When it comes to business, saving money in one way or another is almost always a concern. The cost of training new employees and ongoing training for existing staff is significant, but there are ways to save both time and money, creating a learning system that will benefit both you and your employees.
The simplest way to do this, while keeping training personalized and standardized, is to set up a learning management system. A learning management system is an eLearning system that is software based and allows you to set up, monitor, distribute, and track education courses and training programs for your company.
Here is how a learning management system, or LMS, allows you to train your employees on a budget.
Go Online
The key is that a learning management system is software based, and therefore, online. This offers a number of advantages. First of all, your employees don’t have to be in the office for training. They can take courses anywhere, which means even remote workers do not have to travel to the office to get the same training as other employees.
The second is that employees can take the courses or training programs anytime. Whether they are at their peak in the morning, afternoon, or late at night, they choose when they complete training. For you as an employer, this means they will be the most engaged and you’ll get better results. For the employee, they feel empowered and valued. Not only that, but working together as a team, your employees might be able to bounce ideas off of each other.
Learning management systems allow for better communication and team interaction for your employees, while being able to be taught from anywhere.
This saves you money because employees will complete courses faster, and apply the things they have learned more easily when they can do so on their terms. This flexibility is a huge advantage to you and your company.
Choose Courses Wisely
Many learning management systems offer many courses for many niches, and you can even create your own training programs. One way to save money is to choose courses wisely. This means more than just selecting an appropriate curriculum for your business. You can go beyond that with an LMS.
There are several ways to structure programs, including by by teams. For instance, your software engineering team may not need your customer service course, but they might need to learn about the new Facebook API. Conversely, your sales team does not need to learn about API in detail, but may need an overview of privacy changes or other important product features.
Beyond teams, not every team member needs every course or program. An advanced software engineer who has been with the company for years may not need to look at every new API in detail, where someone who is newer may need more thorough training.
You can save money by only offering the courses needed for specific positions, teams, and individuals.
Incentivize Learning
Want to really save some money? First, the education that comes from a learning management system will be vital to improving customer service and growing your company. This will not only save you money, it will increase your profits and customer retention. The key is that you must get employees to buy into the program.
While there are not always promotions available, you can incentivize employees other ways. Offer gift cards, extra time off, office amenities and benefits, or public recognition, once an employee successfully completes the program.
While you will have some employees who engage in training just for the learning, others will need an incentive. The more you can incentivize learning without incurring additional costs, the better it will be for your bottom line and company reputation.
Just be careful here. You also need to make sure that incentives are enough to keep employees motivated and engaged. Determine what they need and what motivates them before implementing any learning incentive program.
Offer Time To Learn
Training takes time, even with a good learning management system. Your employees will need time to learn, and that means scheduling it for them. This does not mean that you have to set times. As mentioned above, the flexibility is one of the biggest cost advantages of an LMS.
However, if an employee is scheduled for 40 hours a week, be sure they have a few hours for training without going into overtime. Make sure they understand you want them to do training on the clock, their completion is important to you and the company, and just as important as the other things they have to do.
This time to learn is vital. You don’t want employees to feel that training is an extra chore beyond their regular duties or for it to cause them stress. Training should be something they look forward to engaging in, and improves job satisfaction. Schedule learning time accordingly and treat is as valuable, and your employees will do the same.
The Cost Of Employee Replacement
One of the biggest ways a learning management system supports your budget and saving money is through employee retention. Replacing employees is expensive, as is starting training over from the beginning. It is much less expensive to keep your current employees and keep them happy.
It is important to understand how an LMS relates to keeping an employee satisfied and happy where they are. Everyone wants to feel like they are making progress at their job, and that advancement is possible. An LMS contributes to that feeling, helping you retain your current workforce.
Training programs can be expensive, but not having them is even more so. The cost of lost employee satisfaction and retention is just one of those costs. Go online, choose courses wisely, and incentivize learning for the greatest savings and the best results possible.
I hope you enjoyed this article about how to give your employees exceptional training and educational options without breaking the bank.
Interested in more articles about employee training?
Read My Blog Posts:
- Online ID Verification For Employee Onboarding & Security
- Why Your Employees Need Business Process Analysis
This saves you money because employees will complete courses faster, and apply the things they have learned more easily when they can do so on their terms. This flexibility is a huge advantage to you and your company.
Choose Courses Wisely
Many learning management systems offer many courses for many niches, and you can even create your own training programs. One way to save money is to choose courses wisely. This means more than just selecting an appropriate curriculum for your business. You can go beyond that with an LMS.
There are several ways to structure programs, including by by teams. For instance, your software engineering team may not need your customer service course, but they might need to learn about the new Facebook API. Conversely, your sales team does not need to learn about API in detail, but may need an overview of privacy changes or other important product features.
Beyond teams, not every team member needs every course or program. An advanced software engineer who has been with the company for years may not need to look at every new API in detail, where someone who is newer may need more thorough training.
You can save money by only offering the courses needed for specific positions, teams, and individuals.
Incentivize Learning
Want to really save some money? First, the education that comes from a learning management system will be vital to improving customer service and growing your company. This will not only save you money, it will increase your profits and customer retention. The key is that you must get employees to buy into the program.
While there are not always promotions available, you can incentivize employees other ways. Offer gift cards, extra time off, office amenities and benefits, or public recognition, once an employee successfully completes the program.
While you will have some employees who engage in training just for the learning, others will need an incentive. The more you can incentivize learning without incurring additional costs, the better it will be for your bottom line and company reputation.
Just be careful here. You also need to make sure that incentives are enough to keep employees motivated and engaged. Determine what they need and what motivates them before implementing any learning incentive program.
Offer Time To Learn
Training takes time, even with a good learning management system. Your employees will need time to learn, and that means scheduling it for them. This does not mean that you have to set times. As mentioned above, the flexibility is one of the biggest cost advantages of an LMS.
However, if an employee is scheduled for 40 hours a week, be sure they have a few hours for training without going into overtime. Make sure they understand you want them to do training on the clock, their completion is important to you and the company, and just as important as the other things they have to do.
This time to learn is vital. You don’t want employees to feel that training is an extra chore beyond their regular duties or for it to cause them stress. Training should be something they look forward to engaging in, and improves job satisfaction. Schedule learning time accordingly and treat is as valuable, and your employees will do the same.
The Cost Of Employee Replacement
One of the biggest ways a learning management system supports your budget and saving money is through employee retention. Replacing employees is expensive, as is starting training over from the beginning. It is much less expensive to keep your current employees and keep them happy.
It is important to understand how an LMS relates to keeping an employee satisfied and happy where they are. Everyone wants to feel like they are making progress at their job, and that advancement is possible. An LMS contributes to that feeling, helping you retain your current workforce.
Training programs can be expensive, but not having them is even more so. The cost of lost employee satisfaction and retention is just one of those costs. Go online, choose courses wisely, and incentivize learning for the greatest savings and the best results possible.
I hope you enjoyed this article about how to give your employees exceptional training and educational options without breaking the bank.
Interested in more articles about employee training?
Read My Blog Posts:
- Online ID Verification For Employee Onboarding & Security
- Why Your Employees Need Business Process Analysis
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