eLearning is convenient and highly engaging. But did you ever consider that implementing eLearning might positively affect your bottom line? Here’s how.
1 – Onboard New Employees More Efficiently
The onboarding and orientation process for new hires can consume quite a bit of time for new employees, hiring managers, HR staff, administrative staff and the senior employees selected to serve as trainers. Incorporating eLearning can help cut down on the time and cost of bringing your new employees up to speed.
Let’s consider how training topics are currently covered for all new employees. Do new employees meet one-on-one with a trainer, mentor, supervisor or co-worker? If so, is a one-on-one meeting absolutely necessary? For hands-on training, certainly! But what about communicating information like company policies? Topics that can be presented in a video or handbook can be made available in an eLearning format. The materials will only need to be created once, and the new employee can access the materials as needed.
A trainer, mentor, or supervisor still serves as a guide, but everyone’s time is better managed when the supervisor’s role is to clarify questions, rather than to present standard information.
2 – Minimize Lost Production Time
Mandatory training that is critical to the job often pulls workers off the floor. Employees may be required to take annual training on safety, legal or HR policy topics. To minimize the time spent in training, consider offering some mandatory training as eLearning. This will allow employees to access the training at any time during a specified window that your company may dictate.
You will no longer need to close down operations for scheduled seated training. Instead, you can allow employees to rotate, one at a time, through online training, or provide after-hours compensation for training outside of normal shift hours.
3 – Reduce Safety Costs
Once created, eLearning materials can be made available online 24/7, giving your employees access to training anytime. Employees can potentially find answers to policy questions, safety guidelines and requirements, standard operating procedures, and even equipment troubleshooting guides when they need them.
A worker with access to safety training has an additional resource for preventing workplace incidents and injuries, which can set your company back on time and costs. A quick check of a hazards training on a mobile device, for example, could help a worker identify needed safety equipment before transporting hazardous materials.
Simply providing access to training in a just in time or 24/7 eLearning format, is a step toward reducing safety-related costs.
Customize eLearning Experiences for your Company
eLearning experiences can also be customized to target the specific needs of your company and employees.
Are there unique processes that your employees follow? An eLearning training module can be developed to guide them through these processes. eLearning modules can even provide simulations for real world applications and equipment.
Would you like to share information about your company with new employees and potential applicants? A video introduction can be recorded and shared online. Or, even an interactive video tour could be created.
Do you need to track completion of training? Certificates and automated email can be set up in an eLearning environment. And, if used in a learning management system, you can track who has started training, completed training, and any training scores if scores are in use.
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Katherine Bennett leads the Instructional Design team for NC State IES. She also serves as project manager for instructional design services. Katherine plays a key leadership role in supporting the IES goal of providing instructional design and development expertise that complements the field-specific expertise of IES partners, while meeting the learning needs of target audiences. Katherine holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a master’s degree in Instructional Technology from East Carolina University.
