Tag: corporate elearning

07 Mar 2023
corporate elearning

How can corporate elearning be suited to an employee’s personality type?

Employee attrition is a huge problem for companies nowadays. The pandemic has changed the opinions of employees about their jobs. They have started valuing their time more. Hence, they have no likeness to the corporate culture, which requires them to commute to the workplace. The employees, therefore, want flexibility as far as the work schedule is concerned. They want a hybrid or a complete work-from-home work routine. Companies are now dealing with an employee-centric work market, so they have to offer employees better work hours and stop being rigid about 9-5 work hours. The companies also offer corporate elearning programs to employees to boost their morale.

Why work from home is getting popular among employees?

The reason why employees are choosing to work from home is quite different from earlier. Now, the reason to do so is longer social distancing, which was the main reason in 2020(57%). But the main reason in 2022 is that people no longer want to transport daily and enjoy the comforts work from home offers (76%). Also, commuting is a major problem because the office is far from the house.

Why some employees still insist on working from office?

Workers, however, prefer working from the office because, according to them, productivity declines while working from home. This is a grave concern. This is true for workers whose work can be done remotely but who still prefer to go to the office (60%). Lack of a proper working infrastructure at home is also another reason workers enjoy working from the office (21%). Employees also attend offices because senior colleagues put pressure on them for doing so (9%). These workers also feel that if they are working from home, they would be denied opportunities for promotion (14%).
Those with college degrees are more likely to work from home than those without one.

How to stop employee attrition?

If companies want to stop attrition because employees prefer companies that offer them work from home, it’s time to listen to them so that they start returning to offices.

The company’s leaders should give importance to the employees’ ideas. Employees start applying for new jobs when the leaders don’t listen to their opinions. The employees also need promotion at the right time. An employee cannot be taken to higher hierarchy levels until he lacks the skill for further promotion. This is described in a theory given by Canadian Dr. Laurence J. Peter.

At the highest level, when an employee lacks skills, corporate elearning can prevent him from leaving the company (the Peter Principle). With the right training, an employee does not shift to another company offering training to retain him.

What is psychometric profiling?

Psychometric profiling is very useful in making sure an employee is promoted. It can ensure that the employer is useful in understanding the weaknesses and strengths of every employee and how to use them for a company’s advantage.

How can such profiling aid in designing corporate elearning?

Once the company identifies an employee’s psychology, it can be used to train him for a role. When an employee is not suited for a role, he cannot give his level best performance. He is also not so attached to the company because he has no job satisfaction.

Psychometric profiling is a great tool for companies for preparing corporate elearning courses because it measures employees’ mental abilities and whether they are enough for a role.

Such profiling is done by HR to check the personality type of employee during the initial rounds of candidate selection. Well, they measure a candidate’s aptitude required for a job and these questions are not objective-type questions. The personality type of employee reflects his commitment to work.

Which personality type likes online learning?

For example, there are two basic personality types, type A and type B. Type A personality type is quite aggressive, whereas type B is quite relaxed. A company must see that the right training is developed for both personality types; otherwise, there can be high employee attrition. The Type A personality type pays attention to details and is competitive. Hence, they are suited for jobs that require high planning, like an event coordinator. Type A personalities are also quite hardworking because they are detail-oriented, so jobs like operations manager are perfect for them. Type people also don’t talk to anyone else who is not related to the task at hand, whereas type B is quite sociable.

They are committed to working but have a relaxed attitude, so they feel satisfied in what they do. Even if a plan does not work, it does not affect them much. This is not true for a Type A personality who goes to lengths to complete a project within deadlines.

Type B people are quite good in sales because they understand people and like listening to them. All this is revealed in the psychometric profiling of a candidate. Type A personalities are not suited for sales jobs because they’re choleric by nature and hence get irritated when a customer asks too many questions.

