Is classroom training killing your employee’s learning and development? Many companies make the mistake of assuming their training programs must include a classroom component. People think eLearning is not as effective as old-fashioned classroom training, but that’s not the case. Several studies have found eLearning to be more effective and beneficial than traditional classroom training.
Keep reading to learn the six reasons you should consider utilizing eLearning for your employee training.
eLearning Has Better Retention
Ask any trainer or manager about the most frustrating part of their job, and they’ll likely answer how quickly employees seem to forget what they’ve learned. Employees forget 65 percent of what they learn in classroom training after one week. After six months, they remember even less. The average retention from a traditional training session after six months is only 10 percent. Employees forget nearly everything from the training a few months later.
By comparison, eLearning has much higher retention rates. Retention rates for eLearning range from 25 to 60 percent. People retain two to six times more information from eLearning than traditional classroom training.
Employees can retain more information from eLearning because they can access eLearning on demand and on their schedule. This flexibility allows them to complete the training and apply what they’ve learned the same day. People retain information when they can practice doing what they’ve learned. eLearning provides the flexibility to allow users to do instead of just watch a presenter.
eLearning is Faster than Traditional Training Methods
A Brand-Hall study found employees can complete eLearning training in 40 to 60 percent less than it would take to learn the same material in a classroom setting. Employees can complete training faster when they’re allowed to fit it into their schedule instead of being forced to be away from their jobs for a day or multiple days for classroom training.
eLearning is More Effective
Not only can employees complete training in less time, employees learn more from eLearning than traditional classroom training. IBM introduced an eLearning program and found that employees learned five times as much information without increasing the time spent on training.
Related:- Benefits of Effective Employee Training and Onboarding
eLearning Makes Employees More Productive
The same IBM study revealed that eLearning leads to significant increases in employee productivity. Since eLearning allows people to learn more in less time, it means they can get back to work sooner. On average, IBM reported that every dollar spent on eLearning resulted in $30 in productivity.
eLearning Drives Revenue
Better training that leads to more productive employees has a positive impact on your company’s revenue. Companies that utilize technology as a part of their training process 26% more revenue per employee than companies that rely only on traditional training methods.
eLearning is Cheaper
Classroom training isn’t cheap. How much of your training and development budget is devoted for paying these common classroom training expenses?
- Instructors
- Space rental
- Travel
- Lodging
- Food
Classroom training was more feasible when your workforce was located in one space. But with the rise in the use of remote workers, the costs of just getting your employees into the classroom are skyrocketing.
Here are just a few examples of how switching to digital training methods can provide significant cost savings:
- IBM saved $579 million in 2 years by switching 50% of their classroom training to a digital format.
- Oracle’s use of on-demand training saved more than $10 million.
- Microsoft was able to reduce training from $320 per person to only $17.
For many years, eLearning had a reputation problem. Perhaps based on a bad online course experience in college, managers think eLearning is less rigorous than classroom training. Fortunately, advances in digital technology make eLearning more accessible and more effective than ever before. As technology has improved, more employees are desiring eLearning opportunities. One of letzNav’s first customers summarized it best. He said:
“Most people want to learn that way. They don’t want to sit in a classroom and listen to someone. Rather than have them in a classroom, they’ll learn as they do it. We actually want them being productive while they train.”
