Are you counting down the days until your annual leave? It’s most likely that your employees and colleagues are feeling the same way, now that the end of the work year is clearly in sight! As we move into December, it can be hard to keep employees motivated in the final weeks of the year – but rather than ignore the issue, why not choose to tackle it head on?

With the holiday season full of distractions such as Christmas shopping, family commitments, vacation planning and endless events, employee productivity and focus can start to plummet. Many workers are also just plain tired and looking forward to a break, shifting into a lower gear as they start to wind down for the year.

At this time of year, employers and managers might notice staff taking longer lunches, skipping meetings, or checking out mentally from their work tasks. In fact, a recent study revealed that employee activity levels in North America drop by 52% between mid-December and the New Year.

But rather than getting frustrated with your employees, or yourself, it’s best to have some strategies in place to keep focused and stay on track. By doing this, you can make sure your business continues to hit targets and reach organisational goals, while ending the year on a positive note with your team.

Here are three things you can do to keep energy and motivation levels high right up until the Christmas break.

The key word here is achievable. Having a clear and realistic goal in sight can really help to keep employees on track and engaged in their work.

If you’re a manager or team leader, work with each staff member to establish a goal that you want them to achieve before they go on annual leave. This could be hitting a sales target or deadline, landing a particular client or gig, securing a set number of new customers… anything that will help to motivate and boost their performance.

Or why not set an end-of-year goal as a team? By hitting this target together before the break, you’ll be ending the year on a high note and setting a positive vibe for the following year. Remember, make sure it’s a realistic and achievable goal – the last thing you want at this time of year is low morale.

Setting these kinds of end-of-year goals is also a good idea for freelancers or anyone who works remotely or is self-employed. These workers are just as likely to experience the same drop in productivity and focus – but without a manager to keep them on track!

Whether you're working solo or as part of a team, get really organised and map out all the deadlines and targets you need to hit before you go on leave, working backwards from your last day of work. Knowing exactly what you need to deliver, on a weekly and daily basis, will help keep your head clear in this last hectic month of the year.

While December is always a busy month, it’s the perfect time to recognise the hard work of your employees throughout the year. And this can really help to keep staff motivated and positive right up until they go on leave.

There’s no doubt that positive feedback and recognition is an important part of increasing employee motivation and engagement – people are much happier, and work harder, when they feel valued. It also shows that you’ve been paying attention to their efforts during the year.

Managers – why not organise a team event to celebrate the wins of the year with staff, as well as those achievable goals we mentioned above? It could be a simple team lunch, or a day spent out of the office doing a fun bootcamp or yoga class, tree planting, or volunteering at a local charity. Ask your employees how they’d like to celebrate – they’ll appreciate it.

Many companies also give out end-of-year bonuses or awards. But as James Clark, Content Marketing Specialist at DATIS HR Cloud, says, there are plenty of other ways to reward staff that don’t involve money.

“Keep in mind there are rewards and gifts outside of bonuses and gift cards. Offering extra days [off] in the new year to the hardest worker of the quarter is a way to motivate employees without offering them an instantly redeemable monetary reward,” Clark suggests.

It’s also really important that employers and managers lead by example at this time of year.

There’s no point setting team goals, giving out awards or taking the team out for lunch if your own motivation and energy levels are down. Your employees will respond to your vibe – and if you’re struggling to keep it together at end-of-year your whole team will be in trouble.

As we said above, now that we’ve hit December you’re most likely counting down the days until your own annual leave. And you know your employees are feeling the same. The best thing to do is pitch in and get the job done, so everyone can head out on annual leave knowing that the year has ended on a successful and productive note.

Clark says that true leadership during this time of year “comes from executives rolling up their sleeves and working hard side-by-side with their employees. If executives expect their employees to push themselves to the limits by the end of the year, they will have to do so as well.”

Establish goals, show staff their hard work is valued, and keep your own motivation and productivity levels up in these last few weeks. All of these things will have a positive impact on your organisation and team in this final month of the year, and you can head off on your holidays knowing you've closed off the year well.


