How Starting Your Training via A Cloud Based LMS Adds to the Bottom Line of Your Business
Have you ever wondered - chess is totally a mind game with NO physical activity required whatsoever. Yet you would notice the top lads, Carlsen, Anand, Topalov, Kramnik – ALL of them sweat it out in the gym. Each one of them would vouch for the importance of physical fitness in a completely brain game like chess.
Cut two to the business world. Small and medium businesses depend on their Human Capital much more than their larger counterparts. Each and every penny needs to be used judiciously, the employees are always neck deep in work, the competition is cut-throat – and quite rightly so – T profit is the focal point of everything they do. Who really cares for eLearning or a cloud based LMS here?
Very few small and medium businesses actually take training seriously. For most, training is an expense. They key is to understand that if for a woodcutter – sharpening your saw is not an expense but an investment. Here’s how starting your training via a cloud based LMS can add to the bottom line of your business.
Stem attrition
Let’s face it. It bleeds the wallet more than it hurts the heart when an employee leaves the organization. A Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) report suggests that direct replacement costs can reach 50-60% or the employee’s annual salary. Add to it overheads and other costs associated with turnover and it easily crosses the 100% sometimes upto 200% of the annual salary. What’s worse is that these costs are often not noticed as they are not exactly budgeted for – UNLIKE training.
Research shows that possibility of an employee leaving a company in the first year of employment is four times more in organizations offering poor / no training. Obviously, training prevents 3 out of the four potential walk outs. With economical alternatives like cloud based LMS and off the shelf courses available, that’s a bunch of saving right there.
A non-expensive investment
Think of training and think of eLearning. Bit-sized courses, off the shelf courseware, m-learning, Cloud based LMS, MOOC, on demand mentor assistance, virtual classrooms have turned the training space upside down. Information is available for FREE and knowledge can come at minimal costs. Expertise is a few keystrokes away and need of IT infrastructure has come down to a computer and internet connection. Small and medium enterprises can now embrace eLearning at no / low costs giving them the flexibility to try out what best suits their needs.
Considering the significantly low costs incurred vis-à-vis the cumulative benefits training offers, this investment in training your workforce definitely adds to your bottom-line.
Smarter / More efficient staff
Training has shown to yield at least 10% improvement in the productivity levels of the workforce. For example – office accounts assistant who earns $10 / hour takes an eLearning course in advanced accounting at $100. Even if s/he saves 15 mins a day with the newly learnt skills, her / his increased productivity pays for the class within two and a half months. Stretch that to one year and you practically get a RoI of two hundred percent. Much more than getting the money’s worth isn’t it?
Clear competitive advantage
The American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) states that firms that train more than 80% of their workers are able to attract and retain employees better than competitors of similar size and purpose that don’t invest in training. Research by Bersin Associates found that organizations with a strong learning culture are 46% more likely to be strong innovators in their markets; 34% more likely to get to market before their competitors; and 33% are more likely to report higher customer satisfaction levels.
Training gives a distinct competitive edge thereby significantly increasing chances of winning competitive bids and in turn adding to the bottom-line.
Enhanced brand perception
From banks to pizzas, from cars to vacuum cleaners – think of your favorite brands and you will realize that apart from the quality and features of their products, it’s the service that really matters. Smartness, swiftness, ownership of responsibility, support, professionalism are all resultants of the extensive training efforts that these companies put in. if the sales guy knows the product better, he will not only make more sales but also paint a better picture of the product in the consumers’ minds. Thus building brand trust, loyalty and better perception of the brand.
Spread the wings of your training to your vendors and channels and putting together it accounts for almost another 10% addition to the bottom-line.
Of course there is a word of caution! Its not just about subscribing to a cloud based LMS and throwing in a few off the shelf courses. Training or eLearning – like any other investment, needs to be implemented only after giving a rational thought to:
- The organizational goals and objectives
- Areas of improvement
- The knowledge, skills and competencies needed to achieve your goal
- The right mode of training (Instructor Led, eLearning, blended) in accordance with the training need as well as the budgets, ease of implementation, turnaround time etc. and
- Evaluate the outcomes and rectify / modify the approach accordingly.
So the bottom-line is clear. A thoughtfully crafted training program can help make a significant contribution to the company’s harvest. The best way to start doing that is through a cloud based LMS that give you access to a host of options and features at extremely affordable prices. To know how you can easily undertake training initiatives at your organization comment on this blog.
