10 Reasons to Offer Employee Training Online
Online learning is now a billion-dollar industry. From students to hobby enthusiasts, training online has benefits for many different people. Offering online training for your employees can benefit your business, too.
In today’s digitized, global economy, work looks different than it once did. Hours are more flexible now, and many jobs can be done remotely.
You might no longer need your employees to come into the office for every aspect of the job. You don’t need them physically present for training, either.
From saving money to adding convenience, there are many benefits to offering employee training online. Let’s take a look at the top 10 reasons to start online training for your business – read on to learn more!
1. Helps Build Knowledge and Skills
The first and most important goal of employee training online is to help them build up knowledge and skills that will improve their ability to do the job.
This goes both for new employees and those who have been there a long time. For new employees, online training is a great way to make sure they are all getting the same knowledge. It allows you to train them no matter where they are or when they are available.
For older employees, online training is a great way to make sure they keep up to date as the job changes. If you implement new software or different customer service techniques, online courses can get everyone on the same page.
It’s also a good idea to make sure employees take regular refresher courses to refresh their knowledge from time to time.
2. Boosts Job Satisfaction
When your employees have access to online training, they’ll feel more confident about their ability to do the job. This helps increase job satisfaction across the board.
Your employees will know that you care about them enough to make important knowledge readily available. This can help keep them happy at their job, increasing employee retention rates.
Having better retention rates saves your business money since you won’t have to find and train new employees as often. An online training program is an inexpensive way to make sure your current employees stay interested and happy.
3. Pinpoints Strengths and Weaknesses
Often, it takes a long time on the job for an employee’s strengths and weaknesses to become apparent.
Online training speeds up this process, so you can quickly see what each employee is really capable of.
This is a great way to catch weaknesses and work on them before they become a problem. You can also put each employees’ strengths to work faster because how they perform in online training will highlight these things before they start working in earnest.
4. Keeps Everyone Up to Date
As your business grows and changes, there will always be new information for employees to learn. Online training helps make sure that everyone stays in the loop.
If there’s a new product launch coming up, offer an online course about its features. Maybe your company is unveiling a new app or logo design. No matter what it is, your employees will appreciate feeling like they’ve been kept in the loop.
5. Can Be Fun
There are many ways to make training online fun for your employees.
Try making a game out of the training. Offer rewards for completing courses, such as points or a leaderboard. Bring out the competitive spirit in your workers to keep them invested.
6. Gives an Opportunity for Feedback
It’s important for workers to feel like they can give feedback and be heard.
Online training can offer a great avenue for feedback. Employees may feel more comfortable communicating online than walking into an office. This allows your remote employees to add their voices to the conversation, too.
Try offering an online survey to gauge how your employees feel about the online training and the job overall. You’ll boost employee retention and gain valuable feedback from your workers.
7. Boosts Camaraderie
For remote workers, workplace friendships can feel like a thing of the past. Even for employees who do the job in person, having an online venue to bond with coworkers can be a great thing.
Allow your workers to chat with each other online. Offer a social media group or a Slack channel along with the online courses.
Job satisfaction will be higher when people can connect with each other. Employees can also learn from each other when they have an opportunity to ask questions of their coworkers.
8. Can be Personalized
Online training is a great way to offer personalized feedback and resources for your employees.
Offer courses that focus on people’s individual needs and goals. Let them choose some “elective” courses in addition to the mandatory ones.
Make sure to offer unique courses for different jobs or departments within the company. Although some courses should be taken by all employees, a “one-size-fits-all” approach actually isn’t ideal for online training.
9. Makes Learning Mobile
The best online training courses are mobile-friendly, so they can be accessed on tablets and smartphones as well as laptops.
If an employee can access your online training software while on a long train ride, or while on a working vacation, they’ll get them done faster. Employees appreciate the convenience, and mobile-optimized courses are a great way to keep learning within their reach.
10. Encourages Collaboration
The more the online training mimics the real job, the better employees will be able to perform. If group work is part of the job, make sure that it’s part of the training too.
Group training helps your workers think collaboratively. Encourage group work and problem-solving in your courses. This is a great idea for employees who will be working together on projects in the future.
Start Training Online Now
Employee training online is an essential part of running a successful modern business.
Whether your employees are remote, or in the office every week, online training is a great way to keep everyone on the same page while increasing job satisfaction.
If you haven’t tried online training for your employees yet, it’s time to make this a part of your training program. Want to learn more about how to write a great online course? Check out these tips to get started.