For more insights, subscribe to the Go1 newsletter to stay on top of all the latest L&D trends. Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

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Motivation is an essential element of success but can be difficult to maintain at the end of the year. Learn how to keep your team motivated!

Keeping employees motivated at the end of the year

One of the many cool things about the Go1 platform is that it allows you to easily assign learning to your team members – automatically. How? By using the groups functionality within the Go1 portal.

By taking a little bit of time to learn how to use the groups feature, you can start automating assigned online courses to your learners. What’s more, Go1’s bulk upload feature allows you to add users to groups at the same time as you add them to the portal, and then easily automate the assigning of learning to members within groups. Sounds pretty useful, right?

Our most recent episode of The eLearning Assist, Episode 4, gave plenty of information and insight into this feature.

Weren’t able to attend the webinar? Or want a closer look at the content covered on the day? Here’s a 20-minute recap of Episode 4, for anyone who missed out.

Every episode of The eLearning Assist is run by a different member of the Go1 team so that you can tap into the knowledge within the team, covering all aspects of eLearning from creating content, learning principles, improving processes, selling courses, compliance, and expanding your training program.

In Episode 4 of The eLearning Assist, we had Scott Cooper and Camden McKenzie from the Go1 team, talking us through the groups functionality within the Go1 portal.

As you’ll see in the recap, the webinar covered all aspects of:

Through Camden’s live demo, you’ll see how you can apply these concepts to really improve the way you deliver training to your team. And as Scott said during the webinar, “this is a really valuable tool, that everyone using Go1 should be using to make life a bit easier.”

The sessions are free for anyone to attend, and are a great chance to learn some new skills that you can apply in your organisation.

Remember, the Go1 team are here 24/7 with live support. So if you have any questions about what we covered in the webinar, or need help setting up your portal, please get in touch as we’d love to help you out. Also, if there are any topics that you would like to see us cover in our next episode, let us know!


Haven’t got a Go1 portal yet? Sign up for free today!

The eLearning Assist: Episode 4 catchup – automating assigned learning with groups

The impact of technology on everyday life is clear, influencing the way we communicate, work, socialise and unwind. With the ongoing rise of social media, dating apps, and entertainment sites such as NetFlix, technology can be seen to have a grip on every aspect of modern life. And while technology trends certainly impact our day-to-day lives, they also have a significant impact on the way we learn.

Trends in technology are having a huge influence on the eLearning industry, where we’re seeing the effects of gamification, virtual and augmented reality, webinars and live streaming on learners.


Today we’ll take a look at the influence of these tech trends on the learning industry, and their impacts on employee training and development.

When it comes to eLearning, one of the biggest technology trends of the moment is gamification – the application of gaming design, psychology, principles and mechanics to learning content.

Gamification can be successfully used for a number of employee training needs, such as induction processes, onboarding, compliance, professional development and change management. And it works for staff of all ages, keeping them interested in and engaged with the content. Take a look at some of the exciting ways in which gamification is being used in the workplace.

The Potential of Virtual Reality in the Workplace

Virtual reality is another big player when it comes to tech trends in eLearning.

As augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) become more accessible in everyday life, it makes sense to apply this technology to learning. And in fact, one of the most exciting aspects of virtual reality is its potential for employee training.

When used in the workplace, virtual reality will result in:

greater collaboration for teams and remote workers

With virtual reality, employees can take part in simulations that replicate the exact conditions which they would experience in the workplace – rather than learning in the traditional training environment with its textbooks and Powerpoint presentations.

Think about the potential – doctors could practice performing difficult surgeries; factory workers could carry out vital safety drills; corporate employees could overcome their fear of public speaking – with virtual reality, the possibilities are endless. See how VR could change your workplace!

Dr. Michael Jurgen Garbade, Founder & CEO LiveEdu.tv, considers streaming to be another key tech trend that is impacting the learning industry.

