Is E-learning Right for Your Business?

If you’re trying to get past the hype surrounding e-learning in order to work out if it’ll deliver the business change you need, try answering these questions to see if it makes sense for your firm.

1. Do you want to shrink your training budget in order to optimise spend on staff development ready for the end of the recession?

• Yeah, OK, obvious question, who wouldn't! But, here’s the thing, e-learning can pay dividends for SME's and multi-million pound corporations alike. Think about it: no trainer fees; no trainee travel costs as fuel prices rocket; no facilities to find; no overtime to pay. Guess what that’ll do to your ROI on training! West Middlesex University Hospital don’t need to guess they know; the hospital used e-learning to deliver a cost-effective and comprehensive training programme.

2. Would you like training that has a scalable and extensive reach?

• E-learning has made this a reality for today’s businesses. Whether you’ve got three or 3,000 staff on different shifts, in different countries and with different learning needs, you can train them all. Take these two companies: COLT, a leading European provider of business communications, rolled out PRINCE2, ITIL, MSP and PPS training across its entire organisation; international drilling contractor KCA DEUTAG delivered project management training across 22 countries.

3. Are you looking for training that doesn’t have a negative impact on employee productivity?

• No kidding! Staff stuck in a classroom are obviously not earning their keep. With e-learning, on the other hand, staff training can be scheduled at low-impact times. Credit risk insurance firm, Atradius, said that e-learning gave busy staff the flexibility to learn when it suited them. And since good learning enhances employees’ skillset it has a positive impact on overall productivity. That’s what’s called a win-win!

4. Is it important for you to up-skill or re-skill staff quickly to take advantage of coming economic growth?

• When you want to implement changes fast the flexibility, portability and usability of e-learning can increase key employees’ speed to competency. Wondering how? Well, instead of yawing in front of a talking head, for example, staff enjoy a rich learning experience involving everything from games and downloads to mobile and virtual classroom learning. That was certainly what sold it to Police Mutual, the UK’s largest affinity friendly society

5. Do you need employees to acquire an extensive volume of complex skills and knowledge?

• E-learning can bring a significant increase in the amount of learning that’s delivered. Because learning isn’t bound by physical or logistical limitations, for instance, you can train more employees at the same time and you can train them faster. Some household names like Boots have made the process even easier for themselves by calling in ILX Connect. This service will do things like design your e-learning programme, assist with internal marketing, support learners and your company, and organise exams.

6. Ever wonder about the quality of training your employees receive behind closed doors?

• Wonder no more. For with e-learning, you can be sure that time and again your staff are getting the same content, presented the same way and to the same standard. Moreover, if you choose a good training provider you can count on courses being added to and updated to reflect latest best practice.

7. Is it important for you to keep track of how well trainees are progressing?

• We thought so. E-learning will do it for you. It generates all kinds of records and metrics so you can impartially monitor, measure, and analyse every candidate’s development, and therefore the quality of the training, whenever you like.

8. Would you like employees to learn in a collaborative way?

• If your picture of an e-learner is of some bleary-eyed figure hunched over a computer, you couldn’t be more wrong. Nowadays, blogs, tutors, forums, Twitter and Facebook ensure that employees don’t just connect with a classroom of colleagues but with a network of experts in and outside their company.

9. Do you need to keep key employees motivated?

• Training is a great way to retain staff, but it can also be a huge drain on resources, unless you use e-learning, of course – you knew that was coming! Joking aside, that’s where the smart training money is because companies know it allows them to up-skill more people for less.

10. Do you want to promote inclusiveness in your company?

• At a time when we’re all more conscious of our legal responsibilities, e-learning can create equal opportunities for all. People can learn without having to travel; they can learn in their own way; they can ask tutors questions without worrying what others think; they are not affected by cultural differences.

Useful links:

• For a comprehensive view of what world-class e-learning looks like head to ILX.
• E-learning is now an integral part of training for Australian businesses and the vocational education and training sector as a 2010 benchmarking survey demonstrates.
• For resources and downloads go to the ILX Downloads page.
• Don’t take our word for it on the ROI on training check it out for yourself!
• The Office of Government Commerce website offers a serious and authoritative view on PRINCE2 and APMG tells you where to find accredited training. Another good source of information is the APM which aims to advance the science of project management.
• ILX Connect takes companies by the hand through the process of implementing e-learning.