I enjoyed the article ‘How to make workplace learning effective’ (Personnel Today, 7 April). However, I was surprised that there was no reference to e-learning solutions, especially since the article more than once mentioned costs, financial benefits and getting ‘buy-in’ from the board.
While e-learning, combined with the provision of resources such as online libraries, can prove a very cost-effective way of providing training with proven ROI, it certainly isn’t the poor relation of training methods.
Some of our customers use e-learning as part of a blended programme, others as a stand-alone solution. Either way, all of the disadvantages of workplace learning referred to in the article can be addressed by encouraging employees to develop their own personal development programme, empowering them to learn at their own pace and according to existing skills, and providing a way of fitting training around business demands.
Training should be tailored to both the learner and the challenges faced by the employer, programmes shouldn’t rushed and the support needed will vary widely. Once again, all these things are issues e-learning addresses.
Our experience shows that employees end up preferring e-learning to other forms of training. As all HR teams will know, if staff are happy, they are more likely to be motivated and productive.
I think that in the current financial climate it was a shame not to alert your readers to the benefits of this increasingly popular form of training.
Kevin Young, general manager EMEA, SkillSoft
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