52% of HR professionals say there is a skills shortage in the workplace, and it’s getting worse. More than 94% of employees are more willing to stay with a company invested in helping them access learning tools to gain needed skills. E-learning is integral to the future of work.
The Essence of E-Learning
E-learning is a broad term for education being provided through electronic technology. Websites, videos, apps, interactive games, and activities: all these (and more) are considered e-learning. But why should we embrace this tech? What makes it worth the time, money, or effort to implement these tools in your training?
Pitfalls of Traditional Classroom Training
Employee training in classroom settings is being outmoded by new and innovative e-learning tools more and more each day, and here are a few reasons why.
Classroom Training is “One Size Fits All”
Typically, employee training is scheduled for a specific amount of time that hopefully allows the instructor to get through all the material. This creates a two-sided problem: those who learn quickly are often bored, while those who need more time to process the material feel rushed.
A standardized education model is even less effective in the workplace than it is in schools. Not only are employees operating at different levels of learning ability, but they are also working from different levels of job experience and background training.
Classroom Training is Unengaging
Classroom Training is also very passive when it comes to getting and keeping employees’ attention.
Some of this frustration is due to other unchangeable elements. The instructor is constrained by the space and configuration of the room you’re in: from certain seats, the visual aids are hard to see or the speaker is hard to hear. All this leads to time and money wasted on incomplete training or unsatisfied staff.
Benefits of Training Through E-Learning
E-learning encompasses things as simple as online workbooks, instructional videos; and it can get as advanced as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Let’s take a look at a few of the benefits.
Flexibility
Perhaps the biggest benefit of e-learning is the ability to tailor the education to any employee’s schedule and learning style.
Employees can work on their own time and at their own pace. They can fly through classes they find easy or go back and review concepts they found harder to digest.
This targeted approach ensures all participants get the most out of their training.
Learn from Anywhere
Since class materials are digital, employees can learn from any geographic location.
Employees can also learn in an environment that best suits their needs – whether it’s a cubicle, coffee shop, or home office. This also means in the event that employees need to work from home (whether due to personal or pandemic reasons), they still have access to those training resources.
Consistency
Branding is integral to your business, and what is branding if not a commitment consistency in all outward transactions with your target audience? Training Magazine uses Verizon as an example: with e-learning, this huge corporation can “deliver consistent information broadly” to nationwide and even global groups of employees.
With e-learning, every course is exactly the same, though it can be done at different times and in different places.
It Can Put Your Business Ahead of the Curve
If your business is migrating to a better collaboration solution, having an e-learning experience can help employees adopt unfamiliar technologies more quickly and easily. It also allows people to learn about more complicated topics. This will help immensely when new company-wide software is introduced.
E-Learning and the Future of Work
The future of work consists of five parts, and two of those include a need to be remote and tech-forward in their operations. Many businesses have adopted a blended approach – mixing e-learning with more traditional courses.
There are some topics that are better suited for e-learning platforms such as software or technical skill-building and compliance courses, like sexual harassment, multicultural workplace, or HIPAA training.
E-Learning Offerings
If you’re thinking about implementing e-learning elements into your own employee training programs, Meet Me in the Cloud can help. Learn more about our e-learning offerings here.
