:00 – L&D as a talent retention strategy when compensation isn’t flexible

17:05 – Which is worse? Bad outsourcing vs. bad internal training (spoiler: internal)

21:30 – What city employees care about most: relevance and quality of facilitation

22:30 – A success story: transitioning a leadership program from external to internal facilitation

24:20 – Surprising upside: employees preferred learning from in-house leaders who “get it”

26:10 – Hidden costs of outsourcing: time, vetting, context alignment, and procurement

28:30 – The importance of customizing content to the public sector environment

31:10 – Long-term relationships with vendors reduce cost and friction

33:10 – Randi’s biggest leadership lesson: credibility is everything

35:30 – The uncomfortable truth: training can’t fix everything—and not everyone wants to be there

37:45 – Final takeaway: Ask your people what they need. Don’t assume—assess.

39:20 – Where to find and connect with Randi Perry on LinkedIn

39:45 – Closing thoughts and invitation to share the episode

About Randi

Randi Perry is the Learning and Development Manager for the City of San Jose, where she designs and delivers workforce learning for one of the largest municipal governments in the United States. With a deep commitment to employee engagement, psychological safety, and long-term career growth, Randi has led the city’s evolution from a fully outsourced L&D model to a high-impact hybrid approach. She’s known for her strategic thinking, strong internal relationships, and unwavering focus on building programs that earn trust at every level—from interns to the city manager.

Resources Referenced

Randi Perry on LinkedIn

The City of San Jose

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