12 Jul 2022

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What are the problems for an elearning in business vendor?

The elearning is now a preferable mode of training all over the world. But there are some problems which have made its implementation quite tough.

What are the problems for an elearning in business vendor?

High costs of an LMS: The employees must use the latest technology in elearning. But it’s not so easy when the company is just relying on an internal team for everything. Most workers today are millennials and Gen Z who prefer software like LMS, but hosting it can be a problem.

A company conducts multiple training processes, such as compliance training and process-based courses, to ensure that employees have the best work cum learning experiences. The employees must also be scheduled for courses through an LMS, doubling up as training software. A training manager must keep a note of who is attending which training.

The training software has exorbitant costs because the license has to be renewed monthly or annually. Hence, the companies must have significant elearning in business requirements for such costs to be explicable.

Apart from the licensing fees, the cost of LMS/training software includes installation costs at your premises. The maintenance of such software requires paying extra fees to the LMS vendor every time a new user gets on board.

It can be paying for a new course accessed by an existing user(Pay-Per-Use) or a new user enrolling in the LMS(Pay-Per-User), but such models don’t include a license fee.

Impossible to meet deadlines: An Elearning in business organization has a major problem when the L&D professionals are given unattainable deadlines.

This happens because the client does not want to spend much if such employees have been hired in contractual roles. Hence, such teams should be realistic about the time needed to deliver the desired results from the start.

Inexperienced team: There can also be issues when there’s too much content that it can’t be covered in a short elearning module. In that case, it’s better to get an SME who can help streamline the content, depending on the employees and their time availability. That brings us to the problem of cognitive overload, giving the audience information they don’t need and can’t even remember.

Hence, it’s better to have a training-needs analysis done with the senior management before planning any module for elearning in business.

Elearning in business also faces issues when the subject-matter expert hired for the project has no clue about instructional design. He might have a wealth of information about his subject, but does not know how learning theories work to create result-oriented content for elearning in business.

The SMEs can be asked to take instructional designing courses in that case, so they have sufficient knowledge about elearning in business. They can also contribute their knowledge as videos which can be added to the LMS.

Because they will be creating content for adults, they have to take care of things such as cognitive burdens. Employees constantly get distracted while using elearning content by work or family members. Elearning could be the last thing on their mind, so the content has to be arranged in brief modules which they can understand easily.

Solution for an elearning in business company

Prepare a proposal

It is better to discuss beforehand because problems can occur when the training module does not satisfy the client’s expectations. They might not have expected the course to be so comprehensive or short. When the vendor for elearning in business knows the requirements for employee training, it knows what the project must entail. Hence, he will come up with a proposal to show to the client depending on his idea of a successful executable.

If a client does not agree to any technology included in such a proposal, it can lead to an acceptable end product.

Any elearning module should be receptive to the target demographics’ needs. If their digital literacy levels don’t match your course’s technicalities, it’s better to make it simpler.

You can create survey forms that generate information about digital literacy and the experience levels of the median employee in the company. You might also get information about whether the company has adept staff to handle the course enrollment for various users. If it does not have any person who can suffice as an LMS admin, you will have to train someone for the job.

18 Apr 2022

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Can HR training help in doing a belonging audit?

Companies are today very much concerned about retaining employees.

Hence HR training is crucial for this purpose so that employees can be taught about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion.

What is a Belonging Audit?

The Belonging Audit measures how much employees feel valued in a company. If they don’t, they are looking for better job opportunities and will quit as they find one. When an employee feels like he is a part of an organization because his viewpoint is valued, he brings his opinions to the table, leading to better productivity. For example, it happens with women leaders in senior management roles, who tend to quit because their ideas don’t matter. They have had the opportunity to progress in the company, but most people don’t think they deserve that role and often don’t take their work and opinions seriously. The group has a herd mentality, which often includes not taking women in top positions seriously.

