We’ve all either seen it or done it ourselves when someone mentions staff training. All of a sudden everybody is far too busy to spare the time for a questionnaire on which part of the car park the fire evacuation point is.
But it doesn’t have to be like that.
Learning management software gives employees greater freedom over how and when to complete their training modules, whilst managers avoid the dreaded piles of paper that someone has undoubtedly forgotten to put their name on.
Creating a positive learning culture
All too often training is seen as a chore. Those mandatory courses come up annually and everyone is trying to get an entire workforce signed off by the end of the week. Chaos.
Employees want to feel valued, they want to feel important, and they want to know that their personal development is a higher priority than grabbing their signature a few times a year.
Personal development plans and the well-executed development of their skills are essential to keeping employees engaged in their role. It’s human nature to want to better ourselves; to find a quicker way to do a job; to better understand how to use a piece of equipment or software.
By creating a culture of positive development through better communication and information, employees see the benefits of training for themselves.
Who should we be training?
The short answer is ‘everybody’.
It doesn’t matter how long someone has been in their role, businesses change; technology changes; new products come along, and maintaining a common standard of skills and knowledge ensure that all of your people are your best people.
Of course, this doesn’t even have to be limited to your own staff. If you are in a position where your company can pass its knowledge and expertise onto your clients, an e-learning portal is a great way to provide this benefit to them.
Client training can provide both an additional revenue stream and increase customer retention. A business which has used your product, and had its employees trained on them, is more likely to come to you when they need a replacement or additional units.
Can training be made fun?
Adding a little bit of fun is a great way to increase employee engagement.
As well as creating increased participation, memory retention is likely to be higher due to the “That was different from our usual training” factor.
Can staff training be fun? Of course!
Consider adding some of the following to your next session or course:
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- Create a crossword instead of a form
- Turn it into a quiz (maybe putting teams against each other)
- Throw in a random fun question, like “Who’s your favourite superhero?”
- Create a short video asking a real-world question
- Use visual questions, like ‘Spot the 5 errors in this picture’
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There are plenty of other ways to inject some light relief and gamification elements into a training course, and they might just improve the trainees’ retention.
The benefits of e-learning across sectors
Online training can benefit almost all businesses, but below are a few examples of how learning management software can help:
Charities and non-profit organisations
Unless you are particularly fortunate and have a volunteer trainer who likes to travel, the chances are that you’ll be dealing with a large number of voluntary workers distributed over a wide area. E-learning is highly suited to this environment as it is accessible and doesn’t require in-person attendance.
Volunteers have the same need for skills and knowledge as a paid employee, and so giving them access to personal development tools can only benefit them and the organisation.
Healthcare organisations
With very complex training requirements, the healthcare industry needs to find a way to ensure that the information and training it gives its employees are up to date and accurate. Printed course material takes time to complete and ship out to relevant parties, so a learning management system is ideal for quickly adding new information.
Swap the time-consuming and costly printed course materials for an intuitive e-learning system instead
You’ll also want quick and easy access to training records. Whether a single site operation or a multi-site trust, having records on hand is vital. It’s also useful for employees to have an easily accessible copy of the courses for future reference.
The finance industry
The regulation around providing financial services is extremely robust and, quite often, changes quickly. The ability to utilise online learning tools ensures that these changes to regulations can be quickly communicated to employees and recorded.
Being able to verify understanding across customer touchpoints is essential in building trust with clients who are entrusting their money to you.
Franchise operations
Another great example of distributed teams who need to present a common voice, a franchise trusts many franchisees with the reputation of its brand.
A franchise owner needs to be able to ensure that all of its outlets are providing the same level of product or service. By using a learning management system, both the brand owner and franchise are able to provide employees with training that reflects, and protects, the brand name under which it operates.
Of course, these are just a few key examples – there is an example for almost every industry. A good training and development package is beneficial to both employees and their employer, and with the increasing presence of e-learning software, training providers have freed themselves from the classroom.
