For anyone working in the construction industry, not only is training important but also mandated in some situations. For this particular arena, workers must follow compliance laws established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This government agency’s sole purpose is to set and enforce standards that keep people safe and healthy on the job. Although the regulations apply to multiple industries, they’re critical for construction.

Along with required training are voluntary programs. The challenge a lot of people have is knowing what training they need. After all, there are numerous programs and sub-programs. The good news is you can complete a host of courses online through a reputable Learning Management System or LMS. Virtually everything you need training on this system provides.

Because the duration of most courses is short and the cost is nominal, you can take as much training as you want. Along with staying compliant with OSHA regulations, online training gives you the opportunity to expand your knowledge base and hone existing skills.

Regardless of your position or the type of construction company you work for, the more you learn, the better you perform, and the safer and healthier the work environment becomes.

As someone involved in the construction industry, you need to determine the appropriate courses. For instance, do you need general industry training or training that focuses specifically on construction? For the answer to this question, learn the differences between the two.

As part of the OSHA Outreach Training Program, this voluntary program promotes both safety and health in the workplace. By completing it, you gain tremendous knowledge about things relating to the construction industry, including hazards.

Keep in mind this particular program doesn’t fulfill the OSHA standards, meaning your employer needs to ensure you have additional training. Initiated almost 50 years ago, the popularity of this program has skyrocketed in recent years.

As reported by the OSHA, people who work in the thriving construction industry want opportunities to learn. For the Outreach Training program alone, OSHA estimated that nearly 4 million people completed training during the four-year period ending in 2016.

The formula for General Industry training specifically focuses on workers. You would learn how to recognize, avoid, abate, and prevent hazards in the workplace. Also, this program covers basic information as to your rights, the responsibilities of your employer, and if necessary, the proper steps to take in filing a claim.

General Industry training provides several key benefits, including:

Promotes a safe and healthy work environment

Authorized trainers provide General Industry training as part of the OSHA Outreach Training program. While not certified, these individuals have extensive knowledge of and expertise in construction and the best way to deliver the program, so people understand how to apply it.

This training is also a part of the OSHA Outreach Training program that is designed for the construction industry. As with General Industry training, you would learn how to identify, avoid, abate, and prevent both health and safety hazards in the workplace. You would also become educated about your rights, the responsibilities of your employer, and the proper way to file a complaint.

For this program, you must finish a minimum of 10.25 hours of training along with supplemental material. Whether you work as a construction worker, site inspector, foreman, or job supervisor, you should take this program.

Construction training also focuses on OSHA industry standards on a federal level, although the program does not meet OSHA standards. Some of the other things you would learn to identify from this program include:

Ways to protect yourself from material handling hazards

Role your management plays in improving the current work environment

Appropriate Personal Protective Equipment

Both General Industry and Construction training are part of the OSHA Outreach Training Program with an emphasis on creating a safer and healthier work environment. Especially in construction, workers face potential risks daily. Therefore, it is essential you complete the proper training to reduce or eliminate potential hazards.

For the OSHA Outreach Training program, there are two options, a 10- and 30-hour course. If your employer determines you need health and safety training, he or she will go with either the 10- or 30-hour option depending on various factors. While both cover many of the same topics, the primary difference is with the 30-hour option; you receive 20 more hours of training. Remember, it’s your employer’s responsibility to understand the differences and select the right one.

A lot of people in the construction industry prefer to go for the 30-hour OSHA training course. The reason is the instructor has more time to spend on individual subjects. However, things like your job responsibilities, as well as the type of construction company where you work will determine if this is the right course.

After all, the term “construction” covers different types of companies, including:

For each of these, there are “sub-categories” like:

Hazardous Materials (Mandatory for the 30-hour training program)

Along with the 10- and 30-hour courses, you can take advantage of additional training through a reputable Learning Management System. By choosing the right platform, you can select from hundreds of different topics, developed by industry experts and presented in different forms such as videos, podcasts, and articles.

Especially for someone in the construction industry, regardless of the size of the employer, the specific field, or the job performed, completing health and safety training is highly beneficial. With so many unknowns, it’s better to prepare yourself than to face an accident that causes injury or worse.

