As business owners and managers, we’re sure you’ll be fully aware of the benefits of staff training – from increased retention and job satisfaction to improved productivity, positive culture in the workplace and lower absenteeism, regular training is a large part of running a successful business.
But there are also challenges, especially for companies with large workforces – most notably, these include:
- Cost of training – the more employees, the larger the cost if this training is conducted face-to-face
- Time – finding the time in a busy schedule to conduct the training
- Logistics – for businesses with two or more locations, getting training arranged for each site is a challenge
This is where e-learning offers some practical solutions that can really impact on a business’s ability to upskill its workforce.
E-learning courses, conducted through a series of online classes and assessments, offer benefits including:
1. Cost-effectiveness – because the courses are created once but can be scaled to be accessible to any number of people, the cost of production – and therefore cost to the client – comes down significantly
2. Convenience of access – most courses are ‘on-demand’ in nature, meaning that a learner is able to access the course when it suits their schedule. This has significant benefits in terms of not interrupting busier periods during a normal working day, and therefore businesses are more able to retain production standards even while an employee is undergoing training.
3. Flexible access – because the courses are run online, there is no need to coordinate getting large groups of employees, either from within the same workplace or from different locations, into a single location to undergo training.
Beyond these tangible benefits, e-learning courses offer a number of other benefits including:
- Serving different learner styles – the use of videos, infographics, notes, games and other learning structures allows a far more flexible environment in which to learn.
- Gamification – by incentivizing learners to complete modules in order to access the next level of reward, gamification makes the learning environment fun, engaging and successful.
- Digital record-keeping and analytics – e-learning courses give excellent insights into a learner’s performance, not only in terms of the marks they achieve within each module but also in terms of how they progress from module to module. This helps the course-creator to optimize the structure to ensure the best possible experience and outcome.
The proof in the pudding
Training Industry.com has recently released some very interesting statistics that indicate the value of e-learning as an alternative to traditional courses. These include:
- In an ILX Group survey, 51 percent of HR decision-makers said that ongoing e-learning has a direct effect on boosting employee morale, satisfaction and longevity.
- A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that microlearning makes learning 17 percent more effective, and Software Advice reports that microlearning engages over 50 percent of participants.
- A study conducted by Brandon Hall found that e-learning requires 40 to 60 percent less employee time than classroom training.
- The Research Institute of America reports that learning retention rates improve from 8 to 10 percent for face-to-face training to 25 to 60 percent for e-learning.
- IBM research found that for every dollar you invest in e-learning, the result is $30 in productivity, mostly because employees save a lot of time through online learning and are able to resume work and apply the new skills faster.
- In a survey by CertifyMe.net, almost 72 percent of organizations said that online learning is instrumental in enhancing their competitive edge.
- In January, Amalgam Insights anticipated that the corporate and academic e-learning market would exceed $180 billion in 2018.
To find out more about Encompass Safety Solutions’ e-learning courses, covering Health & Safety, Fire Safety, Food Safety, GDPR, Safeguarding and Mental Health Awareness, contact us today.
