eLearning Anti-Resolutions: What Not To Do In The New Year
In most articles, we talk about what you should do to ensure the success of your eLearning business. However, considering that the holiday season already has you in a goal-setting mood, we thought to focus on the things you shouldn’t do heading into 2022. Therefore, here are 6 eLearning pitfalls you should avoid in order to support the growth of your business and positively impact learners.
6 eLearning Pitfalls You Should Be Aware Of
1. Falling Behind On Industry Trends
The purpose of an eLearning business is to educate others by imparting niche-specific knowledge or teaching new skills. But how can you expect to lead a successful organization if you ignore your own learning? The L&D landscape is rapidly changing, which means that the range of skills necessary for eLearning professionals is also expanding. Therefore, come the new year, make an effort to stay on top of trends and acquire the skills that will keep you relevant in the eLearning industry.
Bonus tip: Don’t stretch your resources thin trying to follow every trend that emerges. Choose what works best for your employees and clientele and incorporate it into your skillset.
2. Choosing The Wrong Content Provider
A common eLearning pitfall that many businesses fail to avoid is choosing the wrong outsourcing partner. It’s true that the great numbers of content providers make it hard to find the best for your training needs. However, a suitable vendor, who has many (if not all) of the courses you need in their library, is crucial for the training of your employees. An experienced content provider can help you provide high-quality training courses that will expand your staff’s knowledge base. As a result, you’ll boost your company’s productivity and efficiency.
3. Failing To Recognize Your Company’s Training Needs
Learners outside of your company are not the only ones who can benefit from an effective training program. Your employees also have training needs and knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. Working on the same things every year or waiting for errors to arise before you take action is going to negatively impact your company’s ROI. Leave this eLearning pitfall behind by making it your goal to frequently assess your knowledge base for gaps and new skills that have become necessary for the progress of your employees. Once you have all that information, you can create a comprehensive training plan that will target all problem areas.
4. Learning For The Wrong Reasons
Learning new skills is meant to add value to your work and streamline processes. But what happens when your employees are only interested in acquiring new eLearning skills only to gain a bargaining chip for a promotion? Unfortunately, learning for the wrong reasons is an eLearning pitfall many must face. Solve this problem in the new year by offering training courses that are genuinely interesting for your employees. As long as these courses directly correlate to their roles and the challenges they face daily, they will be motivated to complete them and practice their new knowledge in real life.
5. Allowing Work From Home To Limit Learning Opportunities
We’re all aware that we now live in the era of the hybrid workplace as well as the changes this has brought to our lives. Even though there are a lot of advantages to this flexible style of work, there is also a great drawback. Many employees feel that they are missing out on Learning and Development opportunities. Don’t let WFH stop you from giving your employees all the training you would if they were in the office. Fortunately, most courses can be completed online on your employee’s laptop or smartphone, thus allowing you to monitor their progress and completion rates.
6. Relying On Past Success
The final thing you need to remember to avoid eLearning pitfalls is that change is necessary moving into the future. The techniques and strategies you have been using so far won't necessarily yield the same results in the future. Circumstances and needs change, and you must always be on the lookout for new methods that will bring in the desired outcomes for your organization. For example, software that was very helpful for you in the past might not be enough to cover your organization’s increased clientele. Staying flexible and open-minded is the only way to not lose your momentum in a world that is constantly transforming.
Conclusion
Being successful in the ever-changing eLearning world is getting increasingly difficult, especially when businesses insist on making the same mistakes. Falling behind on trends, being rigid, choosing the wrong partners, or learning for the wrong reasons are some of the things you need to steer clear from this year. Hopefully, this article helps you recognize and avoid these eLearning pitfalls so that you can have a productive new year.
