How to become a training organisation with blended learning

According to a report published on Statista in 2021, digital learning is set to become one of the most important ways that people in the UK teach and learn new skills in the 2020s, with the pandemic having acted as a catalyst for the sector’s growth.

The e-learning market in the UK is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 15% between 2020 and 2025, with companies moving away from purely in-person training and leveraging digital technology to combine the two as part of blended learning approaches to training.

The benefits of blended learning courses for learners speak for themselves. Not only do they make training courses more effective, but they can fit around learners’ schedules and alleviate the isolation that comes with e-learning.

They also offer great benefits for organisations, which can produce their own tailored digital content and ensure that employees get exactly the right training for the job. And with the variety of cutting-edge solutions currently available on the market, there has never been a better time to become a training organisation.

What is a training organisation? 

A training organisation implements processes and practices to improve individual skills. Viewed as a whole, all of these individual skills add up to make your structure more agile in the face of change. The aim is to develop an overarching culture which instils the same dynamic and determination to improve across the whole company.

How? By drawing on the internal expertise your organisation already has and encouraging employees to share what they know. The idea is that all members of a company can learn from one another. Each person can acquire the skills they need which, in turn, will benefit the organisation as a whole. Developing individual skills is therefore just as important as fostering collaboration.

Where does blended learning come in?

How becoming a training organisation can make you more productive and competitive

Professional training plays a vital role in company life. And according to a study by Dell Technologies, 54% of people will absorb and manage information in completely different ways in 2030, while 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet. In a context where practices and jobs are evolving at breakneck speed, leaders are unsure about what this shift means for them. In fact, 61% are struggling with a skills gap, lack of employee buy-in and a workforce culture that is resistant to change.

As a result, companies are “battling it out” to attract the best candidates. Many are worried that attracting new talent will present an enormous challenge in this increasingly competitive environment. To stand out and attract these candidates, organisations need to develop a learning culture. That’s because the number one factor that leads employees to look for another job is that they don’t have the opportunity to learn and develop within their existing organisation. Unsurprisingly, the highest performing organisations are three times more likely to have a strong learning culture.

The main principles of a learning culture

What do we mean by learning culture? Learning culture is closely linked to the idea of a learning organisation: one can’t exist without the other.

Having a learning culture means:

• identifying existing expertise within your organisation;
  
• developing collective intelligence and learning, based on feedback and good practice;
  
• organising and structuring your training plans – for example, by creating teaching roadmaps;
  
• engaging in a reflexive approach, with a view to linking skills and tasks to specific objectives. This is about implementing teaching theory in practice by reflecting on the training you’re offering and how you can continuously improve it;
  
• establishing a company-wide culture, by tying each business objective to an accessible solution and a willingness to play one’s part;
  
• tracking individual trainees with a view to strengthening engagement.
  

Instilling a learning culture

Building a learning culture is arguably essential to confront future challenges. How can this be achieved? Here are six actions that you can take:

• promote learning by bringing together a range of incentives for trainees;
  
• offer learners autonomy and make training participants aware of their responsibilities;
  
• identify existing expertise within your organisation, tap into it and pass it on to other employees;
  
• train your trainers;
• engage learners by distributing teaching resources that are high-quality, varied and attractive, both in terms of their form and content;
  
• showcase the skills acquired and ensure that training initiatives have a tangible impact on strengthening the skills of employees and contributing to their professional development.

How to become a training organisation with blended learning

The pandemic has accelerated the transformation of the professional world. While most people used to work primarily from the office, many are now combining in-person and remote working. This hybrid model is here to stay. As a result, HR services are being forced to adapt, both in terms of how the organisation operates and how training is delivered.

When it comes to training, blended learning intuitively adapts to any challenges that arise. Based on a hybrid model (combining in-person sessions with online training initiatives), this training model responds to the changing needs of employees, who want to see more flexible, interactive and personalised training. In short, their training needs have rapidly evolved and will continue to do so.

That’s why having a flexible and personalised learning solution, such as Rise Up, is a must. Among its range of benefits, it enables you to ensure:

• a balance between personalised, autonomous learning and a collaborative approach, with group work and knowledge sharing based on peer-to-peer exchanges;
  
• a dynamic learning programme which draws on several different teaching formats;
  
• adaptive learning, with training tailored to trainees’ jobs or profiles, as well as the skills they have acquired or want to acquire.
  
  
  

The upshot is that these tools, underpinned by high-performing and robust technology, are becoming smarter and are providing organisations with a more centralised and transparent training process. Only an all-in-one, adaptive LMS platform is capable of addressing the latest challenges in professional training.

Download our expert guide: 'learning in the flow of work' and discover how your learners can access learning as they work without disruption to improve employee performance.