Therefore, an organization needs to conduct a belonging audit to know whether employees feel included or not. Hence this kind of audit surveys employees to know their feedback on whether they feel “included” or not. So, this survey involves interviewing the employees to get their feedback. There have been statistical proof that a feeling of belonging in your workplace decreases employees’ sick days. These are the reason why employees don’t feel they belong in a company:

Populist culture: The reason why belonging has taken such an important role is that there is a populist culture emerging in countries, which has led to social frustration among people. So they want to find a sense of satisfaction at their workplaces where they don’t want to feel excluded because of their different ethnicities. This increasing agitation among people has been concluded in a survey involving 6 countries by World Economic Forum. There has been a rise in populism in countries such as the US, where it is believed that there is a difference of interests between the elite and the common people and the former refers to the wealthier sections of the society, including those serving the government. So, the commoners are devoid of many rights. The populists want to help people in general, “the small fry” who are not happy with globalization and immigration. The populists want such people to benefit from the same rights given to the elites.

Remote workers:

Apart from this reason, another reason is that more and more workers are now working remotely. There has been an increase in this percentage in the US since 2005. Since this year, there has been a rise in such people in the US by 173%. Workers who work from home feel disconnected because they don’t talk to their colleagues, at least not daily, and are not part of any official events. Such workers feel excluded and don’t feel that they are a part of a company. The HR training can make the human resource professionals conduct a belonging audit properly and execute the necessary changes.

It’s the job of the HRs to ensure that the senior leaders are willing to make the necessary alterations. If they don’t think that changes are a requisite, conducting a belonging audit is a waste of time. The minorities who feel excluded in a company feel further hurt by no changes and the situation exacerbates.

How should HR conduct a belonging audit?

Conduct the survey

The HR training can ensure that they are accomplished to conduct such an audit. So, they can arrange listening sessions with employees and listen to their woes. Once that is done, they can plan some steps through these insights to bring a transformation in the organization’s culture.

The HR has to conduct this survey because they are supposed to manage the human resources. But the employees might already be fed up with such surveys because previously, no action was taken. Hence it’s the HR’s job to convince them that the survey will yield positive results.

The employees might also feel that their perception about things will be revealed to others and they will be reprimanded for it. HR’s job is to convince them that their opinions will be kept anonymous. The employees must feel that this survey is being conducted because of the leaders’ willingness. Hence, the introductory email must contain a note from them as to why everyone should partake.

Develop the survey questions

The HR training can also include learning how to develop such questionnaires so that employees feel that their viewpoints are important. HR professionals can include questions from survey banks, but they can also include customized open-ended questions such as the behavior found objectionable by employees. If they have seen such behavior in the organization with others or themselves, which has left them feeling agonized or embarrassed, they should answer it. If their work in the office means letting go of their moral values, they should talk about it. So, the survey’s questions should seek blatant responses from employees. If some incident has left them feeling excluded or ignored in the company, they should report it in the belonging audit. If the employees feel lonely because no one talks to them, then address such problems in the survey.

Analyze the survey results

Again, HR’s job is to do the data analysis, which isn’t an easy task. The HR’s job is to see which ethnicities feel they are often ignored the most. So, such people have the least belonging to the organization. Employees in some functions/departments in the company also feel marginalized during work, like they are not included in projects or critical decision-making. Are employees’ well-being affected by this sidelining and causing low belonging levels?

Three drivers of belonging: comfort, connection and contribution

There are three drivers of belonging Comfort, which is the 1st one that means whether employees can be real at the workplace. The 2nd one is Connection which implies that employees must interact with their teams and should be able to discuss their professional and personal problems with them. The companies are creating business resource groups for this purpose so that employees can connect with someone having the same religious background or ethnicity or any other commonality. But Contribution is the most significant contributor to the feeling of belonging in an employee who is acknowledged for his work and his goals are in sync with the company’s goals.