“Streaming is something that has taken the world by storm and education has not been left out of this growing trend,” Gabarde says.

We can see this in the ongoing popularity of social media platforms that use live streaming capabilities. Trainers, teachers and educators are already using these platforms as part of their learning content, to explore key topics and promote engagement with their learners is a live interactive space.

As Gabarde explains, “streams are popular as a result of [the] real-time and interactive atmosphere which they provide. A live stream essentially places you in a classroom environment on the internet. You can watch the instructor carry out their lesson in real-time and then ask questions or interact with your peers during the broadcast.”

Older training methods, and even those relying on video, simply don’t offer the same benefits that are available with streaming.

How are you using these technology trends for learning and development? Are you incorporating gamification, virtual and augmented reality, and live streaming into your content? The influence of technology on the eLearning space is only set to get bigger and better, so get on board!

How technology trends are influencing eLearning

Are you hosting a work holiday party, but want to make sure everything goes to plan this year?

The festive holidays are nearly upon us, which means tis the season to be jolly! Not only is it one of the best times of the year for social gatherings with family and friends, but it is also a time of celebration for many companies and businesses.

It marks the end of the business year and this means thanking employees for all their hard work over the last 12 months. Of course, everyone really loves the free food and drinks at the holiday party - this is normally the highlight of the year for many people!

We’ve all heard the stories that float around the office the following week about the time someone had a little too much at the work Christmas party.

While these stories can be harmless and funny, often things can turn sour pretty quickly at a work holiday party, especially when alcohol is involved.

Intoxication and employees going overboard when it comes to alcohol can lead to serious problems for your company. We aren’t just talking about spilled drinks – we mean safety concerns, bad behavior and harassment claims.

Too often we’re seeing complaints and problems at holiday parties, which takes the fun away from the festive occasion. The worst thing is that these situations could be easily avoided.

Not only are adverse events departing from the holiday spirit, but it also means that your company is liable for anything that happens between employees – it doesn’t matter that it didn’t happen during normal working hours, you are responsible.

So, how can you make these problems less likely to happen? Well, we think it’s all about changing the setup of your holiday party and making sure everyone knows exactly what’s expected of them. Let’s have a closer look.

What’s the first thing a lot of employees think about when you mention the holiday party? It’s got to be the unlimited alcohol.

While you want to reward your employees for their hard work, it doesn’t mean you need to give them unrestricted bar access. Now, we don’t mean ban alcoholic beverages altogether – we’re just saying everything in moderation.

There’s no doubt we can see a link between intoxication and unacceptable conduct. So, just forget about the open bar this year. Why not provide drink tickets so everyone can enjoy their fair share without overdoing it?

Even simple adjustments, such as serving a full dinner or limited the wine on the table, will make sure everyone stays in the festive spirit and nothing bad happens.

Another way to ensure a fun and happy holiday party for all your employees is to switch it up and focus more on having different games and activities. After all, this is a social event – it’s a great time for employees to bond and get to know each other.

One of the best ways to have a successful holiday party is by reminding employees what is expected of them beforehand. This is the simplest way to point out what’s acceptable conduct and what will not be tolerated.

This way you can set the tone and create a safe environment for everyone. Let’s not forget that the work holiday party is about having fun and celebrating the end of the year after all that hard work!

So, how can you do this? It’s pretty easy actually – e-learning online courses. Let’s face it, a lot of your employees won’t read the boring and long email you send around warning about inappropriate behavior. This means you’ve got to get creative.

Thankfully, e-learning online courses do this for you. All you’ve got to do is select the ones you want.

Just like we use e-learning online courses for employee inductions and ongoing training purposes, they’re also exactly what you need to remind everyone about acceptable conduct at the holiday party.

The great thing is that it’s instant to add to the LMS, cost-effective and engaging for employees. Why send around a lifeless email when you can choose an animated and colorful video that employees are going to remember?

e-learning courses can be general and explain the rules and regulations, as well as highlight your own company policies that everyone should comply with.