After finishing either course, you would take an exam with a passing grade set at 70 percent. If you pass, you’ll receive the respective OSHA Outreach Training program card.

From a construction perspective, the structure between General Industry and Construction training remains much the same although the topics differ. Another key difference is with the 30-hour program, some topics are mandatory. One of the most significant benefits of taking either course is the authorized trainer has the discretion to customize it.

The goal with both the General Industry and Construction program, whether you complete the 10- or 30-hour course, is to become more knowledgeable and educated about critical factors related to the field of construction. Sure, having a card showing you completed training is nice but more importantly, you’ll contribute to maintaining a safe and healthy work environment.

When you consider every year, thousands of workers die on the job and even more sustain severe injuries, it’s essential you have the appropriate training. If your employer doesn’t offer you an opportunity to take the OSHA Outreach Training program, ask. Not only will this benefit you, but also the company. The fewer the injuries and illnesses the less liability for your employer.

By keeping people safe and healthy on the job, production increases, which generates more revenue. Finished products also ensure customer satisfaction, which gives your employer’s reputation a boost, something important in a fiercely competitive industry.

Although the OSHA Outreach Training program doesn’t meet OSHA standards, it’s highly complementary. The same goes for the additional online courses you take from a respected and trusted Learning Management System platform. While they may not meet the strict standards set and enforced by OSHA, they help you increase your knowledge base.

Following are just a few examples of the online courses currently available. However, to keep up with worker demand and an ever-changing industry, the system adds new courses all the time. Remember, you can complete both the 10- and 30-hour course using the right Learning Management System platform.

OSHA Safety Pro: Personal Protective Equipment

OSHA Control of Hazardous Energy and Lock Out / Tag Out

OSHA Outreach Training – General Industry 30-Hour Course

As shown by the examples provided, you can complete the full 10- or 30-hour training program or take segments of each. Regardless of the direction you go, you’ll find all courses have affordable prices. Also, because there’s no deadline on completing any of the courses, you won’t feel any stress to rush, which allows you to absorb the information better. If preferred, you can take online training courses from the comfort and privacy of your home.

Go1 is a highly regarded Learning Management System that offers an abundance of OSHA and non-OSHA courses specific to the construction industry. Our goal is to provide people what they need to enjoy a safe and healthy work environment. Industry experts develop and sometimes present all our courses. For that reason, you learn from the best.

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General industry or construction? OSHA 10 or OSHA 30? What training do I need?

Unfortunately, current statistics about sexual harassment in the workplace tell a horrifying story. Although public education and awareness help to some degree, this is a continuing problem that’s going to require a lot of involvement to reduce or hopefully, stop it. Not only do business owners play a significant role in protecting employees, but also their leadership team consisting of CEOs, CFOs, HR directors, compliance managers, L&D managers, and anyone else in a position of authority.

Sharing nude or pornographic photos or videos

Making comments or jokes pertaining to sex

Requesting sexual favors in exchange for some type of reward

Sharing or displaying statues, cartoons, icons, and dolls of a sexual nature

Writing memos, letters, text messages, or emails that include sexual innuendos

Making derogatory or insulting comments about or toward another employee of sexual nature

Making offensive remarks about a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation

Invading a person’s space in a sexual manner

Making sexual comments about a person’s clothing, appearance, or body parts

The following shows the difference between a hostile work environment sexual harassment and quid pro quo sexual harassment.

Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment – Anyone can commit this type of harassment, regardless of title or job responsibility. In fact, it can involve people outside of your organization, including clients, suppliers, vendors, couriers, members of the cleaning crew, repair people, etc. For this, there’s no offer of employee benefits in exchange for a sexual favor.

Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment – In this case, usually someone of authority makes unwanted, unwelcomed, or repeated advances in exchange for offering some type of employee benefit. Some examples include job promotion, bonus or raise, work-related opportunities, travel options, larger or better office, avoiding termination, and so on.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, sexual harassment entails virtually any kind of unwanted or unwelcome advances of a sexual nature. It also defines sexual harassment as any comment that would prevent an employee from doing his or her job due to feelings of being threatened or intimated.

