But the future success of your company depends on skills that are critical in the post dot-com era. The business environment has changed and the competencies your employees need now include critical thinking and problem solving, communication, and project management. It’s becoming increasingly important to provide employees with next-generation skills.
Beyond that, employees will need to be able to collaborate (including virtual collaboration) and have a creative mindset that helps them come up with new ideas and solutions. If you’re considering furthering your investment in training, whether to cover technical knowledge or soft skills, eLearning software is a great place to start.
It can be tempting to run training programs via dry erase board and PowerPoint, but a centralized system provides many clear advantages.
In some cases, these systems will be part of a larger suite, integrated with performance management and employee engagement software: in other cases, they will come as standalone curriculum tools.
How do you know when it’s time to make a purchase? Here are five signs to look for:
1. Need for Diversification of Skills and Succession Planning
When many employees are multitalented, your company has more experts in each subject area. This increase in employee value gives them the opportunity to perform a variety of roles in the organization and more easily transition (upward or laterally) when the time comes.
Giving your employees the necessary training to fill needs means you will always have capable talent ready to take the reins.
2. High Cost of Attrition and Recruitment
Often, when employees don’t see advancement opportunities, they look for their next career move outside of your organization. When you invest in training and developing your teams, you provide a clear path to career advancement within your company.
Employees who have the opportunity to continue learning and growing tend to stay where they are, which reduces your attrition rates and recruitment costs.
3. Poor Operational Efficiency
A lack of training can make it difficult for the various teams and departments in your organization to communicate and work on projects. They’ll disagree about policies and processes and have a hard time sharing resources. Using an eLearning solution to get all of your employees on the same page is critical to maintaining consistency.
Helping to make workflows consistent will lead to higher productivity, which also leads to a happier workforce, since your employees are better able to perform their duties, assist their colleagues, and meet goals.
4. Classroom Training is Costly and Time-Consuming
Traditional corporate training can be expensive and time-consuming. Incorporating eLearning software into your training environment eliminates the need for so many trainers and allows employees to undergo training from their own computer, rather than gather in a training or conference room.
Additionally, they gain immediate access to content, can learn at their own pace, and don’t need to attend training sessions together. This eliminates the inconvenience of having an entire team or department unavailable at the same time.
5. You Need to Stand Out from Competitors
If you’re looking for a competitive advantage, you need a way to exceed industry standards, especially in saturated markets where each product is very similar to the next.
Using eLearning software means that your employees will have immediate access to training on the most recent developments and updates. Giving them the latest skills training improves their competence and performance, which in turn builds your reputation among customers and buyers.
Your employees are your greatest asset, and their training and development should be one of the most important areas you invest in. eLearning software will give your team the skills they need and the ability to learn at their own convenience.
Training that provides necessary skills for the business environment of today and tomorrow is critical to the success of your company. As you research and compare eLearning providers, make sure you prioritize not only your budget, but also the needs of your team and the quality of the software itself.
Decide which programs and certifications are important to the health of your organization, and make sure the software provider supports these — either through their library of courses, or through custom course development. The vendor you choose should also have a strong track record of success and a reliable customer support team.
About the author: Jessica Barrett Halcom is a writer for TechnologyAdvice.com, with specializations in human resources, healthcare, and transportation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay and currently lives in Nashville, TN.
