From startup to IPO, every successful business has used staff training and development to adapt to the marketplace and create the resources it needs to grow. Without employee training, companies get left by the wayside and struggle to manage increased demands or changes in the market.
Online training is an opportunity for businesses of any size to develop their workforces using modern and up-to-date methods and materials without having to absorb losses in production or excessive in-house training costs. Here are just a few of the benefits that online elearning has over traditional training methods.
Flexible Learning Is Better Learning
In-house training sessions can often lead to little advancement. Employees can see a day in a classroom or conference setting as a paid day off and struggle to engage with the content and learn on demand. Elearning is different. It allows employees to develop their skills by learning at their own pace, with full access to all the resources they need.
With the help of a learning management system (LMS) from Kallidus, any business can create targeted training programs using Elearning tools that suit both employer and employee. Workers develop skills in their own time and at their own pace, and in an informal setting that encourages them to ask questions and find answers. Companies that make the switch enjoy faster and more effective staff development without having to invest in in-house training schedules that can reduce productivity while they are implemented.
Save Time, Save Money
From a purely business perspective, the biggest benefit of using online training over in-house training is the effect it has on the balance sheet. Countless man hours can be lost from the sales room and the shop floor when you are implementing a new training program. New starters can take a week or more to be onboarded and for growing businesses, this can come at an incredibly cost when you need to expand quickly.
Online training, at a pace that suits the employee, helps keep everyone at their desks or at their positions in the production line. This not only keeps things running smoothly but also helps your investment in online education pay for itself, unlike in-house solutions that only come at a cost. Elearning also provides more consistent results for all types of employees, no matter what their preferred style of learning is.
Easy Tracking And Analysis
Online learning makes developing your employee’s skillsets and tracking their progress easy. With a few clicks, you can make a quick assessment and check up on which modules they have completed and what they have to do next. This can help you to identify any workers that may need extra support or encouragement and who your star performers are.
Department managers can use this information to plot the growth and development of their team and see what areas they need to concentrate on to meet the demands of the business. Employees themselves can also track their progress, and see what opportunities there are for them to learn new skills and qualifications to develop their careers inside your company. This can be incredibly inspiring and can aid staff retention and reduce employee turnover.
All Experiences Are Equal
Standardising training and ensuring that all employees have a nearly identical experience is incredibly difficult through in-house training. Sessions on the same subject can be different, going in directions and covering information that is missed out on other training days. With online elearning, every student is offered the same education and the same resources, standardising the training and treating each employee equally. If they require more support, it is there on demand.
Training staff this way also ensures they are ready to learn. When working online, they choose when and where they are going to do the work rather than having this decision made for them. This means that every employee is alert and engaged from the get-go, instead of attending a training session that may be outside of their shift pattern or regular working hours. They are not put out by training, they are put in the driving seat.
Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions
The business world is moving at a faster pace than ever before. As the world has become more connected, more consumers are connecting with businesses through their online presence which is driving sales to unprecedented levels for many. Keeping up with the pace can be very demanding, and folding in training to an already hectic modern working environment is nearly impossible.
Using a modern training solution rather than traditional methods creates an opportunity to tweak, adapt, and adjust your training schedules and materials at the touch of a button. The training courses you offer and the level of information you give to employees can quickly adapt to suit the demands of the business and incorporate new initiatives within the company. Modern businesses require modern training solutions to can plug the development gaps and ensure their success going forwards.
Investing In Employees Generates Big Returns
Too few employers understand that their greatest asset, and most precious resource, is the staff that work for them. Sometimes this cold hard fact is given the barest lip service, while the actions of the employer undermine their good intentions. Investing in your employee’s professional development yields massive returns down the line. You are never able to replace experience, especially experience working inside your company.
Employees who are given the opportunity to excel often do, and giving them the means to develop their skills and even take their careers in a new direction builds confidence and loyalty within the workforce. Elearning solutions give any business, regardless of its size, an investment opportunity that every successful company has used to build upon its existing resources and become the market leader they are today. Investing in staff development is the smartest move any business leader can make.
Cleaner, Leaner, And Greener
Many businesses are under pressure to reduce their carbon footprint and their contribution to landfill. In-house training can generate an enormous amount of paper waste, which costs money in paper and printing and can contribute to the overall tonnage of waste that your business creates. There is also the time and space you need to implement in-house training programs. The heating and lighting of training spaces emits more CO2 into the atmosphere than we realise, but online elearning uses far less power.
Switching your training programs to an online solution can help your business to meet its green targets, whether they are governmental or your own. Not only does this save you more money, but it also creates a marketing opportunity. You can use your implementation of elearning in your promotional materials as a demonstration of your commitment to achieving ecological goals and protecting the environment.
These are just the key benefits of using online learning for employee training, there are a great many more. In-house training has little to offer that elearning does not, and these can all be mitigated through follow-ups and one-on-one reviews. The cost savings help make the move to online education a no-brainer. Take a look at how you can implement a learning management system in your company today.