Professional learning and development matters to employees, even when they work remotely. Majority of workers, in a LinkedIn survey, mentioned that job training access is a primary motivator when determining whether or not they will remain with an employer. Additionally, almost all (94 percent) employees said they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development.
Workplace training provides benefits for employees like greater job satisfaction and morale, improved skills and performance efficiencies, as well as stronger upward mobility and leadership investment options. Yet, while employers are responsible for facilitating job training, knowing how to effectively implement them to the modern workplace can be challenging. Indeed, hosting an online training seminar with an unstable internet can be a great problem. Employees might also not have good facilities to learn the seminar peacefully without interruption from their family.
Despite the challenge, however, among remote workers surveyed by TalentLMS, 67 percent say they need more work-related training and 85 percent have received it online. For those who do want training but their company does not provide it, they choose and pay for courses they find online. And those who receive online training, the primary methods for tele-learning included online courses, phone-based training and webinars.
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While e-learning in professional settings has been used since the 1990s, virtual training methods continue to evolve to fit the changing dynamics of the work landscape. For that reason, remote human resources and business leaders tasked with administering online training and development should improve the quality of their programs. Here are some practical suggestions from Laura Spawnn, CEO of Virtual Vocations, HR and leaders can apply.
Single sign-on (SSO) process for virtual learning will streamline the time it takes to access training sessions and materials. With SSO, remote workers only need to use one set of credentials to simultaneously authenticate multiple applications. In addition, the SSO access helps secure remote-enable businesses without storing too many passwords in the database.
Making training materials available offline as well as online will maximize flexibility for remote workers to train at times convenient for their schedules and activities. This flexibility also facilitates training during remote workers’ most productive hours. Some remote professionals might be morning people who absorb new information better over a pre-dawn cup of coffee, while others might prefer to read a training PDF just before bed.
Utilizing user-generated content, such as blog posts, reports, live streams or recorded videos, question and answer sessions, and case studies, for virtual training provides opportunities for experienced staff to share their knowledge, exchange ideas with their colleagues, and gain valuable leadership experience. It also bolsters team and inter-department engagement, as well as reinforces important company values like communication, trust, innovation and mutual respect across time zones, cultures and generations.
With the average person projected to spend 100 minutes per day consuming video content in 2021, according to Zenith’s report, video content dominates online marketing strategies. However, using video to communicate information extends beyond commercialisation. Video is an effective method for employers to distribute training content to remote workers, especially when comparing the success of information distributed via video and print media.
The nature of remote work attracts professionals who are self-directed. When engineering virtual training strategies, remote leaders can capitalize on the independent personalities of remote employees by curating lists of online training resources useful in telework settings, then allow employees to learn based on their own interests and goals. Department heads can tailor training resource lists to their team objectives or specifically to certain types of remote jobs. Remote colleagues might also collaborate and provide feedback to their managers about the training styles and topics they would find most useful.
