Reach Your Desired Learning Impact With OTS Courses
With more and more organizations embracing technology-led learning, the global Learning Management System (LMS) and eLearning market is expected to increase to $15.72 billion by 2021. Further on, ATD’s State of the Industry report suggests that organizations are spending nearly $1,252 on training and development per employee, while the Training Industry Report states the budget for corporate training in the US to be $70.65 billion.
If this is not a clear indication of organizations finding greater value in Learning and Development (L&D) initiatives and eLearning as a whole, then what is? However, given the proliferation of eLearning across diverse industries, the onus is now on L&D leaders to offer the best eLearning solutions and learning delivery mechanisms to their workforce.
While the modern LMS effectively takes care of the learning delivery mechanism, what about the eLearning content? Identifying the skills gap is the first step, but how do you ensure that the eLearning courses offered meet the learning and business goals of the organization? What about the Return On Investment? The answer to all these questions lies in the choice/s you make while planning your eLearning programs and commissioning eLearning content.
The very first step in this process is either choosing custom-developed eLearning courses or buying off-the-shelf (OTS) eLearning courses, or both. However, before making this choice, it is crucial to understand your learning objectives and the difference between customized eLearning courses and OTS courses.
Custom-Developed eLearning Courses Vs. Off-The-Shelf (OTS) eLearning Courses
Custom-developed eLearning and OTS eLearning can both fulfill certain learning as well as business objectives. But, knowing which one is the best option for your organization is a must right from the get-go.
Choosing custom-developed eLearning courses means spending tons of money and a lot of valuable time to gauge the learning needs across the organization, selecting vendors and planning and developing your customized courses. However, it is critical to understand that custom-developed eLearning courses are developed in-line with your specific requirements, and thus are more likely to deliver the desired results.
As opposed to custom-developed courses, OTS courses are online repositories or libraries of eLearning courses that are pre-created and made available online for ready usage. These extensive libraries of eLearning courses and videos cover a wide range of topics pertaining to a multitude of verticals, while the courses are designed by domain-specific Subject Matter Experts. OTS courses are available in a range of formats, like text-based content, HTML, videos, microlearning, among others. Plus, they are also mobile optimized and cover diverse content, including training content for hard skills, soft skills, technical knowledge as well as emerging technologies.
So, per the comparison, it may seem that OTS courses are more appropriate for certain kinds of training, like individual certifications and general topics. However, that doesn’t mean organizations should limit their training with either custom-developed courses or OTS courses. OTS eLearning is significantly effective for organizations that are just beginning their eLearning journey or those looking to offer only generic content and soft-skills courses.
At the end of the day, L&D leaders know all too well that eLearning projects are more about deploying effective training and focusing on what their employees have learned, rather than how the eLearning courses have been developed.
How OTS Courses Help Achieve Learning Impact
Global organizations turn to L&D when faced by critical as well as pressing business challenges, while, more often than not, these challenges call for urgent employee reskilling/upskilling. This is especially true in terms of drastic technological disruptions. And, in such a scenario, organizations have zero to no patience for delays or a trial-and-error approach.
So, to address these challenges, organizations can turn to OTS courses that are tried and tested and readily available whenever and wherever needed. Besides, organizations can also amp up their existing eLearning content with OTS courses to offer a more efficient combination of learning resources that can surely maximize the learning impact across the organization.
Here’s how OTS courses can truly add value to your training:
1. Hassle-Free And Ready Deployment
Most online eLearning content marketplaces, including LinkedIn Learning, BizLibrary, Cegos, etc., house OTS courses that are developed per established industry standards. As a result, not only are they compatible with an LMS but they also ensure hassle-free and ready deployment, so that the learners can kick-start their learning journey instantly.
2. Multiple Options (Topics And Formats)
Most eLearning vendors in the market today offer courses on diverse topics as well as give multiple options with different styles of learning. Organizations have the liberty to choose from a range of videos, HTML5 designed topics or microlearning bits, depending on their learners’ learning styles. Some vendors also offer a trial of the entire course through a private link, which gives you the opportunity to review the course and learn if it suits your requirements before buying it.
3. Quality Assurance
Although they are not custom-developed, OTS courses offer the highest quality in terms of relevance, design as well as cost-effectiveness. As OTS courses are created with the help of Subject Matter Experts and tested by experienced professionals, they employ the right techniques to ensure knowledge retention.
4. Cost-Effectiveness
OTS eLearning courses will always prove to be more cost-effective than custom-developed courses. Developing eLearning courses in-house demands the hiring of graphic designers, buying authoring tools, and consulting Subject Matter Experts; while custom-develop courses from an external vendor are sure to cost a sum that is hard to justify from an ROI perspective. With OTS courses, all this hard work is already taken care of, and you need only to deploy the courses and let the learning begin.
5. Resource Management
Depending on the size of the organization, L&D and HR functions are often clubbed into one function. Some SMBs might not even have an entire HR vertical. In cases like this, OTS courses offer a much-needed solution to address training challenges.
Conclusion
OTS courses are truly the go-to eLearning resources that you need to help you achieve your desired learning impact. However, it is also important to note the criticality of an LMS in order to reap the benefits offered by OTS eLearning. With an efficient and innovative LMS that comes with built-in and ready-to-use catalog courses, organizations can truly take their employee training to a whole new level.
