Why You Should Empower Your Employees With Supplementary Training

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The workplace is ever-changing, thanks to new best practices and innovations that always come along to keep the landscape fresh. However, this means that businesses are at risk of falling behind market trends if they do no keep abreast of what is happening in their industries.

The good news is that each year there are also massive advances in learning programs designed to keep staff up to date on the latest in business strategy. These courses are designed not only to bring success to a company through increased productivity and efficiency, but also to boost employee confidence through upskilling.

Accreditation bodies that specialize in professional qualifications include independent bodies, universities, and expert organizations. The courses offered through these bodies are great ways to invest in employees. Not only will workers gain new skills and knowledge that give them an edge over competitors, but they will also feel valued by their employers, thereby increasing their loyalty to and passion for the company.

Online Learning: A Great Way to Empower Employees

One great benefit of recent technological advances is that learning is no longer confined to the classroom. This means that employees can upskill whenever and wherever they’d like. Online training courses are a great way for employers to provide their employees with flexible, effective learning opportunities.

Modern life has many of us short on time, partially because our workdays are longer and more demanding than they used to be. This prevents many people from attending traditional classroom-based learning programs  – but thankfully, online courses give employees a choice about when to study.

For example, employees can earn their Six Sigma certifications online, which means they can improve their confidence and enhance their client relationships without their classes ever interfering with their personal or professional lives. That’s good for employees and employers alike.

Why Study Online?

There are a lot of reasons why online training surpasses in-person training. Here are just a few:

1. Personalized Pacing Leads to More In-Depth Understanding of the Material

In classroom training, employees are restricted in the amount of time they can spend on a subject before the class moves on. Furthermore, because time is limited, employees generally only learn what they need to know to pass an exam or earn certification. True, deep understandings of the material are not encouraged. Supplementary training is a wasted effort if employees don’t have time to really internalize the course material, and the practices learned during training will not stay with the employee in the long-term.

ClassroomOnline training, however, gives people the ability to learn slowly and incrementally. Employees only take exams when they feel they are ready. There are no deadlines, which means employees can spend as much time as they’d like with the material. That, in turn, allows the material to permeate more deeply into employees’ minds and really stick with them.

2. Visual Learning Takes Less Time

Humans are very visual creatures. We process images more quickly than we process text. Online courses can make use of this fact through carefully curated graphics that foster visual learning. And because we process images more quickly than text, learning time is reduced when online courses are rich with images.

3. Training Improves Morale

Employers who invest in training courses for their staff members are improving the morale of the entire company in addition to improving employees’ skills. Employees who feel valued by their employers and capable of performing their jobs well are more confident in their work.

Companies that don’t offer training may see employee morale suffer. Employees who lack confidence are also more likely to look for employment elsewhere. Meanwhile, according to research from the University of Warwick, happy workforces are 12 percent more productive.

Employers can ensure their workers are confident, happy, and productive by giving them opportunities to challenge and improve themselves through learning.

Training courses – especially online training courses – can help decrease staff turnover, improve morale, increase efficiency, and keep employees updated on best practices.

Companies that still choose to upskill their employees through classroom-based learning may want to reconsider this choice. Online courses are often more flexible, less expensive, and more empowering to employees.

That being said, no matter if it takes place online or in a classroom, enhancing the skills of employees through training is always a powerful way to improve a business.

Suzanne Vallance is an industry writer from Glasgow, Scotland.

By Suzanne Vallance