Benefits Of Online Training For Employees

While you generally look at an employee’s existing skills and credentials during the onboarding process, industry trends change. Perhaps your expectations of the employee also develop over time, which could yield a need for additional skills among certain employees. While it is possible to send the employee to a local training center to obtain the necessary skills, this strategy can disrupt your business.

This is where online training comes into the picture. With online learning programs, your employees can continue their regular working schedule while still having the ability to obtain new skills or improve an existing skill. In this article, we will take a closer look at the potential benefits that an online training program offers employees. This will help you understand whether a subscription to an online training platform is suitable for your business.

How Does An Online Training Course Work?

Traditional training programs require an employee to visit a specific site or have the course providers visit your business. During these sessions, the employee cannot perform their job duties, as they will focus on the course content provided in a physical setting.

While this type of strategy works in many cases, employers often find that turning to an online course offers a greater deal of benefits. Online training has advanced significantly over the past few years. Many employees would also prefer online courses over going to a training center – which costs them fuel and takes away from the time they have to spend on work or with family.

Before you use online learning to help employees develop essential skills, however, you should know how these programs work.

Online learning generally involves course content that the employee can access on a computer or smartphone. The specific platform you choose will play a significant role in how the online training course works. In most cases, the employee gets credentials to sign into their profile. Once they sign in, they get access to the online training materials dedicated to the specific course they are taking. They can then learn at their own pace and complete online assessments once they are ready. Some online training programs award a certificate by the end of the course. This certificate can be printed, which helps employees feel more confident in the learning program they have completed.

Why Choose Online Training Programs For Employees?

The rise of the internet has created a digital-first world. Even physical businesses now ensure they have a digital presence to ensure people can find them on the internet. The widespread availability of internet access also makes it easy to access content – including online learning materials and resources to develop new skills.

Choosing online training for your employees ensures it does not interfere with their ability to perform their daily duties. This ensures your employees can remain productive while they are working on skill development at the same time. You allow your employees to study at a pace that suits them – which often occurs at home when they get off work.

There are many types of online learning options that you have access to as well. Often, employers find a greater variety of online training options than what is available at local learning centers. You can easily allow your employees access to courses on project management, communication skills, and even their soft skills through e-learning courses.

Furthermore, many companies choose online training because it saves them money, so this is a great way to ensure proper cash flow management while still investing in the training and development of your employees. You will need to pay a larger fee for the entire course when you use a traditional learning setup. This is because the learning center you opt for needs to pay rental fees and a salary toward the course presenters. This is one of the many advantages that online learning offers. There is a fixed fee associated with the course and no additional costs due to paying someone to visit your workplace or renting an educational center where employees need to attend the training.

The Benefits Of Online Training For Employees

Employees can access significant benefits when they are provided access to online training. Apart from the fact that the employee does not need to relocate and it makes balancing their work and personal life more manageable, several other advantages specifically affect the employee if you offer an online training option.

In this section, we will look closely at the greatest benefits that online training can offer employees.

Safe And Comfortable Learning Environment

The environment someone studies in have an enormous impact on their performance. Many people do not realize this, but when they are in a comfortable and safe environment, they may feel more confident with their course. One study explains that the environment also affects the motivation among students and how well they do in the achievements they accomplish.

Students may sometimes feel nervous when they need to visit a learning center where they have never been before. The employee’s learning time is also restricted based on the duration of each lesson, so that they may feel pressured.

With online learning options, this is not an obstacle that you have to worry about. Employees can choose their environment to develop an area where they feel safe and can concentrate fully on the knowledge provided in the course content.

This can help boost performance and ensure the employee performs better when completing an online assessment to test their skills and knowledge.

Keep Up To Date With Industry Trends

Trends in all industries consistently changed. Something that used to be trending a year ago may no longer be considered relevant. The inability to keep up with trends can set your business back and give the competition a chance to rise to the top.

