Employee training is an essential part of any company’s overall strategy. Increasing the knowledge and skill set of your workforce is imperative to improving productivity, increasing quality, reducing errors, and lowering costs. It’s also something that every organization needs if it wants to achieve its goals and remain competitive in the marketplace. However, designing and implementing an employee training program can be challenging. Fortunately, technology has made it much simpler to manage these programs while simultaneously making them more effective. An online training program will not only reduce your costs but also increase efficiency and effectiveness.
What is an online employee training program?
An online training program is a system that allows employees to participate in a variety of training courses — including webinars, online seminars and live workshops — from the comfort of their own homes. These programs are typically hosted on a Learning Management System (LMS) — an online platform that allows you to create, track and manage all of your training activities with ease. Some of the most popular LMS providers include GoToMeeting, Adobe, Blackboard and Moodle.
How does an online training program work?
The online training program follows the same structure as traditional classroom training programs. This structure includes stages like the design, development and implementation of the program. However, an online training program makes things easier for you — and more convenient for employees.
– First, you’ll need to create your program by selecting the topics, activities and resources that you want to include. This can be done by either creating your own course or selecting one from a library of topics.
– Once your program has been created, you’ll need to publish it. Publishing your program will make it accessible to employees. They’ll have the option to either view your program on their computer or mobile device or listen to the audio version via their smartphone.
– After your program has been published, you’ll need to track its progress. You can do this by taking advantage of the reporting and analytics tools available within your LMS.
Benefits of an online employee training program
If you’re wondering why you should implement an online training program, here are some benefits you should keep in mind:
– Cost savings: The main reason to go with an online training program is to save money. Not only are online training programs less expensive to create, but they also tend to cost less than traditional classroom training.
– Easier to scale: Another benefit of online training programs is that they’re much easier to scale. Whereas traditional training programs are typically limited to one group of employees at a time, online programs can be offered to multiple groups at the same time.
– Better engagement: Engagement is another important benefit of online employee training programs. Not only do people learn better when they’re engaged, but they also tend to retain more information.
– Better performance: Online employee training programs also deliver better results. This is because they allow you to deliver content when it’s best for employees, rather than at a specific time. This gives them the flexibility to learn in their own time while still meeting their performance goals.
How to design your own online employee training program
Start by determining what content you want your program to include. Ideally, you should include topics that are relevant to your company’s culture, vision and mission — as well as the goals and objectives of each department. It’s also important to select the right technology platform for your program. In other words, you’ll need to choose the type of LMS that will best meet the needs of your organization. Once you’ve determined the type of program you want to create, you’ll need to make sure your LMS is equipped with the features you require.
– Content mapping: First, you’ll need to create a content mapping for your program. A content mapping is a visual representation of the topics and activities you want to include in your program. It’s a great way to stay organized and ensure that you don’t leave anything out.
– Flowchart: Next, you’ll want to create a flowchart that details the sequence of events that make up your program. A flowchart is a great tool for visualizing how everything is connected. It makes it easy to see which topics flow into one another and when they’re appropriate for your audience to learn.
– Curriculum design: Your curriculum design should take into account the learning styles of your audience. It should also include the technologies that are available to them. When designing your program, keep in mind that every employee should receive a minimum amount of training — regardless of their position.
Online tools to build your own training program
There are many online tools that you can use to build your own training program. You can either go with a fully-customized solution or one of the many off-the-shelf solutions available. These tools make it easy to manage your training program, track employee progress and measure performance. Here are some of the most popular online tools used to build employee training programs:
– Learning management system (LMS): An LMS is a software platform that allows you to create, publish and manage digital training courses and assessments. It’s a highly-customizable solution that allows you to create an online training program that meets the needs of your company.
– E-learning content creation platform: An e-learning content creation platform allows you to build interactive content for your training program. These platforms are particularly useful for creating games, quizzes and other interactive content that keeps employees engaged — and makes training more enjoyable.
– Video creation and hosting platform: A video creation and hosting platform allows you to create, store and organize video content for your training program. Video is a great way for businesses to engage their employees and educate them about the values and culture of the company.
Conclusion
Employee training is an essential part of any company’s overall strategy. It’s also something that every organization needs if it wants to achieve its goals and remain competitive in the marketplace. Fortunately, technology has made it much simpler to manage these programs while simultaneously making them more effective. An online training program will not only reduce your costs but also increase efficiency and effectiveness.
We Can Help
Companies that invest in employee training benefit from reduced attrition rates and hiring costs, better employee productivity, more knowledgeable employees, and a competitive hiring package. ReadyTech‘s remote training software provides different ways to interact with trainers and peers, encouraging participation and active learning. We provide companies and their employees with a hosted training solution that offers hands-on, virtual training software to aid your workforce in practicing job skills.
If you are still interested in learning about remote training and benefits of the online training program, read some best practices here. ReadyTech provides you with everything you need, and we offer a full-service setup process and 24/7 live support. Do you have questions? Contact us today.