Inclination of Type B towards online classes:

Generally, the Type B personality does not have problems in self-paced classes, but the Type A Personality can have doubts and hence require a group discussion to find answers in time. Type A personality wants no delay in getting their queries resolved online but needs timely answers. Such personality types feel stress more than others and are always rushing. Hence, timely resolution of their problems is quite important; they simply can’t wait. 

Since Type B is more adaptable, online learning is suited for them. But this personality type has a calm and lazy temperament and hence might have trouble submitting assignments and completing courses on time, and hence they need a push. They are extroverts, but all social interaction is diminished in online learning. Hence, all this needs to be considered while curating and developing corporate learning for employees.

16 May 2022
hybrid training

Why is hybrid training useful in offices after the pandemic?

Hybrid training has become a feasible solution for companies ever since the Covid-19 pandemic became a reality. The employees shifted to the work-from-home mode and didn’t want to rejoin offices. The Hybrid Training concept means providing training to all the employees, including online means for those working from home and offline to those working from the office.

Hybrid training is useful because it addresses all the employees at the same time.

But is holding a hybrid training event always essential? The situations in which such an event must be held are the following:

  1. Crucial event

Sometimes, an important situation has arisen in the office due to which all the employees need to be informed about. In that case, hybrid training becomes crucial. Apart from that, when some employees work from home, they are not aware of the latest product developments. In that case, remote employees must be brought online to get an introduction to a new product. Sometimes, a special speaker is also called to the office to discuss his industry experience. All the employees need to be gathered together for a hybrid training scenario. Such a scenario ensures that the remote workers also can interact with such speakers, which are only called on exclusive occasions to the office.

  1. Anyone should not feel left out

When meetings are held in the hybrid training model, it’s advantageous for the team because remote workers get to see their office colleagues; this helps in culture building because they learn about other people’s ways of working. Such hybrid training sessions ensure that remote workers who often feel isolated because they are not attending offices don’t feel that way anymore. Since important discussions occur before them in the office, they feel included and don’t suffer from FOMO, leading them to quit.

They might feel that the office workers are being given undue attention because they are included in decision-making. But hybrid training events ensure that such things don’t happen.

  1. Product launch

Sometimes such training is the only option for companies when introducing new products. And all the employees have to be contacted at once to get information about the product. When remote employees are excluded from such training sessions, it can affect the product launch, which is detrimental for the company, given the competition.

For example, sometimes, the sales professionals working remotely and from the office have to be given sales training simultaneously; otherwise, the sales process gets delayed.

In hybrid training, the companies have the advantage that someone present from the office has a good attention span. But what about those attending the meeting online, who could be checking their phone every time. They might have turned their camera off and not listened to anything in the meeting.

Training material is the crux of such a training event

Hence, the most important concern in a hybrid training environment is the training material, which has to be designed properly. The remote participants must feel that the content is as per their needs. If the company does not design the environment in such a way, the whole idea of hybrid training can backfire. The hybrid training must be intentional and can’t be organic because it might not deliver the required results.

The hybrid training presentation must be recorded pragmatically because the remote workers must find the webinar interesting. There must also be PDFs shown in the videos and slide decks that can excite the participants. There can also be ebooks that can be given to the participants so that they have gone through them before attending the class.

Encourage employees to attend such training

The organizations have to make sure that the certifications are also awarded because they give motivation to the participants.

But for that, a tech-based platform has to be used so that there is no extra work for the HR team to keep track of participants who have to be issued certificates. If such software is not given to the HRs, their workload can be increased immensely because of the maintenance of spreadsheets for recording participants.

Organizations have to consider their work culture because presenteeism is not the only matter of importance now. The companies have to see whether the employees are meeting the goals regardless of how much overtime they put in. If an employee cannot deliver the required output, his efforts can’t be rewarded.

Hence this is how hybrid training must be conducted.

28 Mar 2022
elearning template

Pointers for designing an elearning template 

The e-learning industry has grown by leaps and bounds. It’s because people have started understanding the importance of learning unconventionally.

