Robert is pulling his hair out. The accountant is working from home and has been asked to set up a new conference call in Microsoft Teams. Even though Robert has been working remotely throughout the coronavirus pandemic, he so far hasn't had to do this specific task. He is confused, cannot work out how to invite all those extra colleagues to the call and, despite searching online, is unable to find a simple answer to his question.
In the era of remote working, online training for business technology users is essential. If your colleagues cannot attend your offices for training sessions, providing them with online training really is the only way to develop their skills.
And there is real hunger for this approach. 2020 has seen a boom in people taking up online professional courses – data from LinkedIn shows there has been a 153% rise in individuals completing both soft and technical skills training this year.
Right now, almost 80% of US businesses provide at least some online training to their staff. And this is more important than ever today.
Many companies still provide most of their training through in-person classroom sessions. However, the ability to do so has been seriously curtailed by the coronavirus – and learning and development has ground to a halt at many organizations. This is understandable, but failing to provide training just because of the pandemic would be a mistake. After all, businesses that invest in employee training are 11% more profitable than those which don't.
Here are five reasons to invest in online business technology training:
Business technology has been a savior for the world economy as billions of people were sent to work from home. However, it pushed many people to become far more reliant on technology than they would have been before. As with the example of Robert at the beginning of this article, many staff are simply not accustomed to using technology all the time.
And this is where online training can help - short videos or written guides can walk them through how to use software quickly and efficiently. In no time at all, they can get up to speed with tools they’ve never used before.
If an employee is struggling with business technology, the first option is normally to turn to the person at the next work station over and ask for some help. If that fails, they may visit the IT help desk for some advice. Unfortunately, with most employees working at home, this way of resolving problems is simply impossible. Online tech training would therefore provide solutions to these people.
Learn more: What are the challenges of remote IT training?
Different states have different social distancing rules, but in most places, employees are not encouraged to visit the workplace if they do not need to be physically present. This means that traditional in-person training sessions are simply inappropriate.
Even if you can provide training at the office while maintaining distance between employees, it is important to remember that many staff will have serious health concerns and may fear travelling to work. Once again, online training helps you overcome this problem by delivering learning and development remotely.
There is nothing that kills productivity like being unable to use technology. Just like our example with Robert, you can waste hours trying to figure out how to use a program - when a few minutes of targeted training would give you the answer immediately.
Online training can be especially effective here. It allows you to deliver learning in short, bite-sized modules which lets staff consume information as and when they need it. With VisualSP, employees access training content which is relevant to the page they are working on, find an answer and get on with their tasks.
Providing training during this difficult time shows your staff that you are investing in them and their professional development. Many employees who are working remotely are currently feeling isolated from their organization. But, once again, providing online training such as webinars where all employees can come together, will mean that they feel more of a connection with their colleagues and employer.
If you have a colleague like Robert, what would the impact of online tech training be for them? By being able to solve their problems fast, they would be more productive, experience a lot less frustration and feel truly empowered to do their jobs to the best of their ability.
To get started with remote online technology training, learn more about VisualSP or schedule a demo today.
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