Hence there should be a meaningful discussion to attain a common outcome. And when such debates when, there is a beneficial exchange of ideas because everybody gets to know the merits and demerits of an employee’s plan of action to solve a problem.

HR training can ensure that they can create an organizational culture that includes all the three factors of comfort, contribution and connection so that employees feel belonged. They must be allowed to dress and behave the way they want, have team conversations, share their opinions and get feedback from superiors about how they are creating a foundation for a better future for the company through their work.

This is how companies can foster a culture of belonging by ensuring that employees feel that they are contributing something.

14 Feb 2022

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When must a company implement virtual reality training? 

Companies now increasingly use virtual reality to impart the best possible training to employees. The learners can benefit so much from this training, whether related to soft skills or technical skills. Virtual reality can be used effectively in all kinds of situations. In cases where employees need to use heavy machinery as a part of their work, virtual reality-based simulations can ensure that they are introduced into simulations where handheld controllers allow them to experience the tools.

They can be asked to work on assembly line production through a machine and see how the various buttons work. The learners can be immersed in a world of faulty machines and learn how to repair them. 

The virtual reality-based simulations are effective for nontechnical situations too, where employees have to deal with huge crowds

This can also be tried with HR managers, who can be asked to confront a deviating employee in a VR simulation. The former can see how his body language, voice modulation, etc. affect the latter. It is the best role-play for becoming an expert in handling real-life office situations. 

The same procedures can also be used for training recruits and introducing them to the shop floor procedures. This way, they can also learn how to prevent defects in the product line. 

But organizations need to ask before they decide to use this technology to create training whether it’s the perfect fit given their budget and other considerations. 

Depending on time and budget 

A company can develop the VR training depending on the timeframe. If a company needs immediate training solutions such as for recruits, VR is not the answer because the development time is long and can range between 1-6 months. The cost is also high and can vary between, 20000-1,50,000 dollars. Industries like manufacturing, retail, and transport require VR training compared to others where conventional training methods are sufficient. The 360 VR videos require an omnidirectional camera to be captured because they can take a shot from every angle. Such a VR video can be watched without a VR headset, but it can have an immersive experience. 

Virtual reality-based training is of two types, and it depends on an organization’s needs which it should use. First is the 360 degrees VR in which the learner does not move, and he only can vary his viewpoint, i.e., he can watch the objects in the environment from the left or right angle but can’t change his position. But in the Full VR, he can also move in the simulated environment apart from viewing them from different angles. 

Depending on training needs 

Virtual reality(VR) is a better way to train employees because they get to see a machine from proximity and find out where are all its parts. However, the 360 VR does not have much training scope as the full VR, allowing better learning. The employees can only see a machine from all angles, but they can’t touch the equipment. For example, the employees can learn about different parts of the equipment and which one to use during an emergency in 360 VR, but what happens when they do that can be checked in full VR only. Supposedly, just turning off the machine might not be the best solution in case of a crisis, but employees can only learn that when they are in a full VR simulation wearing a headset and holding controllers. They might need to take another action, like accessing the nearest fire extinguisher. So, when employees are required to take action, a full VR provides a more result-oriented training solution. 

Virtual reality training is not required for tasks such as cybersecurity, which requires employees to sit in front of PCs because they can be taught through screencasts. But in the case of safety training, virtual reality is an inevitable solution because lives are at stake. 

From the safety perspective, a company can’t take any risks, and such situations are more uncontrollable than computer problems, so VR, which emulates reality, is necessary. A VR training vendor can help a company carry out tests to determine whether a certain skill requires VR-based training or not. On the other hand, an organization can’t do without VR when the employee’s response is extremely critical, like pilots, because they have to be monitored for their response. Any delayed response by them can cost a company, but a late response might not have such adverse effects in some situations. In the latter cases, implementing e-learning training is sufficient because employees can be tracked for their right/wrong answers in an assessment. In addition, e-learning can measure employee performance metrics such as their MCQ test results. Unlike VR, e-learning can’t provide metrics like voice recording, body movements, data entry speed, etc., which are necessary for employees dealing with customers. 

