The role of online learning companies is more important than ever, with the recent shift to more flexible, remote work. Your organization could benefit from the expertise available at a learning company, if you know what services it offers and how it can help improve your workplace culture — even from a distance. After all, improving your remote workplace could be vital to the growth of your organization.
Picking the right learning company to help with your corporate training needs can be a daunting task, but if you know what to look for, it becomes easier. Use the following information to make the right decision for you, your company and your employees.
What Does an Online Learning Company do?
The best online learning companies provide three basic services. Firstly, they achieve measurable results. Make sure as you shop around that you look for experts who are ready to review your organizational needs and prepared to demonstrate how they will provide performance-driven outcomes. When you are talking with a prospective online learning company, the discussion should start with a review of the skills you need employees to gain and how they will be linked to your business objectives. The online learning company should design training around those objectives. Results won’t appear without planning and a targeted attack at the beginning. The company you hire should provide you with guidelines to reach those results.
Training and education designed to give your employees real-life experience is also important to learning success and retention. As a result, it is important to look for an online learning company that focuses on creating authentic work situations in its learning modules, in addition to other more traditional tools, such as your standard deck of click-through presentation slides.
Along the same lines, it is important your online learning company offers your employees meaningful material that they will remember and use on the job. All learning courses should include a plan to provide tools for daily work and learning in the flow of work. This plan should involve creating opportunities to practice decision-making and daily actions learners will take in their job.
A Breakdown of Services
Once you have determined that an online learning company meets those basic needs, it is time to look for specific specialties and services:
Off-the-shelf learning services are a great option if you have never used eLearning and are looking to try it for the first time without the hassle of hiring a design team. They can also be a great option if you are on a budget. Just make sure you find a program that is backed by experts in your particular industry so that you are adding accurate information to your learning catalog.
Custom eLearning course design will cost more up front but is likely to have a higher return on investment (ROI) in the end. With custom content, you are paying for eLearning that’s tailored to your specific need, whether it is reaching a specific demographic in your workforce or putting information in a format that makes more sense for your company culture. Custom eLearning also enables you to make any required changes in the future, because you own the content.
Learning technologies, such as learning management systems (LMS), learning experience platforms (LXP) and applications (apps) can help organize and direct your eLearning modules. An LMS is particularly helpful for documenting, tracking and reporting on your courses. LXPs are geared toward helping employees create a more personalized learning experience and stay on top of new learning opportunities. Finally, apps are great for helping employees perform an actual activity.
People services are another helpful service. They include facilitators, mentors and coaches who can provide trusted advice through the training process and consultants who can help with anything from a needs analysis to starting or rebooting your corporate training. Consultants are also valuable to performance evaluations that help determine if the training is working or needs to be adjusted.
Hiring Online Learning Companies Can Make the Difference
There are many benefits to gain from hiring an online learning company to help you achieve the best results from your educational courses. Online learning companies can provide you with the necessary knowledge of eLearning course design that will engage your learners and help them retain important information they can use later. They also save you the time and hassle of having to figure out a training program by yourself, which leads to more effective corporate eLearning, not only for you but for your employees.
