In the world of business, expeditiousness is the key to staying ahead of the competition. This rule applies to everything from manufacturing to training. In respect to swift training for HR departments, virtual training capabilities are giving businesses the advantage. Through the use of training portals and classrooms, your HR struggles of maintaining efficiency with employee training are dissolved.
Resolving issues of traditional classroom training
Before the explosion of digital technology, the only way to conduct employee training was to host classes, lectures and workshops for staff, in person. This required coordinating logistics and employees’ schedules and costs for renting or maintaining a separate area for training programs — viewed as a necessary evil.
Additionally, paying employees to leave the office in order to complete mandated training required extra work for HR through expense reporting and payroll calculation. Most mid- to large-size businesses would reimburse employees for transportation and meals while in training sessions.
HR struggled with keeping classes on track, up to date and in compliance with business needs. After all, to update a training program meant reprinting all training materials and retraining the person conducting the session. A simple change could not be made efficiently, forcing HR to wait until a major overhaul of a training program was permissible.
Solutions offered by virtual training services
Today, HR departments boost training abilities with the use of virtual training. Skip the logistics of finding a place to host a workshop, a move that also saves the company in rental fees or transportation expenses. Employees no longer have to leave the office to conduct training — thanks to virtual training portals.
Training programs can be updated efficiently, and training material costs of printing and distribution are slim to none. Employees can tackle training sessions at their convenience. This frees them to effectively organize the tasks they are hired to handle without disrupting their workweek with out-of-the-office training programs.
Staying in the office throughout the workday is the best way to conduct a business. The use of virtual training allows employees to take a training workshop within the comforts of their office, pausing the training as needed to handle daily office demands. Streamlining the training program through virtual training creates an even better expeditious business.
Increasing learner engagement
One of the biggest threats to the efficiency of in-person training is learner engagement, the ability to reach every person in a classroom setting. However, virtual training programs offer a bevy of tools targeted at a variety of learning styles. The learner can utilize the tools, such as video lectures or online quizzes, to help him/her remain attentive and engaged throughout a training session.
Given that every individual learns at his/her own pace, having virtual training allows employees to return to fuzzy topics for a refresher or pause for self-imposed breaks. This would not be possible in a traditional training session.
Virtual training programs are set up via content compression, which allows for a steady stream of valuable content to be passed to the trainee. Employees can cover the same topics as their colleagues, using tools to increase their engagement, in a much shorter time frame compared to the traditional training environment.
What to expect with virtual training platforms
When shopping for a virtual training platform for your HR needs, consider an all-inclusive platform. This will include everything you need to get your virtual employee training up and running with ease. Start by looking for technology that provides an instructor-led classroom, which allows you to create real-time training sessions via distance learning.
By way of technology, the training platform needs to provide power for both audio and visual needs. Look for state of the art high-definition, two-way capabilities that will work for the most demanding virtual learning labs. Unless you are high-tech savvy, you will want to choose a company that offers unlimited tech support from startup to routine maintenance. Also, search for a virtual training program that requires low levels of training for the students and the facilitators.
In terms of infrastructure, the cloud is the optimal method for transmitting and storing training materials. Opt for a secure and well-managed cloud computing system, and you will not have to house any hardware or software in office. Save on storage space and technology updating costs, while minimizing your IT department demands.
