Technology companies are uniquely positioned in a high growth, high stress industry. That creates incredible potential for growth and success, but only if company leaders can overcome the challenges that often come up.
Many of those challenges are directly or indirectly related to employees and training, which is why many tech companies already place a high value on employee training. Eighty-three percent of executives in the technology, media, and telecommunications sector say learning is crucial to company success.¹ These companies’ technology training and employee onboarding needs are specific to their industry, and many can be met with a learning management system.
Here are three key challenges technology companies struggle with, as well as some ideas about how to meet them and further your business goals using a learning management system:
1. Technology companies need to reduce employee turnover -- The tech industry has a higher rate of turnover (13.2 percent) than any other industry, with retail being a close second.² For example, the average employee at Amazon only lasts about a year before they move on. Tech companies need training that will promote employee retention while equipping workers with skills that make companies more competitive.
How to Increase Employee Retention with an LMS: Tech companies can use an LMS to promote employee retention by encouraging employee development through continuous training. Development is a key factor in retaining millennials, according to Gallup.³ Also, L&D Daily reported that 70 percent of workers 45 and older considered vocational upskilling to be essential to their development,4 making training a priority for employees of all ages. According to John Laskaris,
“eLearning in the workplace is geared towards enhancing learning and organizational performance’, both of which are important aspects of employee development.”5
2. Technology companies need to jumpstart collaboration and innovation -- To produce new software and services in a highly competitive market, tech companies must have innovative employees. Collaboration can be one of your catalysts for innovation by bringing multiple voices together to solve problems.
To enable effective collaboration, technology companies also need freedom to put together dream teams of employees, whether team members are local or remote. “Many tech firms employ engineers and technicians from across many countries and time zones, which makes on-demand, mobile, and multi-language learning of great importance,” stated Why Training is Key to Every Tech Company’s Success.6
How to Increase Collaboration and Innovation with an LMS: A learning management system promotes collaboration with social learning tools such as real time chat, webinars, calendaring, video conferencing, and forums where workers can share their ideas with one another. And with training that is available anytime, anywhere, from any device, employees from all locations can work in tandem with their peers to innovate new ideas.
3. Technology companies need to reduce training costs and increase knowledge retention -- Statistics on the cost of training employees vary widely, but The CEO of ULTATEL, a telecom solutions provider, said it can cost up to $7,645 to hire and train a new recruit.8 That’s a significant expense, especially considering that without revisiting training material, the average employee forgets 50 percent of what they’ve learned within just one hour, and 90 percent after a month.7 Training isn’t cheap, and technology companies need employees to retain much more than 90 percent of what they learn in order to keep training cost-effective.
Increase Training ROI with an LMS: Employees often retain raining content better retained when it’s delivered through an eLearning system. With an eLearning system like an LMS, online training can be arranged in personalized learning paths, reinforced with microlearning, and offered via video, audio, and simulation, all of which can increase knowledge retention. This also boosts learner engagement, which further promotes training retention.9 The best LMS software is also cost-effective, allowing companies to train large amounts of employees without expensive per-user fees, which helps increase training ROI.
Delivering technology training with an LMS not only reduces staff churn and promotes innovation and training retention, but it also ensures training is cost-effective for companies. Learn more about the benefits of providing tech training to your employees with a learning management system.
References:
1. Deloitte. Global human capital trends of 2016. https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/HumanCapital/gx-dup-global-human-capital-trends-2016.pdf.
2. viGlobal. Tech industry battles highest attrition rate in the world -- and it’s costly. https://www.viglobal.com/2018/06/13/tech-industry-battles-highest-attrition-rate-in-the-world-and-its-costly/.
3. Gallup. Millennials want jobs to be development opportunities. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236438/millennials-jobs-development-opportunities.aspx.
4. L&D Daily Advisor. Employees want more training -- what are you offering? https://lddailyadvisor.blr.com/2018/04/employees-want-training-offering/.
5. eLearning Industry. The secret to reduced employee turnover: How a learning management system facilitates employee development. https://elearningindustry.com/secret-reduced-employee-turnover-learning-management-system-facilitates-employee-development.
6. Litmos. Why training is key to every tech company’s success. https://www.litmos.com/blog/articles/why-training-is-key-in-tech.
7. Software Advice. 5 ways LMSs can improve employee knowledge retention. https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/employee-knowledge-retention-lms/.
8. Small Business Trends. The cost of hiring a new employee could be as much as $7,645 per recruit, report says. https://smallbiztrends.com/2018/09/cost-of-hiring-a-new-employee-in-2018.html.
9. Growth Engineering. 10 tips for improving retention with online learning. https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/improve-retention-online-learning/.