The Ongoing Growth of eLearning
Why eLearning Continues to Grow
If eLearning is here to stay, it’s because it’s good for business. Many business trends come and go. In a world where metrics matter, however, trends that don’t produce real evidence of long-term returns on investment are quickly abandoned. eLearning and perhaps, specifically mLearning persist because there’s growing evidence that they are good for business. With eLearning, employers can deliver training more quickly, in more engaging formats and to more employers for less money than ever before. The payback is obvious: engaged employees with current skills who are more committed to an organization’s mission and brand.
How to Promote eLearning
While most large organizations are already using some form of online training, smaller companies, including many who never had a strong training program to begin, have yet to embrace eLearning. It is important to bear in mind, however, that many learning management systems are affordable enough to accommodate the budgets of even the smallest organizations. To get started, take the following steps:
1. Align Your Learning and Organizational Goals
eLearning initiatives work best when aligned with broader organizational goals. Assess your business growth objectives and think about what types of training are best positioned to support these objectives. Once you launch your eLearning initiative, use built-in tracking tools to determine how your training initiative is helping you move the dial on key objectives.
2. Transform Your Organizational Culture with eLearning
When you introduce an eLearning initiative, you’re putting learning in employees’ hands. Use this as a way to transform your organizational culture (e.g., to turn your organization into a place where employees’ ideas are valued and given ample attention).
3. Motivate Employees to Learn by Promoting eLearning’s Added Value
Use gamification to help motivate employees to embrace your eLearning initiative. Also, make it clear to employees that what they are learning is not simply applicable to the work they are already doing in your organization. There is strong evidence to support the conclusion that employees are more likely to engage in eLearning when they believe the skills and knowledge being acquired are adding value or currency that can also payback on the broader job market. Said another way, ensure that employees understand how training can help them acquire transferable skills.
eLearning’s Proven ROI
If you’re still not persuaded, consider the following proven benefits of eLearning.
Lower Training Costs: With eLearning, even small organizations can roll out training initiatives for just a few dollars per employee and do so, without disrupting the work day.
Decreased Rental/Materials Costs: Most eLearning now takes place on apps, which employees access on their smart phones. There’s no room rentals, no catering and no textbooks or equipment.
Higher Productivity: No longer constrained by geography or time, eLearning can take place any where and anytime and therefore doesn’t need to cut into your workday. In short, there’s no longer a need to worry that your training may decrease productivity.
Increased Standardization. eLearning gives every employer the ability to delivery consistent content across work sites. Whether you have just a dozen of several thousand employees and whether or not you’re delivering training on just one site or to employees at dozens of sites worldwide, with eLearning you can ensure your training will be delivered in a standardized format across sites. There is no longer any need to worry about inconsistencies between facilitators.
Track Employees Progress and Compliance: When you choose online training you also gain the power to track employees’ participation in training programs and ensure they are complying with mandatory training initiatives. This, of course, is especially important for certain types of training, including compliance training.