With time, even eLearning is evolving. Companies are blending newer ways to create an interesting mix of eLearning methods, says Prasoon Nigam

While work and business has moved to operating virtually, the pandemic also has impacted on how companies need to approach employee growth and learning. With social distancing and gathering limits in effect, eLearning has become the norm, and workplace training has turned into webinars and online classrooms.

ELearning gives the benefit to learn anytime and anyplace. The biggest advantage that eLearning provides for organisations is flexibility. Over the last decade, eLearning has found its way in the corporate circuit and now will become a necessity. A LinkedIn Learning report points how 66% of learning and development professionals say that their roles within their organisations have grown significantly since COVID-19 outbreak. Around 68% respondents also indicated that employers have stressed on learning programmes and improve internal collaboration. The appetite for learning programmes along with the remote working scenarios has pushed for companies to develop and prioritise eLearning. Further, upskilling of employees using virtual and eLearning has become necessary in the wake of coronavirus crisis. There has been a need to enhance learning mechanisms for employees while working remotely.

Companies are already on this path. The learning and development approach has also gone completely digital and virtual. Some examples include virtual instructor led trainings, or webinars or webcasts and podcasts- virtual collaborations is helping employers train employees, but also in make it interactive and a two-way process. Some companies are also enabling personalised or customised learning and trainings to help employees learn specific skills to graduate to new roles. There is also been a transition to rejig the standard presentation and excel handout content and digitalise it and make it more interesting and interactive. 

The pandemic scenario has also brought mental and psychological health in the spotlight. Many companies as a part of their new L&D initiatives are also helping employees to expand their skillset and explore new capabilities online. Whether it is via massive open online course (MOOC), sabbaticals and external coaching — these avenues are enabling employees stay high-spirited during the challenging times.

With time, even eLearning is evolving. Companies are blending newer ways to create an interesting mix of eLearning methods — to keep the workforce motivated and enthused. Gamification or Game-based learning is being used to both engage and educate.

Given the uniquity of eLearning and making any piece of content available, there are no limits to the possibilities and benefits of eLearning. It is not just enriching for employees but for organisations too, by saving operation costs and time investments. It is an opportunity to develop new skills and promote creativity, making the employees feel more empowered in the roles.

However, good eLearning is not just about content curation and delivering it but speaks of the organisation’s overall competence development agenda. While organisations have transitioned to eLearning to suit the needs of the present scenario, a solid eLearning strategy is a must to make employees fit for better and higher roles. With the objective to nurture future ready skill sets, it would be key to witness how companies chalk out their eLearning strategies that helps employees harness the eLearning opportunities.

The writer is Prasoon Nigam, CTO & Co-founder, Stratbeans