Technology makes training simple. Even if you can’t pull all of your five managers off the floor at once, you can easily give them an on-demand training course they can do in 15-minute increments. Whether you’re a small business or a Fortune 500, you can enjoy easy access to world-class training options with the push of a button.
Unsurprisingly, fast-growth businesses are far more likely to offer digital training tools to their workers. These types of programs contribute to your overall culture and demonstrate that you genuinely care about your employees’ success. When your workers use on-demand training resources, they’re also gaining new skills that can help your organization become more productive.
Do You Use Technology Resources To Offer On-Demand Training for Employees?
During our recent 2024 HR Benchmark Report, we asked 1,065 companies questions about their HR practices. We found that fast-growth firms were far more likely to offer on-demand, digital training resources than zero-growth firms.
- 54% of zero-growth firms used technology resources to offer on-demand training.
- 75% of fast-growth firms used technology resources to offer on-demand training.
There was a 21-point spread between these two different groups. When you only looked at companies that had 25 workers or less, this spread jumped to 28 points.
Why On-Demand Technology Resources Are So Popular for Small Businesses
94% of small business owners report that technology helps their company run more efficiently. In fact, the United States Chamber of Commerce reports that when small businesses incorporate this kind of technology, they have better profits and sales.
On-demand training resources help lower the cost of training, ensure legal compliance, spur employee retention, and prepare talented workers for future positions. Depending on the program you adopt, you can enjoy having some of the following advantages.
Lower Training Costs
When you use on-demand training programs, you don’t have to pay as much to train your workers. With in-person sessions, you have to hire someone to teach the course and pull everyone from the floor. On-demand classes can happen when each worker has free time, and you don’t have to hire a teacher.
Ensures Legal Compliance
One of the major benefits of digital training resources is that they can help companies ensure legal compliance. There are mandatory training sessions, like sexual harassment and security training, that you should be doing.
When these sessions are performed digitally, you can easily track and keep a record of each employee’s training history. Then, you can use these records in the future if you have a lawsuit, audit, or similar issue.
There are also HR compliance subscription services that can make accessing affordable training resources easier. For example, Asure offers advanced training resources in an online library. Through our compliance measures, you can make sure everyone is properly trained and that your company has a record of it.
Offers Easier Options for Small Businesses
Many small businesses can’t afford to pull a bunch of people from the sales floor in order to train them. With online training, you don’t have to. You can let workers complete training when they have free time. This gives them something to do during their downtime and helps companies avoid pulling everyone from the floor at once.
Provides Individualized Training for Specific Skills
Online training allows you to target the training program so that workers get the training they need. You can use it to improve their current skill set, address skill gaps, or provide leadership training for managerial roles.
Improve Knowledge and Engagement Retention
Almost 9 out of 10 millennials say they value employee growth opportunities in a potential job. In fact, the number one reason workers give for switching jobs is career growth.
Through online training, you can help workers with their own development and career goals. By providing workers with the training they need, you can boost your employee retention and improve the knowledge base your workers have.
Ensure Digital Access to Content and Documentation
Another advantage of online training resources is that they are easy to access. If you or your workers want to review content or documentation, you don’t have to walk over to the HR department and ask for a training guide. Employees can review training content from any location as long as they have internet access.
Prepare Your Talent for the Future
Employees want to know that they have a future at your company. Your training program shows you’re committed to their ongoing growth.
Plus, on-demand training resources can help with succession planning. You can begin training workers for management roles so that they’re ready to step up when a new position becomes available.
Spur Employee Growth
With on-demand resources, you can encourage employees to grow. Instead of being rushed through a program, they can take their time and learn at their own pace.
Train Remote Workers
More employees work remotely today than they did just a decade ago. As a result, it’s important to find training strategies that easily transfer to an online environment.
Ways to Offer Digital, On-Demand Training to Workers
Offering digital, on-demand training doesn’t have to be difficult. In most cases, it’s easier and more affordable than providing in-person training sessions for your workers.
Use Training Programs From Your HR Provider
One way to incorporate on-demand training is by asking your HR provider. At Asure, you can use our library of advanced training resources to help with different types of online training and compliance requirements.
Ask Your Vendors
If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to train all of your workers, try asking your vendors. Many vendors have specific training materials or guides that are freely available. Often, they’ll arrange for a video conference session or a similar training program to help your workers understand their software programs and other tools.
Create Your Own Training
If you have specific subjects to train your workers about, you can always create your own training program. For example, you may want to have sections in your employee handbook about safety measures and HR policies. Then, these sections can double as training sections during your onboarding process.
You can reduce the cost of these training programs by assigning your workers to create them during the off-season or when they have free time. By doing this, you can use underutilized labor hours to make them.
Develop a Digital Library of HR Documents
Building a digital library of HR documents is useful for training workers, but it is important for other reasons as well. When the library is digital, workers can access it anytime they have a question. It also ensures that everyone is operating off of the same understanding, and you can easily look up any questions you may have. Additionally, a digital library makes tracking training completion and compliance documentation much easier.
Consider Using Digital Platforms and Apps
Depending on what you want to teach your workers, you may be able to find an inexpensive online platform or app that can help. Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and Udemy are all popular programs for learning new information about a variety of topics.
Record Your Own Training Sessions
You can lower future training costs and ensure consistency by recording your current training sessions. Future workers can watch these courses and learn exactly the same things their predecessors did.
Prepare Your Team for Success With On-Demand Learning
Through an on-demand, digital training program, you can set your workers up for success. You can increase the consistency in your training program and ensure better legal compliance. Plus, these on-demand programs are fairly inexpensive to adopt.
At fast-growth companies, on-demand training resources are far more popular than they are at zero-growth businesses. To learn more about what it takes to provide on-demand training resources, reach out to Asure’s team of small business HR experts today.