E-learning can be highly effective, but only when employees truly accept this opportunity. It won’t matter how much time and money you have invested into the implementation of such training, unless you encourage the employees and motivate them to learn.
The whole idea of additional training will not initially make your employees happy, since most think that the studying time is far behind them when they finish their education. However, the fact is, training is the best way to improve the employee’s performance and your company’s success.
‘’Many people will tell you that all it takes for your success is to motivate the employees to learn and work. But, only few will actually explain how hard this really is. In order to help employees develop in the workplace, you need to know the exact techniques and when to apply them.’’ – says Rita Heat, an HR manager at Aussie Writings .
While encouraging employees to accept training is hard, it is definitely not impossible. Employees also gain a lot from such training, because an improvement in their skills will not only affect their professional development, but will eventually lead to a better position and higher salary. The motivation process starts from exactly this point – personal and professional development. In order to implement e-learning in the workplace, here are the things you have to do:
1. Identify the Barriers
What keeps your employees from taking e-learning courses? Determine the barrier that prevents you from helping your employees develop personally and professionally. When doing so, focus on the following obstacles:
· Time – employees may lack the time for e-learning because they have too many tasks to finish within a certain deadline. As a good employer, you must understand such obstacles, since you also want their job to be a priority.
· Irrelevancy of information – if you do not provide relevant e-learning courses that will be interesting and useful to the employees, you cannot really expect them to be excited about learning. As soon as you have defined the barriers that prevent you from implementing e-learning in the workplace, it is time to work on overcoming them.
2. Offer Things Employees Won’t Be Able to Resist
We all know that in order to motivate people, you need to offer them something. Whether it is something material such as a higher salary or position in the company, an award in case they reach their goals, or freedom and inclusion in the decisions of the company – you must offer something to motivate the employees.
Career Advancement/ Higher Salary When there is no room to advance in a company regardless of your effort, you’d be unwilling to take on more tasks than you have to. This is very normal, and common in companies that do not promote career advancement.
Your employees will be more motivated to build on their skills and knowledge through e-learning if this means progress in the workplace. A chance for promotion and higher salary is a motivating goal to work towards. If you set this as an incentive for e-learning and personal development, there will hardly be an employee who lacks the motivation to do this.
Rewards
Payoffs for completed projects are excellent motivators, but you may want to opt for something more ‘immediate’. Instead of offering higher salaries and work positions that are relatively hard to reach, you may want to give a specific prize for the one who gets the highest score on an e-learning program test. You may even offer small rewards to everyone who completes a course – a certificate, a sign of recognition, an addition to their resume, or tickets to a popular event.
More Flexibility
Promise your employees more flexibility and contribution if they complete a course. When you train the employees to become better at their job, you may as well give them some decision-making privileges and more flexible working hours as a reward.
Generally speaking, there are many things you can do to invite the employees to study online. Take their opinion and see what would motivate them – an award, a promise of a higher position at the company, or more flexibility.
3. Encourage E-Learning Culture within the Company
Developing effective e-learning culture within the company is not something you can do by pushing mandatory deadlines and goals to meet. The employees in your company should understand why the course is beneficial for them as well as the company, and be aware of how much you value their dedication and time.
Very often, such courses will result in bad mood or resistance on behalf of your employees. If you want to encourage them to get on board, you cannot push such courses on some, and exclude others. Your strategy for getting employees on board must be the same for everyone.
Take this list into consideration if you are looking for the best way to encourage employees into improving their job performance. E-learning is flexible and very beneficial for both your organization and the employees within, but your job as an entrepreneur is to make it inviting, too.
*Olivia is a passionate blogger who writes on topics of digital marketing, career, and self-development. She constantly tries to learn something new and share this experience on various websites. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
