Learning and development has become an essential part of keeping people engaged and interested. Necessary even to keep innovating. But let's face it: setting up an effective training program is a difficult and precarious job. Looking at the existing learning programs in your organization: are they actually 'spot on'? Do they really contribute to the growth of your team? Sometimes this is not at all clear. Then you feel you are doing a good job, but real results are not forthcoming. Here are five signs that the time is ripe to call in an e-learning expert.
Training your team involves various costs, such as developing training materials, the man-hours for trainers and instructors, and perhaps even updating specific equipment. This is why it is essential to set a budget for learning and development. And to stick to it. Yet that often goes wrong: unforeseen costs present themselves more than once, your infrastructure soon bursts at the seams, or the estimates are unrealistic from the start at all.
When it becomes increasingly difficult to stay on budget, or when things just need to be tighter because of a limited budget: an e-learning expert can help. The right expert will help you with a thorough analysis, then clarify which cost items are affecting your budget. The right expert will guide you to a learning solution that fits your staff's training needs perfectly. Without unnecessary expenses. Important: the use of the right software can also contribute to better cost control. For example, by moving some parts of the learning process to an effective online variant. Or by automating repetitive steps in the administrative process surrounding learning.
If you consistently fail to meet your set KPIs, that is a clear sign that something is wrong. So far, not shocking information. But if you already have a training program running, what does not achieving those KPIs say about the impact of your learning program? Is it really just not performing as expected? When you inspect your training program more closely, you sometimes discover that your goals are too general, or that there is insufficient commitment from your team. Also, if you neglect follow-up and do not test the application of the learning, you miss opportunities to achieve KPIs.
Maybe your training program needs an upgrade, or even a complete transformation. Making these changes yourself can be quite time-consuming. An external partner with experience in learning programs in general and e-learning in particular can help you make that improvement change in a much shorter time.
First of all, of course, there may be times when colleagues choose to continue their professional journey elsewhere. At another organization. But if a lack of development opportunities turns out to be a major reason, that can be a warning sign. No one wants to be stuck in a work environment where growth and advancement are not cultivated. Younger generations in particular are increasingly very sensitive to this aspect. An above-average departure for this reason, does something to your organization's reputation. And of course we haven't mentioned the cost of constantly finding and retaining new employees.
A challenging learning path helps your team continue to thrive. An e-learning expert can help you create engaging training opportunities that not only pique the interest of your trainees, but implicitly show that as an organization you value your employees and support their personal growth ambitions. Thus, everyone wins!
We see it often: laziness creeps in. Offering knowledge in the form of a lecture, presentation, videos or articles. One-way traffic with little direction on how the material actually lands. No problem in a mix of learning elements, but if this is the main method you use, you may find that your trainees struggle to apply the new knowledge in their daily work. This is because these passive learning methods promote little to no interaction. To ensure that your trainees make the connection between what they learn and how they can put it into practice, interactive learning is a must. Think role plays, scenarios with different outcomes, serious games, simulations and other interactive H5P elements.
An e-learning expert helps you develop such interactive learning experiences and knows better than anyone what method best suits which piece of material. Again, the possibilities offered by the software determine how much you can gain in terms of interactivity.
If mistakes are frequent and costly to your organization, it's high time to rethink your training strategies. Does the material connect adequately to practice? So does a trainee fully understand what he or she is learning? Is there enough room for practicing the material? And again, how is follow-up arranged? These are questions to ask yourself if, despite a training program, you still experience a lack of consistent quality.
An e-learning expert zooms out. He or she looks at a learning path through didactic and organizational glasses. What do you want learners to get out of the course? What mistakes need to be avoided? And what elements and methods should be included in the learning path for that purpose? Choosing the right software also helps here: the better you can identify which mistakes are made more often, the better you can focus on them in the learning program. Extensive reporting options can support you in this.
Investing in the development of your team is critical to the success of your organization. That's where you've been, too. In fact, you've probably already set up some training. Or watched your onboarding with attention. But still: if you recognize one or more of the warning signs discussed, it's time to enlist the help of an e-learning expert. To upgrade your existing course, or to rebuild from the ground up. This way, you ensure that you get the most out of your team's development. And that, we saw earlier, is great for everyone.
A customized content learning program is an important step in taking teams to the next level. To do this well, the tooling you use to do this is at least as important. A platform with which you can properly set up the route through all the material. With which you can automatically communicate results, or send invitations for in-depth live meetings, after a student has demonstrably acquired the required theoretical knowledge online. And which allows you to automate the necessary follow-up with smart reminders, to ensure that the course material is maximally retained. The right software helps you measure, secure and improve the ultimate learning process.
Discover how Procademy 's Learning Management Software can help you with the technical design of your carefully crafted learning path? Then feel free to contact us for an appointment.