The e-learning companies are also coming up with avant-garde content to ensure that the businesses can take care of their employees. But some problems can impair the functioning of a company’s LMS. The LMS has a lot of eLearning templates available, but sometimes they become outdated; hence it’s the job of the business to contact the vendor to modify the template. An LMS template is just like a PowerPoint slide, in which the users can plug in the content. It’s also crucial that before you decide to buy an LMS software, you have a complete idea about its eLearning template library. Sometimes, the eLearning templates might not have an option for you to add videos and audio, which are essential for your course.

Hence, it does not make sense for you to get that LMS. The LMS must also have an option for the course creators to auto-translate because they need external help to add subtitles to a course without it.

These are the essential points that no designer team can ignore while designing a template:

  • Make sure learners get the instructor’s feedback

The LMS must have the option of feedback. This means that it must have an option for you to add the email ID of the instructor or even a chat box option. When the learners don’t get timely help, they are likely to divert from a course. Therefore, the learners must also be given help in the form of access to the social media handles of the instructors or the company so that they can get in touch with their peers who are a part of the official Facebook group. The learners feel motivated to continue with a course when their queries are answered on time. Also, the LMS eLearning templates must have options for the LMS admins to track the usage rates of the module, like when does a learner quits, i.e., he presses the “close” button.

  • Get the opinion of the team on the template

The team feedback is also crucial when getting an LMS template.

For example, the LMS template must be approved after getting approval from the team. Then, the graphic designers can design a style guide as to where the text and images should be placed in a template. If the template does not have the proper placement of the objects, it would be unusable in the future, causing an unnecessary expense on your part in getting a template redesigned. This style guide can include the tone of the template, like how many images would be placed on a slide.

An elearning template must also have a scope for notes, just like in PowerPoint slides, so that the SME team can include some important points if they are missed.

You might not use all the placeholders in a template like for notes etc., but they need to be there because the design can’t be altered to add more of them if needed.

  • Appropriate navigation

The eLearning template must also be navigable, and hence there should be placeholders for buttons/icons. You can also include captions to describe what belongs where.

Navigation is a crucial part of the elearning template. The template must have a placeholder for hyperlinks so that the users can be directed to the last/next slide or the main page. When the template does not have easily visible hyperlinks, the learners get confused, and their time is wasted finding the hyperlinks to go further in the course or backward. It is also necessary that on every elearning template, the place for menu/icons/buttons should be fixed and decided beforehand so that any significant modifications are not needed later.

  • Have proper bullet lists placeholders

The elearning templates have to be designed because every slide can’t have a different layout. You can’t expect the learners to lose their attention during a course. When you have a consistent layout throughout the course, thanks to the e-learning template, you have better brand visibility which ensures that the learners assimilate the eLearning content quickly.

Any template must have unavoidable elements like bullet lists and short text placeholders. Without such elements, the e-learning content is not coherent and articulate. When learners browse through long text blocks, they feel frustrated and suffer from cognitive overload. They might not retain much even after the course, and therefore short text blocks are essential to encourage retention.

Before embarking on a template design job, the design team must take some ideas from the end-users. They could be given surveys and assessments to gauge their response. Through such surveys, the design team knows what kind of layout is preferred in terms of positioning images and text. The target audience might not like any deviation from this layout.

When the organization does have an eLearning template, it makes sure that the employees get a feeling of cohesion. This is necessary because the employees don’t enjoy the e-learning experience when every slide has a different design.

  • Arrange a menu before the course

The e-learning content designers must also make sure that a menu is integrated at the beginning of the course. This menu lets them know whether the e-learning course is sufficient for them, or they also need external resources. So, before any module begins, a slide should be added as an introduction that briefly describes the contents. When the course is sorted with a menu and an e-learning introductory slide before every module, the learners can use the course for just-in-time information needs. They can quickly locate the information needed by them to solve their problem.

Hence, this is how an e-learning template should be designed.

15 Mar 2022
customer service training

What is the best method for customer service training: asynchronous or synchronous?  