It’s going to bring to light the key points that should be in the back of employee’s minds when they are at the party. This can avoid the risk of unpleasant and unacceptable situations occurring.

Often telling a story is an easier way for people to digest the information and it brings to life what can actually happen in real situations. Sometimes this is all that’s needed as a deterrent.

Plus, another benefit of e-learning online courses is that you can choose courses with quizzes at the end and track employee’s process to see who’s completing the compliance courses and how well they’re doing.

By changing the focus of your work holiday party and reminding employees before the event of the company rules and policies on unacceptable conduct, you can minimize the risk of bad behavior and harassment from happening.

This way you can have a celebratory holiday party where you can toast to the accomplishments of the year and make sure your employees feel appreciated. It’s all going to boost the morale in the office and promote a happy New Year for all!


Avoiding compliance issues at your work holiday party

Following on from our recent article on how to prepare before creating eLearning content, we thought we’d put together a checklist to help you out even further. Having a checklist is really handy when it comes to eLearning course design – you can mentally tick things off as you go, to make sure your course design is on track and meeting the needs of your learners.

As we’ve said before, the best eLearning courses always involve a good amount of preparation and planning.

Earlier this year, we published an eLearning course design checklist that focuses on important aspects of eLearning design such as graphics, fonts, multimedia, and accessibility. And our eLearning content article (mentioned above) was all about creating the best content and storyboard for your audience.

Feel free to jump over and have a look at those articles too! But today’s checklist is more about the practical elements of course design – almost like a project management tool for the eLearning course design process.

Covering these practical aspects will help you to keep your course design running smoothly, making the process of designing an eLearning course a whole lot easier.

Are you meeting the expectations of your learners?

I recently came across a great article for eLearning Rapid Blog, which likened the course design process to a pre-flight checklist carried out by flight attendants before taking off. And that’s a good comparison to draw! You don’t want to launch your online course into the world without checking you’ve hit the mark on certain things.

One of the things the author of this article kept coming back to was being aware of expectations – of both your learners and the client. When designing an eLearning course, it’s best to keep this in front of mind throughout the process. eLearning Rapid Blog recommends setting clear expectations, to better understand the client’s needs and determine how training will help. And knowing the expectations of your learners – the employees or students who will be taking your course.

What do you know about your audience? Exactly who is your eLearning course being created for? What do they expect and/or need to get out of this course?

Do you have a learning project or training budget?

You’ll also need to look at the costs involved in creating your online course. Is there a clear budget?

If you’re working for a client, have that conversation before you start designing the course.

A good tip from eLearning Rapid Blog: “even if you don’t need the money, it’s a good idea to build the expectation that you need a budget to go with your training project.” This way, you’re encouraging the client or organisation to invest in learning and development for their employees.

With the Go1 platform, you can easily create your own online courses, from just $1 per user per month.

How are you going to roll the online course out to users?

Make sure you’ve thought about the implementation process before creating your course. You’ll need to know exactly how you’re going to deliver the training materials to employees.

Will you roll it out to managers or senior leaders first? What marketing strategies will you use to launch the course to staff? It’s best to take the time to think about all these factors before you get into your course design.

What approval processes do you need to go through?

We all know that lengthy approval processes can really slow things down, for any project.

You’ll want to be aware of any approval layers and processes you need to go through before getting started on your course design. This is because the changes that can come back from those decision-makers will most likely mean changes for your course design.

eLearning Rapid Blog raises a good point:

“Often you’ll work on a course and then right before launch someone higher up in the food chain gets involved and wants to make changes. Find out who this person is before you get too involved in the project and be sure to keep them in the loop throughout.”

Solid advice! Make note of  all approval processes and key decision-makers at the very start of your eLearning project, so you don't get any last-minute surprises.

How will you evaluate your online course?

Last, but certainly not least, make evaluation part of your checklist.

