The Value of Digital Training for Employees

Using a learning management system is an excellent way to provide digital skills training to employees, and fill digital gaps that may exist within an organization. Below, we highlight some of the reasons the digital skills training is so essential in any organization, as well as how to use a learning management system to deliver this specialized training.

An Overview of Digital Skills

It’s no longer an option to overlook the importance of digital skills and literacy in the workplace. Even just a few years ago digital skills training was something that was seen more like a nice-to-have as opposed to a must-have. Not the case anymore.

Some of the most important digital skills an employee can have include:

• Social Media: Social media training used to be fairly basic in most Employees might have been trained on things like how to write posts and get followers. Social media has become significantly more complex now. It’s not just about posting and keeping up with audiences. It’s about advertising and knowing how to drill down into the specifics of audiences. There’s A/B testing that needs to be done, audience segmentation, and interacting with influencers. Social media gets complicated quickly, and employees need to be well-versed on how to maximize the use of these platforms.
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM): Search engine marketing is as influential as social media marketing and advertising for most businesses. When employees have SEM skills, they can work on increasing the overall visibility of an organization and securing coveted web traffic. There are billions of search traffic results that show up on Google, and it’s important for businesses to be able to capture these if they sell products or services.
• Analytics: Analytics is what allows businesses to take data and make decisions based on that information. Being able to identify metrics is essential for decision-making and revenue growth. There are tools and resources that even the smallest businesses have access to that allow them to gain big data and analytics on par with much bigger organizations, and employees need to know not only how to access that data but how to put it to use effectively.

These aren’t the only digital skills that are essential to train employees on. Learning management courses can focus on other areas such as mobile marketing, email marketing, content marketing and more. There’s no shortage of ways to use a learning management system to train employees and digitally upskill them.

Despite the importance of digital skills, a lot of employers don’t emphasize this area of training. They might not see the value in investing in digital skills training, or they might put their time and money into training employees in other areas. However, according to the Association for Talent Development (ATD), employers that offer comprehensive digital skill straining had a 218% higher income per employee as opposed to companies with less intensive training.

Benefits of Digital Skills Training

The following are some of the major benefits of using a learning management system to deliver comprehensive digital skills training:

• As an employer, when you invest in comprehensive digital skills training, you’re proactively closing the skills gap. We’re at a time where a lot of companies are suffering because they don’t have the talent with the skills they need. The best option for businesses to address this potentially sidelining obstacle is to provide customized training that addresses their needs. Businesses can close the skills gap on their own and in a budget-friendly way with the use of a learning management system.
• In many businesses, when employees don’t have the necessary digital skills the work has to be outsourced either to freelancers or agencies. This might be okay for some businesses, but it can have some pitfalls. First, it can be expensive. It can also be more challenging for outsiders to really understand the ins and outs of the business. Sometimes, it’s better to provide digital training skills to employees you already have, because they understand the business better than someone you bring in from the outside.
• Having strong digital skills is one of the best ways to effectively and efficiently drive revenue in an organization. Without having a strong digital presence through both paid and unpaid strategies, it’s going to be difficult for most businesses to stay competitive and increase revenue. When employees have the necessary digital skills training, a lot can be done with few resources, and it can drive revenue up significantly. We’re at a point in time where relying only on traditional means of selling and marketing is not going to cut it no matter your industry or your audience. It’s just not enough. Unfortunately, businesses still waste time and effort on outdated strategies like cold calling rather than providing digital skills training to employees and then leveraging those skills.
• Learning digital skills and participating in digital skills training can be engaging, interesting and motivating for employees. It can give employees the opportunities to learn new skills and also build their career. The more real world, usable skills an employee can gain, the better it’s going to be for their upward career trajectory.

Finally, if an organization is already spending money on digital advertising strategies, they may not be maximizing those campaigns. By providing thorough training to employees, it’s possible to improve the ROI on all digital spending.

When employers are providing digital skills training to employees, the use of a learning management system is valuable because it lets them access information in a self-paced way. Employees can learn small bits of information at a time, which is good for retention and engagement. A learning management system makes relevant information on-demand. As the employer, you can also use the learning management system to check the progress of employees and see how they’re doing with digital upskilling training.

Learning management systems are inexpensive to use when training employees, and they provide a manageable amount of information in a highly accessible format. A learning management system also makes it easier to create individualized training paths, which can be especially important with digital skills training.