So, the introduction of VR-based training depends on what performance metrics a company needs to measure, which are determined by a training needs analysis. 

A company can also use its current training materials like 2D e-learning videos and convert them into 360 VR. The businesses can consult the e-learning vendor about whether they can convert the characters and situations in such videos to virtual reality. Virtual reality allows the maximum retention of e-learning videos because employees are immersed in situations that require them to apply their knowledge.
They also have reinforcement of their training, and hence better retention happens. Since employees have practiced their skills through such simulations, there is decreased attrition due to the inability to face job challenges. On the contrary, employees have already experienced the worst-case scenario through simulation, which boosts their confidence and productivity. 

Companies should also make it a point to ease employees into VR-based training. It can ensure that the employees get the tutorials to handle any troubles while using the headsets and controllers. The employers can also ensure that the employees are given sufficient demo time before they are put into the VR simulators. If employees can’t get the hang of the headsets and controllers during such demos and still have some problems, they must be able to access technology experts for resolving issues. 

19 Oct 2021

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Elearning supports business continuity planning

The world has experienced such a huge change due to the pandemic. Many companies indeed had to shut down because they were not able to handle challenges imposed on them. This pandemic created unprecedented stress for companies who had to put up work from home employees. Never before in the history of mankind, had such a work culture been introduced.

As an aftermath, the companies, therefore, turned to e-learning companies USA to educate managers about Crisis Planning & Management and Disaster Recovery for such critical situations.

Organizations are now including such courses as part of their training so that the situation does not go out of hand as it happened during 2020.

That’s when businesses were not prepared to handle employees working from their abodes. But, with business continuity e-learning companies are prepared to handle any exigent situations before they happen. Anything that can adversely affect business operations like a natural catastrophe, violence in the workplace, and even employee strikes can be dealt with, with such training. Every company needs to take such kind of training seriously and ensure that all the managers sign up for it.

This kind of training includes topics such as:

Talking is crucial: Communication with external stakeholders is the key during such problems. So, managers are taught about how to convince vendors and customers that things are under control. Buyers need to be persuaded that companies are not going to stop their supply. It’s because some customers are crucial for business and it does not want to lose them.

Employees can also get troubled during such situations and may try to change jobs because they disbelieve a company’s capacity to pay salaries. Hence a company needs to clear their misconceptions about any discrepancies in salary disbursement.

How to replace normal work methods: A company needs to decide the replacement technology when any disaster strikes. Every infrastructure related to such technology should have been arranged beforehand to avoid any delay in work.

If the pre-decided technology can’t be implemented during the disaster, then any substitute workaround process should also have been planned. All these factors need to be documented properly so that they are available for consultation during a crisis.

Substitute offices and substitute labor: Companies must have alternative offices available for employees when they can’t work from their authorized offices. It’s also vital that replacement staff has been arranged in case the regular employees have to discontinue from their jobs due to illness or urgent needs. A company can’t postpone its work and let go of normal orders from long term clients because of the unavailability of staff.

How can e-learning companies USA help?

E-learning companies USA are aiding companies by providing training for critical software needed during a disaster. For example, during the pandemic, many companies needed to assess their future finances with special software. Due to training only, managers could forecast whether the cash flows generated through sales were enough to support the outflows caused by the payments of salaries. And as a result, businesses could calculate how many employees had to be retained for maintaining profitable operations.

Knowing such software is the task of the managers in a company who have been delegated with the responsibility of handling business continuity planning.

Moreover, a team structure is important for a company to smoothly wade out of such a situation. So apart from a sponsor who heads all the business continuity operations, there should be two managers under him who carry out his instructions. Knowledge of administrative tasks is useful for executing business continuity tasks. Hence an administrative assistant should also be part of the team. He can be given special training for this indispensable role by the course content given by e-learning companies USA.

