Editor’s Note: Welcome to our newest blog series, Chief Insights by John Blackmon, Trivantis CTO. Check back every month for more posts from John Blackmon.How long have you been implementing the same “tried and true” learning and development (L&D) program? Are you still conducting monthly face-to-face training sessions and incurring high travel costs?As a Chief Technology Officer, I’m here to make a business case for switching to online learning, and I’ve gathered quotes from a few other senior experts too.Online Training Is Effective LearningIn an interview with the Association for Talent Development (ATD), Reda Sadki, Senior Learning Systems Officer in the Learning and Research Department of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, shared this about her organization’s decision to switch to online training:
“In 2010, the IFRC spent almost $24 million dollars at the Secretariat in Geneva on workshops and training, almost all of which were face-to-face. Initially, people questioned the legitimacy and efficacy of online learning. Then we realized we had never evaluated our face-to-face training... We referred to two meta-analysis studies published in 2010 comparing online with blended learning. These studies found that online learning gets a slightly better outcome, and showed no benefits from blended learning.”
In addition to the studies the IFRC evaluated, a 2014 MIT study proved that eLearning is just as effective as traditional learning, and a 2003 paper published by the International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning states that “in two thirds of the cases, students taking courses by distance education outperformed their student counterparts enrolled in traditionally instructed courses.”Online Training Drives Business ResultsData from Towards Maturity research of more than 600 learning leaders shows that today’s L&D leaders are eager to transform learning. They expect significant results from improving their learning processes. Laura Overton, CEO and Founder of Towards Maturity, notes that organizations in the top 10% on the Towards Maturity index (organizations providing successful learning programs) achieve the following results:
Even if you don’t want to completely switch to online training right now, it’s worth considering where you could update and enhance your current L&D program. According to a TINYPulse survey, companies with a strong learning culture are 92 percent more likely to innovate, they are more productive, and have greater employee engagement than companies without a learning culture.Josh Bersin, founder of Bersin by Deloitte, reinforces this idea in an interview with ATD:
“The problem we’ve found over the years in HR is that many of the HR practices that companies still use were designed around turn of the 20th century during the industrial economy. At that time, companies were very hierarchical, and human beings were considered resources. However, humans aren’t resources, they are appreciating assets. The more you invest in them, the better they get.”
Interested in investing in a complete eLearning solution? Contact Trivantis® today to find out how we can provide a custom package for you.
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