Tight Budget? How eLearning Can Help Reduce Employee Training Costs
As tech-savvy generations enter the workforce, small- to mid-sized business owners will find it easier to leverage eLearning resources for employee development. As businesses enter the year 2020, Generation Y, or Millennials, will comprise nearly half of the United States workforce, and research shows that this group values accomplishments more the remuneration at this early stage in their career. As a result, this group’s personal proclivities and professional demands make continual learning a growing workplace theme. Traditional classrooms present a challenge for career professionals. eLearning resources, however, offer convenience, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility.
Employers take considerable risks when investing in employee development. After training, staff members could leave, taking their newly acquired skills to another enterprise. Conversely, employers who don’t train employees risk providing an ongoing salary to a woefully unskilled talent pool.
This conundrum is why finding and recruiting skilled talent is nearly, if not equally, as important as developing new business. In fact, finding job candidates that are already trained in all the skills needed to fill a specific work role is one of the biggest challenges faced by today’s employers. Because of this, many business leaders assume the risks involved with investing in career development for workers who are eager and willing to pursue work-related training.
eLearning, also called online learning, is available 24-hours per day, making it easy for staff members to take classes at their convenience. Employees can take classes from the comfort of their homes and complete learning modules at a pace that fits their learning style. For some, this will allow them to complete classes faster, while others might prefer to take their time with lessons. eLearning also costs less than traditional in-class, instructor-led training, and because employees can use digital textbooks and learning resources, the technology has less impact on the environment.
The following segments highlight 3 training focus areas where employers can benefit by offering eLearning resources.
1. Data Analysis
Data analysis allows business leaders to gather, store, and analyze product and service information, helping them to make vital business decisions. Although already massive, the data movement is still relatively young with experts predicting that by 2020 the amount of data will grow to 40,000 exabytes, so businesses will want to make sure that they have a solid staff that can analyze and interpret all of this data.
By conducting data analysis, business owners gain invaluable insights into consumer behavior, as well as the market composition for their product or service offering. Business owners use this information to develop operational strategies and outmaneuver competitors. Data analysis also helps enterprise leaders develop unique value propositions that make their offering more attractive than their competitions’.
2. Coding
Some forward-thinking employers encourage staff members to take low-cost or free coding courses so that they’ll better understand the workings of today’s business applications. To ensure that staff members are pursuing needed expertise, software developers have created digital learning programs that allow students and employers to catalog work requirements so that individuals can identify and learn in-demand skills.
This allows employers to offer an “open source” method of filling work demands, rather than relying on the traditional mentor-mentee method of career development. This technology allows workers to choose skills that pique their curiosity and also connect them with company mentors with matched interests. This process is more comfortable for stakeholders and allows employees to select different mentors for varying skills.
3. Market Intelligence
Market intelligence training is another invaluable skill that career professionals can learn via eLearning resources. However, to make the most of the skill, businesses must restructure their organizations. Many modern enterprise leaders are implementing cross-functional integration to leverage the information that originates from varying corporate sources so that they can maximize the potential of Big Data technology and adapt to findings quickly and efficiently.
A recent survey of intelligence leaders reveals that this structure will grow more popular as more organizations take advantage of Big Data resources, requiring business units to work together to develop final plans of actions. In fact, nearly 80% of market intelligence professionals believe that Big Data systems will have a tremendous impact on operations by the year 2020. As this change takes place, data mining and visualization will increase in importance.
Final Word
eLearning resources allow career professionals to acquire new skills while fulfilling their current roles and responsibilities. Many of today’s employers offer eLearning so that staff members can fulfill ongoing licensing and credentialing requirements. Employers also use eLearning as a training resource for new workers and a career development tool for existing employees. Ultimately, eLearning resources can lead to improved employee satisfaction and enhanced organizational performance, as well as increased credibility with consumers and industry peers.
