Wednesday, 4 April 2012

E-Learning in the Workplace

Business owners and Human Resources managers understand the value their employees bring to the company.  Hiring an employee is an investment in the company and it is wise to cultivate the skills of an employee who is hard working and dedicated.  One of the best ways of doing this is with continuing education.  An employee can keep abreast of the latest trends and add to their skill set.  This not only helps an employee with personal growth but the practical aspects of their learning can be directly and immediately applied to their work which can greatly benefit the company in the form of more efficient and accurate productivity. Employees who are offered continuing education classes have a tendency to be more loyal to the company where they work.  They see the company is interested in their personal growth and advancement and they will be more prone too want to utilize their additional skills to the benefit of the company.  The classes are an investment and cost money but it is an investment into a valuable resource that will ultimately help grow the company in the form of long term, dedicated, skilled personnel.

In a traditional classroom setting, though, there are several disadvantages.  First, the employee must be out of the office which can sometimes be detrimental.  In order for the employee to get the most out of the class, they can not be disturbed with questions or issues that may arise on a daily basis.  Often this means some sacrifice of daily work productivity in order to accommodate the needs of the student.  Next, the course work is usually in a condensed form and retention levels are not as high as if they were able to take their time on a more personal basis to absorb the material.  Finally, traditional continuing education is generally expensive because of the staffing and equipment needed to accommodate the class. E-learning, however, eliminates all these problems and allows a student to learn valuable skills without sacrificing their productivity.  E-learning classes are typically less expensive than traditional classes.  This is because the school can offer course work without the additional overhead traditional classroom settings require.  This savings is then passed on to the customer.  From a strictly direct financial point of view, a company saves money on the class.  However, the company saves money in other indirect areas as well without sacrificing the quality of the education the employee receives.

An employee who is offered E-learning classes has a tendency to retain much more of the knowledge they learn.  They are able to work at their own pace and continue on only after they thoroughly grasp the course work.  The obvious advantage is when there is a difficult concept, they can review and work on it until they have a clear understanding of it and move on to the next segment.  However, there are also those who learn faster or who already have bits of knowledge on a particular subject.  When forced to stick to a subject that is already familiar in a traditional class, a student tends to get bored and stops paying attention.  This may affect motivation and they may miss valuable pieces of information.  However, with E-learning, they can go as fast or as slow as they need to get the complete picture.

Having a more in depth knowledge of the course ultimately helps the company and can have an indirect financial impact by allowing the employee to use their newly developed skills to the benefit of the company.  When this helps process improvement, efficiency and productivity, you are getting more from your resource than you were previously.  In other words, your employee is saving you money by working faster and better.
An employee has a job to do.  In the daily operations, often questions need to be asked and issues need to be addressed.  In a traditional classroom setting the employee can be out of the office for a significant time period.  This can affect productivity and stall projects unnecessarily.  However, when using E-learning in the workplace, if there is something that needs the immediate attention of the employee, they can simply pause their studies, take care of the issue then return to the class.  The normal flow of business is not interrupted and productivity is not halted.

With all the advantages of E-learning in the workplace, it is no wonder so many companies are turning to this method of continuing education to benefit their employees.  Employees who take continuing education courses are a valuable asset to a company.  They can use their increased skill set to benefit the company and increase productivity, accuracy and efficiency.  E-learning specifically helps the company financially both directly and indirectly.  The employee learns valuable skills, learns more quickly, retains the knowledge and can still be available throughout the day for operational issues.

Deepa Singh
Business Developer
Web Site:-http://www.gyapti.com
Blog:- http://gyapti.blogspot.com
Email Id:-deepa.singh@soarlogic.com

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