Over the last several years, e-learning has blown up to new levels. Thanks to the internet and mobile device growth, more and more people can pursue education at their pace today. The shift from conventional in-class learning to digital is important in the educational sector.
eLearning has risen to the occasion to fill this demand. More companies are turning to eLearning to increase their business efficiency and productivity today. In the ever-changing world, it is essential to ensure the employees have access to up-to-date information and knowledge to ensure they are successful at their job functions and are equipped with modern skills.
What Is eLearning?
In simple terms, eLearning is a formalized teaching system that uses electronic resources like online learning platforms, mobile applications, and webinar tools to deliver instructions over the internet. The use of computers, mobile devices, and the internet are essential components of this form of learning that allows teaching to happen out of the classroom. eLearning wasn’t wholeheartedly accepted because it was assumed to be lacking the human element. However, this mode of learning is becoming more embraced nowadays.
Growth of eLearning
By the end of 2022, the eLearning market is expected to grow by about $240 billion globally, while by 2025 it’s forecasted to hit over $320 billion.
This doesn’t come as a surprise due to eLearning’s rapid growth in the last few years and moreover, COVID-19 has quickened this pace. In 2016, eLearning and digital education had an entire value of $46 billion. The sector has had an increase of over 900% from 2000. This growth can be attributed to the development of the industry and the fact that technological advancements continue improving. The other factor contributing to this high growth is the rate at which learners can complete the courses. One can complete an eLearning course about 60% faster than in-person courses. The in-person classes are tiring and long, making them, in some ways, less desirable.
eLearning is also a tool of choice for imparting knowledge and skills to employees. For instance, in 2017, up to 77% of the companies used eLearning in training their employees. This resulted in companies consolidating training and cutting training times. Today, 40% of the leading Fortune 500 companies use eLearning and recognize its effectiveness. Further, more companies today plan on adopting online learning.
So, what are the benefits of applying eLearning solutions into employee training for businesses?
Benefits of eLearning in the Workplace
Saves Your Company Money
From the onset, eLearning is cost-effective for both the employee audience and the company. First, the employer doesn’t need to hire trainers; they only need to subscribe to a course and invite the employees to log in and learn at their pace. Hence, the employer doesn’t have to pay the instructor a weekly or monthly salary. Additionally, the company doesn’t have to incur costs related to travel, training rooms, materials, and catering. The employees can follow the course in the comfort of their home or office after work hours.
The employees also won’t incur commute costs and waste time traveling to a venue for learning. They only need a smartphone or a computer with a decent internet connection to complete the training or course. According to the Training magazine report, you could save about 80% on printing costs when adopting eLearning. By switching to this mode of learning, companies have saved a lot.
Though it might seem like a costly investment for the first glance, many companies prefer custom elearning software and platforms developed from scratch for their enterprise or business needs.
So, cost-saving is among the largest and clearest benefits of eLearning for employees. Other benefits of custom learning include the following.
Supports Future Innovation and Direction of the Company
Custom learning points to a company’s futuristic innovation direction where an in-depth design is put to learners to control their learning experience. For instance, if a company plans to move towards AI-driven production, it might design a custom course.
Improves Productivity and Staff Performance
Ambitious team members always want and plan to develop/further their professional skills. However, the traditional venue/classroom-based training consumes a lot of time. The staff has to take extended periods off their daily duties. They might have to travel a considerable distance to attend the in-person training.
On the other hand, eLearning takes considerably less time to set up for the training providers, staff, and employees. Hence, a person can enroll in an online course and begin learning immediately. The learners can be involved or participate in training from any location, be it their workplace or home. They don’t have to take time off work. Learning this way has less impact on the workflows and routines that encourage the employees and promote long-term productivity.
In fact, according to the American Heart Association, eLearning training improves employees’ productivity by about 15%-25%.
When the employees understand what they are expected to do, they can perform well and finish tasks efficiently and effectively. eLearning training makes them aware of the processes and procedures, new skills, and knowledge that all together enhance employee productivity. Hence, companies using eLearning can see an increase in the company revenue.