All projects benefit from an evaluation process, and it’s no different when it comes to eLearning. Surprisingly, while most companies invest a significant amount of time and money into learning and development, very few organisations take the time to evaluate the impact of employee training.

You’ll need to show how you plan to collect and evaluate data and figures, to see whether your online course is successful with learners. You can find useful information in our article about measuring the impact of employee training, including guidelines for using Kirkpatrick’s ‘four levels of evaluation’ model.

Covering off this checklist will ensure you’ve taken the time to consider five very important aspects of eLearning course design:

This will go a long way in helping to keep your course design process running smoothly, while making sure you’re designing your eLearning course in the best way possible for your learners.

Designing an eLearning course? Use our pre-course checklist

Get some inspiration in your tank with a taster of our favourite digital learning projects from this year. From curation to caring, these three elearning examples all strike at the heart of their users and their behaviours - delivering fantastically immersive experiences as well as practical, personalised toolkits - they help shape what we mean by elearning today.

1. Emotional elearning - immersive learning that makes you care

Emotions and elearning aren’t often thought of together. Yet emotional engagement is necessary for the brain to learn. Here’s an example of immersive storytelling that gets it just right.

“A Support Net” from the Open University

Developed in collaboration with Elucidat and Tilt, the Open University’s A Support Net is an immersive branching scenario experience that gives users a chance to influence f a character’s mental health. The decisions they make impact positively or negatively on the character’s wellbeing, building to a final, personalised summary of how they handled the situation. The poignantly scripted and fantastically produced, raw, videos pull the audience in from the off and make the whole experience tangibly real.

Brilliant storytelling and realistic, down to earth video production

Users learn through consequences of their own actions, and through reflection, not ‘telling’

Brings in social polling to show the choices made by others

Personalised final summary profiles the style of support the user gave, and shows different possible outcomes

Get advice on how to create your own immersive elearning

2 - Scenarios that don’t break the bank - audio-based sales training

Branching scenarios and simulations are popular in elearning because they get users learning by doing. Or, more accurately, learning by failing, and building confidence alongside competence. But they don’t always have to involve video or dramatic scripts. This audio-driven scenario shows how Sales training simulations can be achieved without snaffling all your budget. See if you can spot a qualified lead.

Do it yourself style audio clips simulate real customer phone calls without expense

Accumulative scoring tracks progress along the way

Final summary compares users’ response with peers and an expert - without ‘telling’ for adult style learning

Simple, clean look and feel can easily be switched into other brands

Get 5 tips for turning elearning gamification into a winning simulation

3. Taking a toolkit approach - learning as ‘signposting’

Most organisations have a load of tools and tips that would help their employees. The trouble is finding the right ones, at the right time, for the right problem or need.

Elucidat’s Elearning Project Toolkit aims to help digital learning producers find their way to better quality or smarter run projects. By asking a few questions, it signposts the relevant tips, tools and downloads that will be of help to them. It’s a great example of curated elearning.

Helps signpost users to relevant tips, tools and resources without trying to replicate or re-create that content as ‘elearning’

Uses smart questions to branch users down the relevant path

Gives users options to explore further should they wish - they can see demo projects or explore all the resources and guides available to them

More elearning examples to inspire your next project

These elearning examples have all been created using Elucidat’s award-winning authoring tool. Start a free trial today.

Kirstie is an experienced learning design and performance enhancement specialist at Elucidat. She has a passion for bringing about high impact, emotionally engaging digital and blended experiences that make an actual difference.

3 eLearning examples to inspire you in 2018

Do you want to learn more about AB1825 and how this affects your business?

This employment law came to fruition in September 2004, when Californian Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger put his signature to the bill.

This law is all to do with preventing sexual harassment in the workplace and how businesses can promote an inclusive and safe office environment.

The law came into effect back in January 2005, requiring all employers and companies who have 50 or more employees to provide sexual harassment prevention training at least once every two years.

This continual training should be a total of two hours and be provided to supervisors within the business. It’s important to note that two hours of training doesn’t have to be consecutive – it can be over the course of a few days or even months. In other words, it’s a total figure.

