Maximizing Workforce Productivity with Online Training Opportunities

Did you ever imagine that in your lifetime, you would live through a crisis that would change how you work overnight? For manufacturers, many were deemed essential and production employees had to remain working onsite through the days and months in which others had to transition to work remotely.

Regardless if employees are on-site or working remotely, companies should continue providing basic skills training and opportunities for professional development. Employees need to learn how to adapt to the ever-changing workplace and continue to meet productivity expectations and learn how to work together no matter where team members are located. In fact, when employees are invested in, with something such as training, work feels more meaningful to them all while increasing creativity, productivity levels, knowledge sharing, and engagement (Harvard Business Review, 2018).

The biggest thing that companies need to adapt is how training is being delivered. There are new safety regulations and visitor policies, which permits many training opportunities to occur face-to-face. Although this can be a barrier, there are various ways learning opportunities can continue to make valuable impacts that go beyond a classroom setting.

Types of Virtual Training

Research shows that leaders and key contributors learn best with other leaders. However, that doesn’t mean that every participant needs to be sitting together in a training room. Instead, companies can create engaging courses and tools that are proven to enhance skills for personal, team, and organizational success (DDI, 2020). The following are Examples of classroom alternatives:

• Micro-courses: Short online courses that provides relevant bursts of learning. They focus in on a specific topic or skill.
  • For example, in the micro-course “Giving Feedback for Improvement”, learners can gain insight on how to provide timely, balance, and specific feedback when a more effective method and an enhanced result is desired in the workplace.

• Web-based: Self-lead online courses to assist people who prefer to go through training at their own pace.
  • Employees do not learn the same. Particularly, a total of 74% of employees prefer to learn during their spare time at work (LinkedIn, “Workplace Learning Report”, 2019). Utilizing a web-based training allows to meet these desires from the workforce.

• Virtual Classroom: An online interactive course that takes the advantages from a traditional classroom setting, and into a virtual platform. Participants can lead lively conversations and take part in activities while connecting with one another for skills practice.
  • A virtual classroom must be just as interactive as if in the classroom. Doing so will allow for high levels of retention and improve leadership behaviors to spark action in others. In fact, in the virtual classroom, participants have a 90% mastery of skill in this setting (Training Magazine, Virtual vs. Classroom training,” 2016).

Regardless of what training alternatives are provided to the workforce, now is the time for companies to invest in employees by reskilling and upskilling the workforce to meet pre-existing and post-pandemic business needs.

Take advantage of IMEC's webinars to learn tools and best practices to help you rebound even stronger from the pandemic, or get help with a customized workforce training program.