Better Employee Engagement in Work
The other benefit of eLearning is improving employee engagement. Training the employees gives them morale and courage to approach procedures or processes confidently. With videos, gamification, and any other interactive content, employee engagements are highly increased along with the retention of vital information.
This is specifically true for concise, specific topics like new compliance procedures, software training, and reference guides the employees can access as they go. According to research by Papers Owl, eLearning was found to increase the engagement in work among employees by about 18%. The trend is a clear indicator that eLearning is great for employee morale. This is because the employees who partake in eLearning become more engaged than those who don’t.
It Boosts Skills Over Different Topics
By completing a training course online, the employees will have the necessary skills to stay updated or have the relevant skills in the industry. It can be challenging to find an appropriate one for your industry or locality when looking for in-person courses. On the other hand, there are many courses to select from in e-Learning. With e-learning, the employees can remotely join the session without traveling to a central venue or having to deal with other inconveniences.
There aren’t geographical barriers to worry about with eLearning for employees. Besides taking up or learning different skills or topics, the employee could also enroll in a certification exam after they complete the course. This can help them boost their career prospects.
Reduces Learning Time
Switching to eLearning can save you a lot of time. eLearning reduces the learning time of an employee by about 60% more than traditional learning. It can save you time associated with travels, meals, and breaks, starting sessions and wrapping them up by teaching a group instead of an individual. That time can be invested into another productive thing.
Collaboration and Community Building
Learning should always be a social exercise, although it at times might be lonely. The employees often learn a lot by interacting with their peers rather than reading books. Bringing the employees together might result in discussions and debates, leading to innovations. eLearning shouldn’t be a personal journey. The engagements with the other employees enhance team culture and collaboration.
Better Employee Retention
Since the learning is more interactive, employees can interact with one another. The opportunity for learning and skill development is among the leading reasons why employees might prefer to work at your organization. You can boost retention and your odds of hiring the best talent by offering helpful and open solutions for personal development.
Scalability of Education
With eLearning, content is produced once and can reach the masses without extra cost. Since eLearning can reach all your employees, it helps you onboard the employees faster, meet compliance regulations quickly, and increase performance and productivity at scale. You can personalize or tailor eLearning, especially if it’s a custom solution, to target individual roles and needs on a large scale.
Fits the Flexible Lifestyles of Your Employees
Most employees want workplace solutions that will meet their current lifestyles. Hence, providing training that can be accessed at the convenience of the employees might be the key to boosting their morale. eLearning offers that level of flexibility to your employees.
Provides Your Managers, And Employees, with Timely Feedback
It could take the management a considerable amount of time to grade the employee papers and provide feedback. The employees have to often wait for the input needed to complete their jobs effectively. With eLearning, the employees get real-time feedback. Since everything is connected over the internet, the management can also get updated analyses on the employees’ course performance and progress.
It’s Measurable/Fixable
Learning analytics are available in almost every modern eLearning tool. This allows the digital learning solutions to help you see the performance of your learning projects. The eLearning initiatives help track engagements, drop-off points, devices used, and user comments. Besides providing you with handy statistics that you can share with your stakeholders, your team also tweaks the horn and fixes the learning solution to ensure it meets the targets.
Ensures Training Standard and Consistency
Upon investing in an eLearning course, you are sure that all the employees will get similar high-quality training, regardless of their location. Although an instructor’s presence can create a dynamic environment for learning, not all trainers focus on the same materials or offer a similar level of care. eLearning ensures the employees get the same training.
Wrapping Up
eLearning has a lot of benefits, both to the employees and even the employer. Hence, any company should include it to improve employee skills. However, since the instructional requirements differ from business to business, it is beneficial for a company to have its custom eLearning platform. This will ensure that the instructions provided are specific to its processes and are tailored to the business’ needs. Remember, one of the reasons the employees might choose to stay at your company is the fact that you give them a chance to learn and develop their skills, and a custom eLearning solution goes a long way towards ensuring that.
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