In addition, while the definition of a supervisor is not specified, it generally means someone that has authority over other employees and has a responsibility towards them.

The number of 50 employees can also include full-time and part-time staff, as well as contractors that are even based outside of California.

AB1825 was a big deal when it was first introduced and continues to have an impact on businesses in California today. It was a big step towards tackling the issues of harassment in the workplace, particularly towards women.

The aim of this law was to make sexual harassment prevention training mandatory and a continuous area for improvement. Its goal was to cover issues of sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying and retaliation.

This is all known as unlawful and unacceptable behavior and by teaching the federal and state statutory provisions, as well as the impact of these actions on individuals, these situations can be prevented in the future.

What Constitutes Sexual Harassment in the Workplace?

Everyone in an office, from supervisors down to new employees, should know the signs of harassment and what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. In some cases, people are unaware their actions will be constituted as sexual harassment and against the law.

That is why it’s essential to learn what is classed as sexual harassment and work to remove these actions from the workplace. In a general sense, sexual harassment can be verbal to another employee, a physical action or a written, inappropriate message.

The following actions will constitute sexual harassment:

Sexually suggestive remarks towards another, including jokes.

Physical contact that is deemed unprofessional and inappropriate. This can include touching, grabbing and hugging that makes another person feel upset, uncomfortable or nervous.

Asking invasive and prying questions about another employee’s personal life, sexuality or appearance.

Watching and staring at another employee and making them feel uneasy and uncomfortable.

Knowing what will be classed as sexual harassment allows employees to think about their own actions, as well as identify unacceptable behavior if they witness it.

The law in California means that an employer and company will be held liable for any unlawful sexual harassment by an employee towards another – even if they don’t know about it.

This means that letting your employees know what constitutes harassment will also lower the risk of lawsuits and problems for your business.

The Importance of Sexual Harassment Training in the Workplace

Unfortunately, the statistics and even major news headlines, show that sexual harassment still exists in the workplace. This is an issue everyone wants to tackle and one of the best ways to do this is through education, starting from the top, down to the employees.

Incidents at work, such as sexual harassment, can ruin working relations and bring down team morale, as well as effecting productivity.

Not only will this have an impact on company success, but it will also mean expensive litigation. Most importantly, these incidents can make employees feel unsafe in their place of work.

Sexual harassment training can highlight how you can identify bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment, in order for it to be tackled appropriately.

By demonstrating the impact these incidents can have on an individual, more can be done to prevent situations from happening in the future.

In addition, working to remove the stigma around reporting situations of sexual harassment will encourage more people to come forward.

How Online E-Learning Courses Can Help Your Workplace

Online sexual harassment training courses can satisfy the requirements of AB1825, which means that California businesses should consider this option seriously. E-learning courses can offer a host of advantages over traditional training.

For the company, online courses are cost-effective and save money on hiring instructors or sending employees on conferences. They’re more convenient and can be completed anytime, without interrupting the daily running of business.

Also, you can choose a sexual harassment training course and add it to your LMS straightaway, ready to use. It’s simple.

Most importantly, online e-learning courses are worthwhile and offer valuable information that can prevent unlawful conduct and harassment.

Through a wealth of memorable videos, real-life scenarios and interactive quizzes, employees can learn everything they need to know in an engaging course right from their own desk.

From an employer’s point of view, these online courses can help you to keep track of what supervisors are completing their two hours of training.

This is very useful, as new supervisors are being hired and promoted all the time and it’s essential they receive their training within six months of joining the company.

Ultimately, sexual harassment prevention training can help to bring unlawful situations to light and promote a safer working environment for everyone – we can all work together to achieve this.

What Californian businesses need to know about AB1825

Have you read our article about common buzzwords you’re likely to encounter in the eLearning space? Blended learning is one of those terms that’s used often in the learning industry, to describe a mix of both online and offline training methods.

