Readiness

A growing number of companies are responding to the promise of eLearning by adopting advanced learning systems into their organizational models. As conventional workplace learning happened in a classroom setting and was based on a face-to-face teacher-student model, it was, and is, often criticized for being expensive, time-consuming, and unresponsive to learners’ immediate needs. As an alternative, eLearning assures lower costs of distribution, anytime and anywhere access, and just-in-time learning that is responsive to learners’ immediate needs. Despite its many organizational benefits, it should come as no surprise that eLearning has not yet been sincerely adopted by corporate management, training departments, and end-users. In spite of the increasing use of the Internet, most employees can’t imagine effectively learning at a computer and are reluctant to try. Still others worry about security and privacy.

Many end-users find the change from classroom to desktop training disorienting. Most of them feel at ease in the normal classroom environment and even enjoy going off-site for a day to take a course. In general, off-site training represents a welcome departure from the daily workday routine, especially if that training requires travel to an entirely different location. Therefore, when organizations make a conscious decision to implement eLearning tools, not every manager and employee jumps on the bandwagon. Employees generally like the traditional way of taking courses from somebody who actually talks to them. This is what they’ve always done and it makes them feel comfortable. At the same time, managers and supervisors generally hold the notion that training means employees must physically leave their job, go someplace else, participate in a class, and then come back and return to work. Neither group is used to the idea that an employee can remain sitting at his or her own desk, not working but learning.

Before you learn how to actually market the concept of eLearning to executives and employees, it is very important to know that training is a critical tool in achieving an organization’s overall strategic goals. One mode of accelerating the acceptance of eLearning is to identify those areas within the organization where training is specifically supporting business strategy—whether in the form of team-building for productivity, creatingmore knowledgeable IT workers, accelerating new product rollouts throughout the organization and the supply chain, or obtaining other objectives. When a direct link is made so that eLearning is clearly seen as a means of helping to achieve business objectives, managers, executives, and employees have a greater incentive to support eLearning methodologies and to take such courses. Business strategy alignment applies as much to the training department as it does to any other part of the company. It is also an important incentive in the adoption of all kinds of training.

In the event that companies want their employees to take training courses via computer, those organizations should set aside time for such employees in an environment that’s conducive to training.

As new eLearning initiatives are being implemented, it is crucial to watchfully and thoughtfully manage the change from traditional classroom training to desktop eLearning. Again, communication is critical as it provides the key to both changing people’s perceptions about eLearning and, down the road, arousing their active participation in new training programs. Proper communication involves people in both the decision-making and the implementation processes, so be sure to involve the initial team in all your communication efforts.

All organizations undertaking eLearning initiatives should be prepared to help their employees with the transition. That implies both change management and marketing within the organization. As the acceptance and overall effectiveness of eLearning spreads, it becomes quite clear that the entire corporate community stands on the precipice of major changes in the manner in which it delivers training.

eLearning offers many advantages over the traditional classroom model, all of which will enable it to succeed as an educational force. While eLearning will never completely replace classroom education, it will take a prominent place among the various training options. Once a company has shifted from one style of training to another, both managers and employees will ready themselves for the change and become more willing to adopt. Implementation of a custom eLearning management system like Excelearn will further aid them in seamlessly making this transition.

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