The companies must focus so much on their services now because the competition is stiff. Customer service is integral to such services because the business is affected once they are not pleased.

Why can’t customer service training be asynchronous?

The customer service agents must know that the customers on calls might be irritated, but even then, they must be nice.

The customer service training for agents cannot be asynchronous because they have a lot of queries to be answered, so a trainer must be with them when they are reading the training stuff.

Query solving sessions can be scheduled later, but the customer service agents might be busy with their jobs.


Here are the following situations when synchronous customer service training can help:

  1. Organize weekly webinars:

    Since the e-learning sessions of the customer service agents must be synchronous, weekly webinar sessions can be held on an LMS (Learning Management System) where they can be guided on how to proceed. For example, a trainer, industry experts, and senior workers can explain the various situations in which the customer needs to be appeased. Send emails to customer service agents about such webinars to correspond and come up with some questions.

    The instructors can also hold such sessions once the agents have responded to the branching scenarios quizzes included in the LMS. Then, if the staff has chosen wrong answers, they can be shown the compiled results and the repercussions.

  2. Enlighten customer service agents:

    A company has so much at stake in an online call because the customers form the most critical impression about your company. Hence, the customer service agents cannot be slow, e.g., when a buyer needs a replacement product because he has received a defective product, the agent should know the product line. If he does not, the customer is not too pleased and may use the Cancel option to file a product return.

    Moreover, if a customer asks for a replacement, the customer service agent must also know whether the former still has enough time left for the eligible replacement since the purchase. Hence, a weekly quiz can also be posted on the LMS for customer service agents on how they respond to a particular situation.

    Such agents can also be given pop quizzes about which they have no prior knowledge.

  3. Show the demos of irritating customers:

    The instructors can show how the customer service task is done by preparing an act. They can ask someone else to play the confused customer. The whole act is entertaining if subtitles and background music are included. It is also helpful if along with the act-based video the employees are also given some resource links. Resource links to PDF documents on the LMS might prove tedious, so it is better, that the customer service agents are shown infographics or comic strips for better retention. The instructors can use anecdotes during webinars, so that customer service agents learn from the latter’s experience.

    The videos containing the task-based acts can also be animated, where there can be varied kinds of customers portrayed. And these customers should be the types, the service agents do not know how to deal with, like chatty customers who want to talk even after the problem is solved, and the agent cannot disconnect the line. Other annoying customers hate every solution suggested to them because they are bossy. Such customers want to be treated exclusively, and hence it is best to connect them to a senior. Another set of irritating customers is those who file for product returns when the time limit is over.

    Also, dealing with new customers can be challenging because they need instructions on using a product. Although companies might have prepared onboarding product videos, they sometimes cannot understand.

  4. Dealing with new customers:

    The new customers require some guidance and heads-up because they are not acquainted with the product. They might ultimately discard your product in the trash can once the customer service agents don’t help them. So, the agents must have complete knowledge about the usage of the product to detect where a new customer might be going wrong. Once they don’t get the required help, such newbies shun your product, but not before badmouthing about it to everybody else.

  5. Be aware with the company’s return policies:
    Although customer service employees might have all the resources, they must be given knowledge about compliance rules. For example, they must be aware of the company’s policies regarding returns and replacements so that none of them is violated because heavy fines are levied if they are.

In the end:

Apart from customer service training, it’s also essential to see that such staff are pleased with their work schedules because when they are burned out, they are not in their best moods to attend to customers. So instead of them working more, even on holidays, you get technology like chatbots that can answer routine questions. When the customer service agents work more in their jobs, they are likely to switch, costing you experienced resources.

21 Feb 2022
pharma elearning

How has globalization led to pharma elearning?

The world around us has become easily dependent on the e-learning industry. Pharma e-learning is truly revolutionary in this industry because it can ensure that the employees become acquainted with the latest compliance rules. Employees also get frustrated with employers who are unwilling to update them about the new rules. Elearning in the pharmaceutical industry has become a critical factor because it can determine whether medical devices are used correctly or not.

