Education based on electronic technology is e-learning. E-learning is the method of conducting educational activities in mutual interaction between teachers and students without being present in the conventional classroom using electronic technology such as computer or mobile, internet and e-mail, video conferencing, instant messaging etc.
E-learning system makes it possible to ensure availability of knowledge or learning material anytime anywhere. Currently, various types of e-learning portals have been launched for education. Through these students can study the subject of their choice at home. E-learning is commonly used to teach specific degree courses or programs online. Various universities around the world also offer their courses online for a fixed fee. As a result, foreign university degrees can be obtained at home.
Advantages and potential of corporate e-learning
A revolution of e-learning is being observed in developed countries in the last ten years! Organizations like Coursera, edX, Udemy, Lynda have made online courses very popular among people. Although initially started with academic courses, slowly its popularity started to increase in the corporate world as well. Most of the Fortune 500 companies are currently working on some kind of eLearning program.
However, the one thing that prevents most companies from implementing an online training strategy alongside offline training is the cost! Is online training really effective? Are the benefits of online training so great that a large portion of the HR budget can be spent on it? HR managers who are thinking about such questions; Or trying to find out the real benefits of online training; Here are some points for them:
Reduced cost of training
One of the biggest advantages of corporate online training is that it actually cuts down on costs. The cost of re-arrangement, logistics, trainer fee, printed material etc. for offline training of the same subject is reduced a lot in online training. Costs come down a lot as everything a subject needs is always open to everyone on the online platform. Yes, in the beginning some tasks like e-learning platform (LMS), content development etc. require some initial investment and cooperation of e-learning experts. However, considering the operational cost of running training on a continuous basis, online training is more cost-effective than offline training.
Online training is available right when needed
When an employee may need reference on a particular subject, or learning material, or any important information. With online training or e-learning, that information or material can be accessed instantly – exactly when needed. Let’s say, an employee got confused about something while providing refund service to a customer or wanted to confirm the information. If there was online training, he could easily access that information from an online course on customer service by logging into his account. In this way, you can easily keep your employees informed and knowledgable about any information or work procedures of the organization – thereby increasing the overall customer satisfaction and work practices of the organization!
Employees can learn on their own time
With the facility of online training modules, employees can go through them according to their time and convenience. He can learn from online courses at his own pace, at his own pace, while managing his office work at convenient times of the day or week, without having to adjust to what is being taught in the corporate training classroom, or what other employees are learning. In offline classroom training there is often a pressure to keep up with the trainer. Online training doesn’t have that pressure; In this case, you can go to the next lesson or module at your own convenience after mastering what is being taught!
Dependence on corporate trainers is reduced
The most significant advantage of online training is – dependence on corporate trainers is greatly reduced. Online training eliminates the hassle of repeatedly managing corporate trainers to train the same or different groups on a specific subject. So after creating online training materials for the first time, there will be no need for a trainer. On the one hand, the cost is reduced; On the other hand, trainers and staff do not have to waste valuable office hours behind classroom training!
The productivity and quality of work of the employees as well as the organization increases
According to a report by IBM, one of the world’s largest computer manufacturers, companies that use e-learning strategies and tools have the potential to increase their overall productivity by up to 50%. It is estimated that for every $1 spent on eLearning, a company can gain about $30 worth of productivity. Employees who are well trained, who are more informed about the company’s services or products or work areas and procedures, will be able to provide better support to customers and colleagues.
This will increase the efficiency of the staff as well as the entire organization! And through offline classrooms at the time and at the cost you can give this training to as many workers as you can; Online training can increase the skills of many employees in the same time and at the same cost. Starting from ten-twenty-fifty workers, hundreds, even thousands of workers can be trained together at low cost online!
Can be useful in recruiting qualified new staff
The practice of using corporate e-learning in employee onboarding, or pre-onboarding programs has begun in various organizations! How does it work? Suppose that after hiring new employees, or at the time of hiring, they were given access to various online modules! The modules contain information on the history of the organization, work style, culture, day to day life, service or product, code of conduct, ethics, compliance, etc. These modules will then make new and talented employees interested in joining the organization. Moreover, when potential employees or common people know about these e-learning programs of the organization, they will see them as Employment Benefit!
The organization’s employee turnover rate decreases
It is estimated that 25% of employees who leave an organization do so solely because the company did not provide adequate training and learning opportunities! Employees who are happy and well-informed about their organization are generally more loyal to the organization. When given the benefit of various self-paced online training or learning materials, they are more motivated to advance their careers and skills, are motivated towards the organization and work, and overall their work performance increases. Through these e-learning trainings, they can find out their weak points and work on them themselves, become aware of their capabilities. They become better employees as a whole and can deliver better messages about the organization’s brand to people!
Useful for skill development of unprofessional/casual workers
One of the major benefits of corporate e-learning is the ability to upskill amateur employees. By hiring amateur employees, volunteers, interns or part-time workers, it is possible to establish them as competent and valuable employees with proper training. It costs more than what it would cost to train skilled workers in this way through e-learning, to hire already skilled workers at higher salaries! Besides, with the development of technology, there are some fields of work, for which it is difficult to get skilled manpower.
There is no training to produce skilled workers in these fields; Moreover, any employee will take the opportunity to acquire these trendy skills! This applies quite well to large organizations as well as startups and SMEs in particular.
Increases knowledge retention of organization and employees
When an employee gets an opportunity to learn in an interactive and engaging environment, it not only increases his knowledge and skills, but also increases the chances of knowledge and skill retention within the organization! All modern applications of e-learning or online training – such as Blended Learning, Scenario Analysis, Stories & Games, Interactive Assessments, Micro-learning, Mobile Learning etc. provide more effective and lasting training. That knowledge and skills can be better applied in practical work within the organization.
Can take the organization to the forefront of innovation and advancement
An organization is built primarily on its people – those who keep the organization functioning, profitable, and growing every day through their work! And if those people learn new things every day, acquire new skills, keep the acquired knowledge and skills updated with new technologies and systems, then it makes the overall organization unbeatable – and this is where the L&D program comes in handy! Through e-learning these Learning & Development programs become easier, cost effective, dynamic, scalable and effective!
Organizations that have a culture of continuous learning have flexible and efficient teams in every department, who can adapt themselves very quickly with different knowledge and skills according to market and era demands! I hope this article helps you understand why you should experiment with corporate e-learning and start thinking about investing in online training!
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