It’s beneficial to impart business continuity education through e-learning companies USA so that the companies don’t face any hindrance during this time. A strategy to be implemented during this time has to be created, and it might not be easy to do so without the IT department which knows whether certain plans can be used or not. They can hand out a checklist to every department to know which tasks are crucial for operations and hence IT department can suggest the requisite plans and support systems. The concerned departments can be asked whether they have such support systems in place for such contingencies.

Hence e-learning companies USA can train managers about how to plan out business continuity, taking employees into confidence.

23 Sep 2021

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Why and when should a business switch to a new LMS?

The eLearning industry is experiencing such a boom now. Its because its content does not require so much, time from learners. After all, it’s in the form of videos and micro-learning modules. It requires much less devotion of time from employees, which is convenient for them.

LMS systems are not similar in features and that’s where the companies need to focus on them because employees’ learning is affected.

Frequency of the LMS use by employees:

You can also determine if your LMS system is regularly used by employees or not.

It’s important to check its usability for employees through feedback. Employees might not be content with the LMS which can be revealed in a survey sent to them. For getting an honest employee response in this survey make sure that they are convinced about the confidentiality of their responses.

Usable on mobile phones:

Mobile devices are now used almost all the time by all employees. It’s true that workers also use them for work-related purposes. So, this way, companies don’t have to provide employees with presentations on the projectors to train them. Mobile phones are ideal for employees watching webinars and webcasts and through an LMS it’s easy to monitor the time when such content was used.

But, the LMS in the company should be available on mobile. If it’s not, then the scope for mobile-based learning is eliminated for a company’s learner. Hence the LMS should be customizable, i.e., it should be able to bring its content in sync with different users.

So, when you are planning to get a new LMS, based on the response to the previous version you should take your decision.

Cost: It’s an important factor while getting an LMS. These systems charge owners based on per-user registration and if it’s exorbitant, avoid making a change.

Features: The existing LMS might be mediocre, but with time employees have become hooked to its certain features. Then there are some attractive features in the new LMS. So, when you decide about getting a new LMS, make sure you have the tradeoff of features in mind. But before, changing, just decide whether the lack of certain features is a sufficient reason for making a switch. For example, lack of personalization of content is an important feature for discarding the old LMS in favor of a new one.

The following features should be changeable by users as per their aesthetic preferences.

Dashboard of a user’s account

The users like to add their pictures to their dashboard and even write some introductions. Also, when a dashboard has a personalized background, users feel inclined to log into it. Instead of Images, the users should be able to use avatars for their profile snaps. They can also choose a theme for the background and then add a dose of personal touch to it with a color palette. When a learner is feeling irked due to some office issue, logging into the LMS can bring him joy when he sees his favorite colors in the dashboard.

Prizes

Personalize their prizes for the users. This is done when you add somebody’s avatar on the gamification badge won by him/her or the LMS should have an advanced asset library that allows users to use its images on the badges. The badges should also be displayable everywhere with an HTML code like on LinkedIn next to an employee’s profile. The gamification badge should also have the same color palette as the logo of the company.

Certificates

Corporate learners always want to show off how much they have learned in an eLearning course to their co-workers. It boosts their self-confidence when their colleagues know about their accomplishments. So the LMS must have a certificate rollout facility when a course is complete and the learner must be able to print it so that he can display it on the wall. Hence the learners must be able to modify the font, font size on their certificate, and even its borders.

Language support

Another useful advantage of the LMS is when its e-learning content can be changed to a specific language. When the LMS does not have translation capacities, the learners with different regional backgrounds can’t get any training due to their no comprehension of its content. The LMS should have features due to which the learners can view its content in their preferred language along with its emails.

Export of data: Also the export of data to the new LMS might not be automatic. It can require the help of an LMS administrator to manually export the data from the old to the new LMS.

Hence a company should take the presence of these features into account while getting a new LMS.

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