4 Benefits Of Ongoing Online Training We Usually Forget About
It’s important to understand that online training doesn’t end after the onboarding process. Training should be incorporated into the workflow; an ongoing process that supports workers at each stage of their employment.
So, what are the benefits of ongoing online training that continues beyond the employees' first few weeks with the company?
1. Higher Engagement And Job Satisfaction
Online training gives employees the opportunity to take control of their own learning as and when they need it. Self-directed learning is far more engaging because people can apply the information straight away and put it into practice.
By offering a permanent learning platform beyond just the onboarding stage, you are giving your employees the support and resources they need to succeed within your organization. Your training goals shouldn’t just focus on getting them onboard, it should focus on a long-term career pathway for your people, and how they can continue to develop.
People want to grow within their organization and feel like they have the tools to do so. A major setback with traditional learning approaches such as classroom training is that it limits the ability for people to grow and learn when they need to. Classroom courses are time-consuming and often viewed negatively because they take employees away from their workflow in order to ‘learn’. Ongoing online training tackles problems when they arise, rather than taking people away from their desk. Digital resources supply quick answers exactly when employees need them the most.
By providing solutions that help employees to do their jobs better, you will find they are more likely to engage with your learning and return to it because they have confidence that they can succeed. This confidence produces benefits such as improved morale, lower turnover rates, and better performing staff.
2. More Productive And Knowledgeable Employees
Knowledge retention is an issue many L&D teams struggle with. But is this really a surprise, when so much focus has been given to piling content on workers or running courses and expecting workers to remember everything?
Digital resources offer a permanent learning base that can be accessed anytime, anywhere, supporting people when they need it the most; at their point-of-need. Having online resources that are available 24/7 also allow for ‘learning’ to happen much more quickly, meaning fast learners are much more likely to become productive quicker, saving the need to organize multiple classroom sessions.
With digital resources, you can quickly update content to align with your organization’s goals and procedures.
Resources also help you to gather feedback about what is or isn’t working. You can use analytics to determine where workers are having issues or what resources are helping the most with productivity to ensure your training materials are really supporting your staff.
3. Cost-Effective For The Organization
Traditional learning approaches, such as classroom-based training or courses are costly. Ongoing online training eliminates the need for paperwork, travel costs, classroom rental etc. It brings learning to where the workers are, and eliminates the need for additional costs.
Classroom training is time-limited and therefore can impact the performance of your workers and how productive they will be within the workspace. Online training gives people immediate access to the information they require, so your training costs will be used in a far more effective way, by getting your workers trained quicker and without leaving the workflow.
Did you know that up to 20% of turnover happens within the first 45 days of employment [1]? The costs of finding, hiring, onboarding, and training new employees are expensive, so it’s important to make sure you’re supporting them in the best way possible, and this means putting a long-term learning strategy in place that goes beyond just the onboarding stage.
4. Supports Both Businesses And Workers In The Long Run
The great thing about online training is that once your resources have been created, they’re always going to be there. You don’t need to spend loads of time re-creating the same topics or having to start from scratch when a policy or procedure changes. Digital resources can be easily updated, so you have the confidence of knowing that you are always giving your workers the correct information and that they have access to this straight away.
The knowledge of your employees will increase the longer they’ve been with your organization, so really utilize this, and support the rest of your staff by making this knowledge accessible. Connect your workers using digital resources to share their expertise, and develop valuable professional relationships. This isn’t a process that should just be considered during a new hire’s first few weeks within the company; you should be looking to consistently connect your people to create a culture of sharing.
By providing ongoing online training, you are able to quickly identify any issues or productivity gaps. This supports both the business and your people by being able to see what is or isn’t working and how to best support your staff moving forward. Using feedback and analytics also helps you to address any productivity concerns, so your business can continue to move forward, and you have the confidence of knowing your staff are developing the right set of skills.
Remember, if your employees are utilizing your training materials they are far more likely to become more productive quicker, which in turn will help them to do their jobs better.
To sum up, ongoing online training is not just beneficial for your employees, but also for your organization. Don’t make the mistake of only training people in their first few days. By incorporating learning into the workflow and supporting your employees through every stage of their career with the company, you’ll find not only is your business continuously moving forward, but you’ll have a far more productive and successful workforce too.
References:
