This blog gives training managers and decision makers in a business all the right reasons to outsource e-learning development.
Right from the smartphone you hold in your hand, to the branded shoes you’re wearing, the possibilities of you owning an outsourced product are endless. For instance, did you know that two of Apple’s most popular products, the iPhone and the iPad are manufactured in China, or that the branded pair of Nike shoes you own were manufactured outside the United States? If outsourcing can be applied to manufacturing, IT, banking and insurance successfully, surely it can work for e-learning as well.
If you are an L&D professional, you are probably already aware of the increasing popularity of e-learning as the medium of choice for employee training and development. If you do not have access to an in-house development team to design and develop e-learning courses, outsourcing is the option to consider. That’s not the only reason to consider outsourcing
e-learning development, there are so many more, and some of them are listed in this blog.
1. Cut Down on E-learning Development Cost
Let’s face the facts. Developing e-learning courses in-house is always more cost-effective than outsourcing. How then can outsourcing e-learning development help a company cut down its cost? A full-fledged in-house e-learning development team might prove to be an overhead cost if you do not have enough work for them. By outsourcing
e-learning, you can choose to maintain a low head count in the internal team or avoid that cost entirely by partnering with an e-learning vendor for all your online training requirements.
2. Gain Access to E-learning Experts
An in-house development team may not always have the expertise to handle different kinds of training requirements that require a broad skill set. For example, an in-house team in a pharmaceutical company may be experts when it comes to product knowledge and can design great training programs that highlight the features of each drug. But, this does not necessarily mean that they are going to be experts at designing pharma sales training programs. They may also not have access to the technology or tools required for e-learning development.
When you go ahead with outsourcing e-learning, you gain access to e-learning experts who have a range of specialized skills that suit your requirements. What’s more? They might be able to provide value additions to your training program, while staying well within the budget.
3. Handle Global Employee Training Requirements
The world has shrunk as most organizations have a geographically diverse workforce. An e-learning program that has worked well for learners in USA might be something you would want to rollout to your employees in the Asian countries or Europe. But, when you have employees with different language capabilities and different cultures, there is always the risk of misinterpretation because of the differences in language and culture.
Outsourcing e-learning needs to a digital learning company makes it easy to translate and localize your online training programs. Outsourcing makes it possible to deliver custom e-learning solutions that address the training requirements of a global workforce.
4. Speed Up Turnaround Time in E-learning Projects
Training managers are frequently under pressure to rollout training programs within a short time and a tight budget. Even if you have resources who can complete the task for you, you can expect some time lag as team members have to get up the learning curve if they must use the latest rapid authoring tools. (Click here to download a free eBook on rapid authoring tools for e-learning development).
When you decide to go ahead with outsourcing to an e-learning vendor, you gain a significant edge on turnaround time for your e-learning course development. Since the vendor is already in the business of e-learning and has sufficient experience handling various online training requirements, course development progresses at a quicker pace.
5. Stay Ahead of the Learning Solutions Curve
When you partner with a vendor for e-learning development, you are introduced to the best practices and emerging technologies in the e-learning space. Outsourcing e-learning development can bring a fresh perspective to the learning experience and implement new strategies to make learning effective. Instead of rolling out a standard style of online training programs, organizations can look forward to innovative styles in training their workforce. Storytelling in new hire training or gamification for leadership training programs are a few examples of innovative strategies that experts in the e-learning business can think of and execute very well.
An e-learning outsourcing vendor can help you address the challenges faced in training employees in your industry and probably suggest the best way to go about employee training. For example, in many pharmaceutical companies, training cannot be restricted to the online environment. In such cases, the vendor might suggest a blended learning program to meet the organization’s training objectives. Remember, when you outsource, you can capitalize on the e-learning vendor’s depth of experience.
Outsourcing e-learning courses is a big decision for any company. If done right, the effort can not only save you time and money but also save you from the additional stress of online training development. Would you like to add to the list of reasons to outsource your online training programs? If yes, please do share your thoughts through the Comments section.
