Not enough employees have learning and development opportunities available to them. A Lorman Blog article stated, “Nearly 59% of employees claim they had no workplace training and that most of their skills were self-taught.”1 Employees are not okay with this. The article mentioned that 74% of employees want to learn new skills or re-train and 87% of millennials value L&D.
Employee training isn’t just important because workers desire it. It is also vital to the health of an organization. Per the Emeritus Blog2, benefits of employee training include:
Also, employee training can significantly improve employee engagement. “Since LinkedIn Learning reports that employees who feel they have room to learn and grow at their companies are 3.5 times more likely to be engaged, employee training opportunities present an ideal tool for increasing both engagement and profit,” the Emeritus Blog explained.
Does your company offer ongoing training to every employee? If not, it may be because organizational leaders are buying into common myths about employee training. Read on to find the truth behind myths that, when believed, can drive up rates of staff attrition, decrease productivity, and negatively impact the bottom line.
Never Buy Into These 3 Myths About Employee Training
A misconception about employee training is that it must take place in person to be effective. Unfortunately, many organizations post-pandemic just can’t make in-person training happen. But this doesn't mean online learning can’t be just as effective.
The Elucidat Blog explained that a mere 15% of employees had access to learning directly related to their jobs.3 This could be a result of employers not offering online learning, perhaps because they think it is inferior to in-person learning. What these employers should know is that online learning can actually be more effective than live training. An article by Shift eLearning4 said,
“The Research Institute of America found that eLearning increases retention rates 25% to 60% while retention rates of face-to-face training are very low in comparison: 8% to 10%. This is because with eLearning students have more control over the learning process as well as the opportunity to revisit the training as needed.”
Clearly, online employee training often beats in-person training in the learning retention department.
Also, the Elucidat Blog5 stated,
“In many ways, online learning is more effective than face to face learning. As research shows 80% of organizations believe their use of digital learning will remain the same, increase or decrease only slightly as restrictions on live training ease. It is unlikely that elearning will ever fully replace classroom learning. However, what is evident is that elearning is here to stay and organizations are increasingly looking at online learning as the future with no imminent plans to invest in more face to face.”
Online learning is also more accessible than in-person learning and allows learners to pace their own training experience. For many workers, this is preferable to a rigid, in-person training schedule.
Organizational leaders should never fall prey to the myth that employee training is too expensive. In fact, organizations cannot afford to not offer employee training based on the benefits it delivers. Thankfully, training can be affordable for companies. It all depends on the mode of training implemented.
The cost of training varies from company to company. “According to the Association for Talent Development, organizations spend an average of $1,252 per employee on training and development initiatives,” stated the eduMe Blog.6 If this sounds unaffordable for your company, there are cheaper options.
Many companies have found online learning to be a cost-effective employee training option. For example, a learning management system promotes online learning and thus eliminates training costs related to travel, classroom rental and maintenance, and printed learning materials. An LMS also saves companies the cost of instructor salaries, as well as salaries for training support employees. Moreover, online learning can be recycled and reused, whereas in-person training cannot.
eLearning Industry listed an additional reason why online learning is cheaper than traditional, in-person employee training: it protects productivity by keeping employees at work.7
“Classroom training requires the instructor and attendees to leave their workplaces, which can have an impact on the business's productivity,” eLearning Industry explained. “Furthermore, much time is wasted on moving employees from one spot to another—time that can otherwise be utilized on productive work. In contrast, eLearning allows employees to attend their training sessions right from their desks, which can save a lot of time and hassle.”
A better question than “Can my company afford employee training?” is “Can my company afford not to train its employees?” An article by LinkedIn8 stated,
“Employees that are not trained become disengaged from their jobs because they do not feel that companies care about them. There is $500 billion lost yearly due to disengaged employees and this comes from turnover, rework, and many other costs that most companies don't see on the front end of accounting.”
This makes it clear that no company can afford not to prioritize employee training.
Employee training can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Organizational leaders can choose cost-effective training options, such as online learning delivered via LMS. They can also save money by recycling old online training content when possible.
One of the main reasons why some organizations don’t invest in employee training is because they believe workers won’t remember what they learn. This is not an unfounded fear. Most learners forget about 70% of what they learn within a mere 24 hours and 90% of what they learn within one week, according to the iSpring blog.9 However, if efforts are made to help learners remember what they learned in training, knowledge retention can vastly improve.
“If employees are given information without any way of using it or reviewing it, the odds of them forgetting that knowledge go up,” explained an article by Medium.10 “But if they are taught something and then given learning opportunities over weeks and months to use that skill, it’s going to stick in their heads a lot longer. Ultimately how impactful your professional development opportunity will be long-term falls to the manager and how they choose to support the learning after it’s happened.”
Another great way to promote knowledge retention is to deliver microlearning to employees. Microlearning has learners focus for 3-5 minutes on a single topic. Examples include watching a tutorial on YouTube, listening to a podcast clip, or reading a short educational article. Microlearning is any type of learning that takes place in short spurts, and that is easy to digest.
By having learners immediately put their knowledge to use and breaking down employee training into small segments, you can improve knowledge retention and boost your training ROI.
Deliver Affordable Remote Training That Promotes Knowledge Retention with an LMS
An LMS is ideal for companies that are ready to make an investment in employee training but don’t want to go over budget or get overwhelmed. TOPYX LMS makes it easy for organizations like yours to create, deliver, track, and report on affordable remote training that promotes knowledge retention.
One of the best things about TOPYX is its flat-rate pricing model. This type of LMS pricing ensures organizations never have any surprise fees or expenses. TOPYX LMS also offers tools like microlearning and mobile learning to support knowledge retention and promote a better ROI for organizations.
Other LMS features that make TOPYX perfect for deploying effective, affordable employee training include LMS reporting, social learning, collaborative learning, LMS integrations, certifications, and more.
Need to deploy training quickly? TOPYX Quick Start has you covered. TOPYX Quick Start helps organizations set up and fully deploy a learning management system (LMS) in a matter of days. With in-depth learning features and pre-built content to support remote workers and develop skills, TOPYX Quick Start includes everything you need to get started with a learning and development program for up to 500 learners available through a unique flat-rate pricing model.
Request a free LMS demo of TOPYX Quick Start to learn more.
References:
1) Lorman Blog. https://www.lorman.com/blog/post/39-statistics-that-prove-the-value-of-employee-training.
2) Emeritus Blog. https://emeritus.org/blog/benefits-of-training-employees/.
3, 5) Elucidat Blog. https://www.elucidat.com/blog/online-learning-vs-face-to-face-learning/.
4) Shift eLearning. https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/301248/15-facts-and-stats-that-reveal-the-power-of-elearning#:~:text=The%20Research%20Institute%20of%20America,%3A%208%25%20to%2010%25.
6) eduMe. https://www.edume.com/blog/cost-of-training-a-new-employee.
7) eLearning Industry. https://elearningindustry.com/elearning-development-costs-less-than-traditional-training-6-reasons#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20studies%20indicate%20that,turn%20leads%20to%20greater%20profitability.
8) LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-cost-training-all-employees-jason-haines/.
9) iSpring Blog. https://www.ispringsolutions.com/blog/learning-retention#:~:text=Research%20shows%20that%20an%20average,an%20effort%20to%20retain%20it.
10) Medium. https://medium.com/@McQuaig/7-employee-development-myths-to-stop-believing-8c1ff2e517e1.