7 Minutes of reading
In a turbulent economic environment, companies that know how to adapt are most likely to survive and thrive. Vital to this is the ability to equip employees with the skills they need in a fast, efficient manner. E-learning has proved a perfect fit for this purpose, in contrast to older forms of training, which are often slow to organise.
E-learning platforms make virtually every aspect of the training process simpler, including content creation, organising face-to-face sessions, follow-ups and admin. Learners, meanwhile, benefit from no longer being tied to a particular time and place, as they can now access educational content anywhere on their laptop or mobile phone.
Still need more convincing? We’ve put together a list of 5 top reasons why your business should adopt an e-learning platform.
Simpler set-up
The first (and perhaps most important) advantage of e-learning platforms is the speed and efficiency with which you can set up training for your entire business. That’s because they bring together all the admin tools you need in one place, saving you precious time.
Your training department isn’t the only team that will benefit—it’s more convenient for your employees, too. Compare the flexibility of e-learning with older ways of doing things: in the past, staff would have had to attend a specific session at a time that may well have been inconvenient. Sometimes they may even have had to travel to another site, adding on costs as well as disrupting the working day.
E-learning platforms have changed everything. It’s now possible for employees to access training content at any time of day (or night!) with no requirement to complete a module at a set time. They’re also able to decide how long they want each session to last. This means they have greater control over their own schedule, and can decide to learn when it suits them best.
Additionally, because e-learning platforms are designed to be intuitive to use without any prior technical knowledge, it’s easy and quick for learners to get to grips with them. The Rise Up interface, for example, makes it simple for users to see the various elements of their training programme, such as the modules included, deadlines, objectives and more.
Yet another point in e-learning’s favour is its scalability. Where in the physical world, class sizes are limited by the space of a room, online classes have no maximum. This makes it a great choice for small and large businesses alike, particularly for those that have adopted remote or hybrid working practices.
Lower costs
Budget is always an important consideration for any business, and it just so happens that another benefit of e-learning is its ability to save you money, particularly if switching from face-to-face. That’s because there’s no need to hire a venue or any equipment, and you can also do away with transportation and accommodation costs.
The initial costs associated with investing in an e-learning platform ultimately pay for themselves over the lifespan of the product. What’s more, off-the-shelf content is typically included, with modules available for a broad range of topics covering both hard and soft skills.
In many cases, you can even start offering a new course without hiring a trainer. If you’re looking to get things up and running quickly, this is a huge advantage.
Employees learn skills more quickly
With e-learning platforms making training content available 24/7, employees are free to take courses when they see fit. This means they can train when they’re in the right headspace and are most receptive to learning new skills—and, in turn, make faster progress.
Employees can also develop their abilities in a step-by-step fashion. For example, they can begin by concentrating on aspects that will be most useful to them on the job. Later, when they have more time, they can go over the module or course again so as to gain a deeper understanding of the topic and to fully absorb the information.
Better yet, e-learning platforms give employees the chance to learn in ways that are tailored to their needs. One topic may be covered using different learning methods—for example, a video, a podcast, a slideshow, etc. By giving users choice, they can decide which is most suitable for their learning style. This is, again, a clear contrast to face-to-face learning, which aims to teach diverse groups with a one-size-fits-all approach.
Thanks to these features, e-learning platforms allow employees to stop wasting time on content that they respond poorly to, and instead focus on the teaching methods that work for them. As such, it helps to speed up the learning process.
Better performance—for employees and businesses alike
As well as the personalisation offered by e-learning platforms, another of their strengths is that they make learning interactive. That’s because, unlike traditional training methods, they place a greater emphasis on communication between employees. This approach, known as social learning, takes its cues from social networking sites, and involves sharing information on online platforms in the same manner as creating a post or a tweet.
Further interactive elements common on e-learning platforms include quizzes, surveys and group work. Each of these helps to boost learners’ commitment to their course, and makes it more likely that they will succeed. That’s because they help to show learners how the knowledge they’re gaining can be applied in practice. As such, it makes the course more effective.
We can see, therefore, that individual employees can perform better as a result of using e-learning platforms. However, they can also make it more likely for companies to achieve their goals.
That’s because e-learning is a much better choice for creating training content that has to deal with a rapidly changing market. It takes just minutes to update your modules to take into account a new development, and you can send them out to your team instantly. With companies able to respond quickly to emerging challenges, it’s little wonder that these platforms can help to improve performance on a company-wide scale.
Better monitoring and analysis
The final advantage we’re going to cover concerns the data gathered by e-learning platforms. Where analysis and monitoring can be an arduous task using traditional training methods, online learning makes things much simpler.
Many platforms instantly generate infographics, which make it easy for admins to visualise employee performance. They can even get a complete breakdown of each statistic, from attendance to results, and go through every one with a fine-tooth comb. This makes it easier than ever to follow up with individual team members.
In short, if your company is looking to digitise your training and improve your performance, then an e-learning platform is something you simply can’t do without. See how Rise Up could work for your business by requesting a demo today.