The benefits of e-learning and what best-practice looks like
These days, nurturing the career development of employees is essential to long-term organisational success. But like many things in business, it’s easier said than done.
At the heart of career development is often a robust education and training program. By providing staff with the opportunity to learn new skills, and increase their knowledge base, organisations can create high-performing employees, teams, and workplace cultures, together with attracting and retaining quality talent.
This premise is backed up by the LinkedIn 2018 Workplace Learning Report which reveals that 94% of employees would stay at a company if they invested in their career development.
So, the question begs, how can you best create an education and training program that delivers?
The secret is e-learning
There is no doubt about it, we are living in the digital age. From ordering dinner to making an appointment, everything seems to be online. So, why would workplace education/training be any different?
E-learning can transform your employees, their development, and your organisation. It seems like a simple secret, but we have the benefits to back it up!
What is e-learning?
Short for ‘electronic learning’, a term first used in 1999, e-learning is learning, training or education delivered through a digital device (e.g. computer, tablet or mobile phone). This form of education has risen exponentially in organisations, and it’s clear to see why.
The benefits of e-learning speak for themselves
There are a multitude of benefits that e-learning affords, for both employees and your organisation as a whole. So, let’s dive in.
Benefits for the employee
Benefit #1 – Flexibility in delivery
E-learning is controlled by the learner and can happen at a time and place that suits them. This is particularly valuable for remote workers, or organisations in which staff have different working hours.
Benefit #2 – Self-directed learning
Self-directed learning, such as e-learning solutions, has been shown to empower employees, foster innovation and creativity, and ultimately, increase engagement. When it comes to education, the greater the interest and engagement in the content, the more likely information will be retained over the long-term.
Benefit #3 – Impactful learning experience
Like all things in life, there is a spectrum of e-learning, from the mundane to the exceptional. Well-crafted online content can be incredibly impactful, providing an alternative method of information delivery and learning.
As individuals, it’s important to recognise that we all learn differently, and have varied ways of retaining information. Therefore, e-learning can be most powerful when it is blended with other education approaches, allowing optimal learning outcomes to be achieved.
Benefits for the organisation
Benefit #4 – Cost-effective solution
E-learning can be a much cheaper solution than traditional face-to-face training. Not only can the logistics of the training take much less time to organise, but the outcomes, take-aways, engagement, and knowledge retention can be equally as powerful.
Benefit #5 – Resource management
Group training sessions can pull staff away from important tasks, placing a burden on resources over the training period. In contrast, e-learning ensures continuity of labour, with no disruption to business-as-usual activities.
Further, beyond logistical resource management, giving employees the power and autonomy to undertake e-learning at a time that suits them can result in a more positive attitude, and greater overall engagement with their training experience. Conversely, mandatory training at a certain time and place can often seem forced, with some people prone to react negatively to attempts to control them and their time.
Benefit #6 – Application on a large scale
Unlike traditional face-to-face training, e-learning can be delivered to large numbers of employees with relative speed and ease. This can often be a more cost-effective, reliable, and successful solution.
Benefit #7 – Easily tailored content
Online learning can be easily tailored to meet the needs of various audiences. From widespread global viewing, through to individually tailored content, the depth and breadth of options for e-learning customisation are endless.
Is e-learning a one-stop-shop?
The answer may surprise you, but even though e-learning has a multitude of benefits for the individual and organisation (as described above), it is not a holistic panacea of education.
E-learning is most effective when it exists as part of a broader training initiative, such as accompanying face-to-face training. For example, e-learning could be used as pre-work for a face-to-face workshop, as a refresher following a face-to-face workshop, or as part of an induction.
Getting the foundations right
For professional learning, in any format, to achieve desired results, it is absolutely critical that the learning and development strategy is supported by organisational policies and structures. Additionally, genuine leadership support is required to promote, endorse, and encourage participation and learning outcomes. Without these foundations, a training/learning initiative on its own will never be enough.
Case study: What does best-practice e-learning look like?
The information above provides an overview of e-learning benefits. These benefits can be directly related to your diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy, with e-learning playing a potentially crucial role in accelerating your D&I approach.
Here at Diversity Inclusion, we have experience creating and delivering e-learning to organisations throughout Australasia and have the flexibility to deliver any of our services in an e-learning format.
As an e-learning expert, we have collated our 3 top tips for developing best-practice e-learning programs. Here they are!
Tip #1 – Mixed-learning approaches
When developing our best-practice online education offerings, it was important to adopt a mixed-learning approach. Our online modules feature video, audio, and digital text to increase engagement, cater to different learning styles, and reduce cognitive load. This combination was found to increase the probability that learners will retain information.
In addition, our interactive and gamified activities and challenges support learners to absorb key concepts and apply this knowledge to real-world examples. We have also incorporated in-the-moment feedback to increase motivation and engagement with the module.
Tip #2 – Avatar personas
The delivery of e-learning content is an important element in user engagement. Our experience indicates that utilising a character or person that walks the user through the learning program (as you would in a face-to-face learning environment), can help to create a personal connection and positive experience, which, according to research, assists with knowledge retention.
Tip #3 – Staged learning techniques
A ‘staged learning’ approach introduces content in bite-sized, modular segments over a period of time. This approach allows content to be simpler, increasing concept understanding and retention. It also reinforces the content/message over time, which has been shown to be key in achieving cultural shifts.
With irrefutable benefits, we encourage you to incorporate e-learning as part of your organisational approach to D&I training and development.
Want to accelerate your diversity and inclusion program through e-learning? Chat to us!