Employee Training, COVID-19

3 Tips to Stop the Pandemic From Negatively Impacting Employee Training

by Debbie Williams

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, some companies have put employee training on the backburner. COVID-19 has taxed company leaders and added many new tasks to their daily to-do lists. In these cases, employee training will inevitably suffer. This is a mistake that companies can avoid. Employee training is still critical to the success of workers as well as organizations. By implementing a few tips, companies can ensure the pandemic doesn’t negatively impact their employee training programs or impede the success of their company and staff.

Check out our comprehensive list of helpful COVID-19 eLearning resources

3 Tips to Stop the Pandemic From Negatively Impacting Employee Training

How to counter the effects the coronavirus
pandemic is having on employee training

Learning in the workplace has changed as a result of COVID-19. While some companies have maintained a robust employee training program, others have not. Here are a few ways you can get employee training back on track despite the pandemic.

1. Prioritize employee training

Employee training boosts job satisfaction and worker morale, increases productivity and efficiency, and can improve revenue.1 That’s why organizations must continue to deliver training, no matter how hectic things get during the COVID-19 pandemic. As companies scramble to deal with the coronavirus crisis, they should consider remote training solutions like a learning management system (LMS) to make sure training is emphasized while keeping employees safe.

To ensure their needs are met, provide your L&D team with training on how to design learning for remote workers and employees in crisis. Also, consider employing an LMS like TOPYX that comes bundled with COVID-19 course materials to improve health and productivity of employees.

Related Reading: How eLearning Tools Enable Remote Training During the COVID19 Pandemic

2. Provide stress management resources

It is difficult for employees to engage in training when they are stressed about COVID-19, and many are. Ashley Swinson, a licensed clinical social worker, told SHRM.org that HR staff should assume employees who are working during COVID-19 are feeling the strain of the pandemic rather than trying to determine if they have telltale signs of stress. “They are actively processing the impact of COVID-19, whether it's the fear of the illness itself, or the impact of being socially isolated…this is coming up in every session that I'm having with clients.”2

To combat stress and promote participation in remote training, offer stress management resources, such as eLearning courses that cover stress-reduction techniques, advertise your company’s Employee Assistance Program more heavily, and implement an LMS where employees can connect via social learning tools and gain some sense of normalcy and connectedness. 

Related Reading: 5 Tips to Save Your Remote Workers from Boring Employee Training

Remote Training in the Age of Coronavirus eBook

3. Offer digital skills training courses

One way to make remote work during a pandemic a little easier is to provide your workforce with digital skills training courses. Without sufficient digital skills, employees may have trouble performing daily work tasks and participating in training. This is particularly true if they are working from home where they don’t have as much access to their direct supervisors or an IT team. Examples of digital skills could include troubleshooting simple technical issues, digital literacy, how to use a learning management system (LMS), how to use communication apps, and basic cybersecurity practices.

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Related Reading: 3 Ways COVID-19 is Changing Learning in the Workplace

Move employee training online with TOPYX LMS

Ready to move training online as soon as possible so that your dispersed workforce can reap the benefits of employee training in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic? TOPYX puts tools at your fingertips that enable you to create, distribute, track, and report on employee training. With our Quick Start Program, you can launch TOPYX in a matter of days. Request an LMS demo of the TOPYX platform to learn more about it can help you prioritize learning in the workplace, no matter what the future brings.

Quick Start TOPYX LMS


Sources:
1.https://managementhelp.org/training/basics/reasons-for-training.htm
2.https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/its-when-not-if-employees-will-feel-the-stress-of-covid-19-.aspx

Debbie Williams

Debbie Williams

Director, Marketing