With blended learning, you really get the best of both worlds, with employees learning through an effective combination of face-to-face instructor-led training and flexible online learning materials.

Today we’re going to look at the advantages this combination of online and offline training can bring to employees, as well as your business.

For employees and students, the combination of blended learning offers increased flexibility, greater engagement with learning materials, and improved knowledge retention. The flexible delivery of online training allows individuals to participate in training programs at a time and place that’s convenient to them. And what’s more, they can simply use their phone, tablet or laptop to access the training materials they need.

With increased levels of engagement, organisations can expect to see higher performance and productivity levels across staff. By incorporating online training methods, you’re also encouraging employees to take ownership of their learning and development. Taking a blended approach towards learning is great for catering to different learning styles, as the combination of online and offline training can be adapted to suit the individual needs of different team members.

It’s also great for recognising that in corporate learning, everyone moves at a different pace and responds to different levels of instruction. With blended learning, staff can access support if and when they need.

Blended learning also offers a number of important advantages to trainers and managers too.

Training delivered via eLearning can sometimes fall short when compared to the buzz and energy of social interaction in the physical learning environment. On the other hand, traditional classroom training won’t give you the same valuable data and figures that online learning can, such as reporting, analytics, quiz results and instant feedback.

So as the expression goes: porque no los dos! Why can’t we have both? By combining online and offline training, you can!

Managers can still retain that important face-to-face engagement with staff through offline workshops or training sessions, while reaping the rewards gained through the reports and data generated by online Learning Management Systems.

The combination of online and offline training is used successfully across schools, universities and organisations. What makes blended learning so perfect for the workplace?

For both managers and employees, time is a valuable resource. Blended learning reduces the number of face-to-face sessions workers are required to attend, giving them more time to work at their desks. And these days, with so many employees working remotely or from different geographical locations, online learning tools such as video conferences or webinars are invaluable.

Blended learning gives staff options. If an employee misses a particular training session or workshop, they can most likely catch up via online learning. They are not dependent on a single source of information. Besides, encouraging people to seek information and knowledge on their own promotes more self-led learning for staff. These are all great benefits for any business.

Online learning can also be used to reinforce employee training, helping to improve knowledge retention and performance.  Imagine if after completing a hands-on workshop or training session, you could go back to your desk and take a short online course or quiz? This is what blended learning really offers to corporate training – through a combination of online and offline learning.

Christopher Pappas, founder of The eLearning Industry’s Network, explains how “face-to-face interactions following online self-study, or vice versa, optimize the unique benefits of each; the productive partnership of real and digital world allows your employees to plan their learning and develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills.”

When “employees are given power over their learning, by being able to combine their face to face training sessions with online self study, they feel that their unique learning needs and behaviors are met; this way, their training becomes much more effective,” he says.

We just touched on the time you can save by implementing blended learning. But did you know this learning approach can also save your company money?

Think about it: in-person training sessions can take up a considerable part of your L&D budget. For every event, you’ll have facility hire, travel, catering, and the cost of instructors or presenters.

eLearning removes those costs, as well as the time spent planning those logistics. You’ll also cut down on the time spent gathering feedback from staff in workshops and sessions – your Learning Management System will be able to collate and report that data to you in an instant. A good LMS will help employees to stay on track and organised with their training, map their learning pathway, take and submit assessments, and collaborate with colleagues.

As Pappas says, “all in all, blending different delivering modes in your corporate training can significantly increase your training’s ROI, as reducing traditional training costs can be effectively combined with improved staff performance.”

Keen to help your learners get all the benefits of the traditional classroom, along with the flexibility and improved engagement of eLearning? Consider a combination of online and offline training, for effective blended learning.


The benefits of combining online and offline training

Before you can develop a successful training program for your team, you need to be really clear on exactly who needs to be trained, and in what. This is where a training needs assessment comes in handy.

By taking the time to carry out a proper training needs assessment, you’ll be making sure you’re delivering targeted, effective learning to your employees.