8 Effective Practices for Online Employee Training

There is no denying that the performance of your employees will dictate success in a competitive industry. Even if the industry is not competitive and your employees become disgruntled due to a lack of support or simply ignorant as they lack online employee training—the end result will still be less than ideal. Hence, no matter what type of business you run, the training of your workers is crucial, and their actions moving forward will help future proof your company, or seal its demise.

Things get even trickier if you are trying to build an effective course for online training. Your workers are a sponge, ready to absorb all the information you have to provide. Yet, it can be challenging to figure out how to move forward without the proper mindset. It might even be overwhelming, as you have to understand the ins and outs of your course.

There are plenty of ways to make things easier without having to pull your hair out from frustration! Here are a few effective practices for employee training online.

When It Comes to Online Employee Training, Task Analysis is the First Step

One of the reasons why some businesses are better than others in training their employees is due to the facilitators’ fundamental understanding of the task at hand. Having a better understanding helps the facilitators develop a better learning platform that best fits for your workers. A few tips for task analysis includes:

  • Simplifying the subject matter.

You can start by working on a step-by-step process for the task at hand. Many companies make the mistake of merging too many steps into one, which can make things more confusing for your staff. Ensure that you simplify things as much as you can, so it’s easier for everyone to digest.

  • Understanding each step before your employees do.

If you want your employees to understand the subject matter, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of every process. It might take some time, but leading by example is the ideal solution.

  • Setting your expectations.

What do you expect from your employees by the time they finish your online courses? Are they ready to take on the responsibilities within your company? It is vital to answer such questions as they can help you see the bigger picture when it comes to dealing with online training.

Online Employee Training Benefits from a Proper Storyboard and Script

If you want to guide your employees to a full understanding of their responsibilities in your company, it is crucial to work on how they can navigate your online training. It is important to build the step-by-step process that comes with teaching your staff the inner workings of what their job entails. The same thing goes for building a proper storyboard and script.

For example, some employees will struggle with some areas, and pass with flying colors on others. It would be a good idea to make it easier for them to jump straight into the parts they struggle with to help them deal with their weaknesses much quicker.

Nothing Says Online Employee Training Quite Like Audio and Visual Lessons

In an instructor-led classroom session, you will often find that skilled facilitators make use of different teaching methods to get the job done. It is not enough to talk about the subject—they also have to write it down on the board. On top of that, it is not enough to write down nothing but words—they will also make use of graphs and other visual accessories to make things easier to understand. It is not enough to talk—they also have to play videos and ensure that those who do not understand get their chance to ask questions.

When it comes to employee training online, much of the same things apply. For example, you can have them read walls of text in preparation for their big responsibility, but you likely will not get the results you want. While walls of text might work on some people, it will not work on others. The best thing to do would be to add video and audio files to ensure that your employees can learn in many layers.

Related Content: Online Training Delivery Advice for Guaranteed Teaching Success

Your Online Employee Training will Go Better with an Accurate Overview

It can be hard to focus on an online course if it doesn’t give you the rundown of what you should expect once you finish taking it up. What will your employees learn at the end? What do you expect them to understand when the online course finishes?

It is crucial that you set such expectations by placing an overview of everything they can expect once the lessons and the quizzes are over and done with. The crucial part is defining the benefits, and the same rules above apply. When building an overview, ensure that:

  • The list is simple and easy to understand.
  • It highlights the benefits.
  • It shows exactly what your employees can expect from the lessons.
  • It is easy to navigate and find the subjects they struggle with.

If you can follow the tips above, it will help boost employee morale and encourage them to do their best, as it will affect workplace performance, and they will get the expected benefits after taking up the course.

Fortunately, your online tutorial will undoubtedly improve workplace performance, which in turn affects their careers. You can reinforce the idea by tying the course into employee incentives, which will encourage your staff to work harder to get the job done.

Online Employee Training Might not Benefit from a Comprehensive Course

In a lot of ways, it ties down to keeping the process as simple as possible. After all, there are plenty of aspects to online training that you do have little to no control over. When you consider the pros and cons of an online training course, keep things as simple as possible. If a comprehensive subject requires many steps, it would be a good idea to break it down into several steps.

However, if there are too many steps within a single subject in your online course, it is very likely that your employees might get discouraged and lazy. The ideal situation would be to give them a chance to focus on a single subject at a time. Trying to make things so comprehensive that it begins to emulate a college course will likely result in your staff refusing to understand half of what you provide.

Supplemental Links can be a Boon for Online Employee Training

When it comes to dealing with an online course, it is typically not enough to have visual and audio representations for more efficient learning. Instead, it would also be ideal to provide another way to be hands-on with your work. After all, most online tutorials tend to be a passive affair, which can be boring after a time. The best thing would be to give them a means of branching out the lesson by providing supplemental links.

Not only will supplemental links help make things easier for you to build your online course, as you can simplify a lot of your lessons, but it will also give your employees a reason to interact with online training. It might not be mandatory, but adding supplementary links will help provide employees with a thirst for knowledge to go the extra mile. It might not seem like a big deal, but you will enjoy the fruits of their labor when they make use of the information they learned in the workplace.

Review Your Course to Ensure It is Giving the Best Online Employee Training

It is not enough to have an understanding of what goes on within your employee training course. It is also vital to give the lessons a try to ensure that it is doing exactly as it should in getting the job done. Even if you know that you and the facilitators worked hard in developing the online training platform, it will not have the desired effect if you do not run it through its paces.

With an understanding of what the course entails, you can figure out which things to change, and which aspects to keep. There might be something in the middle or the latter half of the training course that became too complex, making it challenging for your employees to absorb information. The only way to find out is by trying it yourself.

Related Content: Do’s and Don’ts for Developing a Successful Training Program

Ensure that Your Staff Reviews the Online Employee Training Content Now and Then

Last but not least, even the most studious worker will have a challenging time retaining knowledge if they only went through the course a single time. While you do not have to push them to finish the course again and again, it would be a good idea to encourage them to revisit the course whenever they feel up to the task. This becomes even more important if some of your employees still tend to commit mistakes or lapses despite taking the course. You can even provide them with incentives for going through the course once a month.

While it can be quite challenging to deal with online employee training for those who do not have the proper experience, it does not have to be a process of trial and error. Without a doubt, the tips above can help you realize the potential of your staff without pushing them too hard! From data analysis to reviewing the content every now and then, you can increase the odds of success for both you and your staff.

Want to learn more about online employee training? Here’s what ReadyTech has to offer!
Scroll to Top