This is another area where online training comes into play. When you allow your employees to take online courses that focus on industry trends regularly, you can ensure you keep your business relevant at all times. Relevancy is essential in the modern day.

When employees are educated on the latest trends, they know what to look out for and can identify new opportunities that can help to drive your business forward. Thus, this is a mutually beneficial factor – as the employee gains the ability to identify opportunities, which in turn can have a significant positive impact on your business.

Continuous Skill Development

Just because an employee has an existing skill does not mean they are completely efficient. Continuous skill development can help your employees constantly improve the range of skills they already possess.

When your employees improve their skills, they can improve their jobs and roles in your business. For example, an accountant could be asked to complete a course that discusses switching from a physical to a digital accounting system. This can help your business adopt cloud accounting technology, making your finances more efficient.

The same employee can later take a course explaining how several accounting aspects can be automated effectively. Once they have these skills, they can implement the relevant strategies in the business – thus freeing up more time for themselves. The time they save through automation systems can then be spent on other areas to help boost the business’s productivity.

Another example is when the employee works in marketing and takes a gamification course. The implementation of sales gamification can produce significant benefits for the business you run.

Fits The Employee’s Lifestyle

When an employee needs to visit a physical learning center in the local environment, they need to drive there. This can make them fall behind with the tasks they need to do in the workplace. Additionally, it can be inconvenient for an employee to visit another town or drive to a local learning center daily to access the course content.

The great thing about online training is that employees can easily fit it into their lifestyle. Employees can decide where to study and how long each session will be. This makes the employee feel more comfortable with the course, as it does not disrupt their routine and life.

Lifelong Learning Opportunity

Online training also presents a lifelong learning opportunity. With courses presented at a local center, the materials and content are particular to a particular subject. The program lasts a couple of weeks, and the employee is done with their training.

Many online learning platforms offer a wide variety of courses on each subject. This means the employee is not restricted to just a single course. If you give the employee access to the course library, they can continuously study for as long as they see fit.

After finishing the main course you provided them with, they can look at the other courses available on the platform.

You will find that many of these platforms offer a subscription-based service. This means the employee not only gains access to the main course you want them to complete, but they can easily participate in other courses after finishing.

When you offer your employees access to this system, they will likely feel motivated to complete more courses. Continuous learning ensures the employee gains new skills regularly – which benefits them and the business you run.

How To Implement Online Training Courses For Employees

Implementing online learning in your workplace is easier than many people think. The first step is to consider the new skill you want an employee to obtain. One employee may not require the same skills as other students, so a personalized approach is a good idea. Every individual may also not be at the same level regarding a specific skill – so one may need a more advanced course than the other.

You can start looking at online sites that offer accredited courses when you know what skills the employees need to learn. Carefully assess each platform to ensure the online training they provide focuses on quality content. Look at the different learning styles offered by the platform and the diversity of available courses. Keep in mind costs, too – as employers often want a cost-effective solution, especially with ongoing learning.

You should enquire with the platform if they support employers who want to sign up employees for specific courses. The platform may create a main account for you, then allow you to add “students” underneath your account. This can help you manage the employees who need to take the courses and even keep track of their progress.

If you want to provide your employees with access to multiple courses, consider a subscription-based platform. These platforms charge a fixed monthly fee and then give the user access to all the courses available on the system. This can help diversify the learning options the employee has access to.

Make Learning Fun with Spinify

Online training offers many advantages for businesses that want to expand the skill set of their employees. Even though online education is not provided in a physical setting, it still offers high-quality course content in distance learning. Employees can also take online assessments, similar to traditional training programs, to assess their progress with the online training program.

Spinify’s Gamification Solution turns course completion into a game. Motivate your learners to complete their courses promptly by making it a competition. You could even offer incentives and badges to learners who complete courses to a desired level or in a specified period.
But that doesn’t even scratch the surface of how Spinify can help you motivate your online learners. Book a demo today to find out more and see it in action!