When the pharmaceutical companies provide training to their salespersons, they can assure that sales happen. Quick sales are important for such companies because of the short shelf life between product launch and its copying by the competitors.

These are the reasons why pharma e-learning is indispensable in this industry now:

Higher hiring of freelancers

Elearning can as be used to train freelance employees who are getting increased employment in this industry.

The reason why freelancers are getting such high employment is that they can modify their working hours. In certain countries, rules about overtime of employees are very stringent and, as such, prove to be costly for companies. Since freelancers can easily adapt their schedules as per the requirements of the companies without imposing any huge costs on them, they are preferable employees. When the company has just launched a new drug in the market and needs a worker to work overtime for making sales, freelancers are a better option. Sometimes, they are also a necessity in those countries where the company might not find any regular labor.

Since so many companies are entering global markets these days, it might not be plausible to find someone local at quick notice for sales. Hence, hiring a short-time employee might be a good solution for a company. Since the pharma companies hire temporary workers on such a large scale, elearning has become a prerequisite to training them. Elearning is a fast delivery mode and can get a company to rush up to its sales processes.

Need for localization due to globalization

Localization is also becoming a major requirement in the pharma industry. Since so many companies are selling their products internationally, they require someone to interact with the local employees.

This is only possible when someone is aware of the native language of such countries, and hence pharma e-learning imparts the knowledge of such languages.

It has been proved that Asian countries such as India, Russia, and China will be major buyers of international drugs, and here e-learning is necessary for imbibing their cultural and linguistic nuances for making sales.

In addition, there is an increased demand for imports of pharmaceuticals in developing countries and reduced domestic production, which can be attributed to a rise in incomes in these nations. The pharma companies have started understanding the importance of Middle-income countries for their sales, and hence a lot of research and development activities are now focused on them. Hence, there is an increased necessity for language training.

Apart from that, although the local labor is hired in such countries for making sales, it’s important that they are trained adequately in teaching customers. The sales executives must be trained diligently about the consumption of a drug. Therefore, e-learning unavoidably offers the best possibilities for standardized training about drug consumption.

The companies need to systematically train local sales executives because any translation error can cause losses when the consumer takes drugs in the wrong quantity.

Increasing access to local customers

Pharmacists in every country have to be given e-learning to deliver the best of explanations to patients and doctors. That’s why, e-learning is the new paradigm for them given the globalization of pharmaceutical companies.

Such training has to include questions about dosage levels and what can be the side effects caused due to wrong levels of consumption. Moreover, the pharmacists and the sales executives have to be precise and compassionate in dealing with patients who might not read the product instructions, such as the right dosage levels when they are ill. Hence, pharma companies have to enhance pharmacists’ communication and technical skills to make sales and become effective resources for them. Also, the sales executives have to be trained in how to use technology to reach out to customers trying to access them via apps.

More R&D is happening in developing countries

Research and development have also become an important need for such companies. It’s because, without the right formulation, effective drugs can’t be produced. With so much competition, companies have to invest in research and development. But R&D being a costly initiative, the companies have to hire the most efficient workers. The companies have to hone their skills through e-learning to effectively interact with departments like marketing as to what kinds of drugs are needed. Language training is crucial so that the R&D employees in the headquarters can understand a local marketing team and the concerns of patients. Language learning is also significant because pharma companies must serve people, and hence they must have knowledge about their requirements. In addition, such industry has to deal with functional pathways in every country, including the governments, so language training is crucial.

Is e-learning the right choice?

Elearning is a practical alternative for pharma companies because they can’t provide instructor-led training in every country. Apart from being too costly, this can also prove to be a location-centric problem. The learners might not be willing to travel.

Hence, e-learning localization is a great resource for them to provide training in all languages accessible on all devices.

He was a German psychologist who is known for discovering the forgetting curve. According to this curve, the biggest decline in memory happens within 20 minutes, and then 1 hour.