Although both genders end up on the receiving end of sexual harassment, this problem affects more women than men, especially those between the ages of 25 and 35. Not only are men and women the recipients of sexual harassment but also the perpetrators. Also, harassment occurs between two people of the same and opposite gender.

For a better understanding of what sexual harassment looks like in the workplace, consider the three examples below.

A male worker pulls out nude, partially nude, or pornographic photos to show to other employees while standing within feet from a female worker’s desk. The woman can see the images and hear the conversation about them. As someone disinterested, that act, whether intentional or not, is sexual harassment.

A male or female employee tells a dirty joke within earshot of another worker who finds it offensive. Again, that situation depicts sexual harassment.

An employee who is a natural toucher or hugger walks up to a worker and puts his or her arms around the individual. While that’s fine with family or close friends, an employee who goes to different people in the workplace touching them, making them feel uncomfortable is sexual harassment. Although the harasser meant no ill will, he still did something wrong.

As you review the current statistics on workplace sexual harassment, you’ll quickly realize if you don’t already have an action plan in place, you need to implement one immediately. For this, it’s critical you and your entire leadership team sit down to learn what constitutes sexual harassment.

Also, this is the perfect opportunity to organize training, so the company executives, managers, and staff learn how to spot a problem, who to report it to, how to prevent it, the way to react, and more. Thanks to one of the best Learning Management Systems, you can find hundreds upon hundreds of topics all relating to this topic.

In the workplace, a staggering 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men have experienced some kind of sexual harassment

There’s a 60 percent chance of experiencing sexual harassment at work

When asked, 25 percent of the workforce admitted to experiencing sexual harassment

Of women harassed, 30 percent said the harasser was a male co-worker while 25 percent was a male in a position of authority

Of targeted people, only 38 percent took any action

You and your entire leadership team carry most of the burden in identifying and preventing workplace sexual harassment. It’s vital you do everything humanly possible to protect the people who work for your organization. Start by developing a strict sexual harassment policy. Brainstorm with your executives and managers to include moral and legal requirements. As part of your new policy, make sure to cover prevention, reporting, investigation, and disciplinary action.

Include in your company’s sexual harassment policy what happens if someone fails to report an incident or a person in authority doesn’t handle it correctly. Because you’re liable, either scenario puts your company at risk for consequences. Especially if the same individual harasses another employee following the first case, things could turn ugly fast.

With the company policy in place, offer your entire organization training. Whether you have your staff complete online courses in a group setting or on an individual basis, everyone has the same information. Knowledge is what gives people the power needed to act appropriately when facing a situation of sexual harassment.

You should then have your leaders pass out some kind of booklet or pamphlet to their teams as a reference tool. Along with that, include policy material in the orientation package for any new hires. Even post the information in specific areas of the company, including the lunch room and in every manager’s office. Sexual harassment is a major deal, and you need to treat it as such.

In addition to the policy, you need to confront the person accused of committing sexual harassment. Because every situation is different, and on rare occasions, the victim isn’t telling the truth, talk to the person behind closed doors with his or her manager present.

Decreased self-confidence and self-esteem

Anger, frustration, fear, and irritability

Without handling the situation and providing workers with resources for overcoming these issues, they begin to lose interest in the company and their jobs. Some may begin to show up late to work, struggle as a team member, and experience a significant decline in work performance, forcing the manager to demote or terminate.

When going through online training for sexual harassment, you’ll learn all sorts of things, including the correct information to document. For example, you or a manager needs to write down what happened and include as many details as possible. If preferred, you can have the harassed individual prepare a written statement. Include the harasser’s and any witness’s names, as well as the date, time, and place of the incident.

With the documentation, it’s essential to gather information as to how the harassed employee felt afterward and ways the situation affected his or her job. These details will help you understand any fallout of what happened, best deal with the harasser, and protect the innocent party.

For instance, if the harassed individual moves to another department or takes a job with a different company, you want a paper trail as to why the employee suddenly started struggling at work. If the severity of the sexual harassment arises to the level that requires the involvement of law enforcement, a full written report will paint a complete picture of what occurred.

Even if you terminate the sexual harasser, the other party may need some time to deal with what happened. Make sure you offer support or professional counseling as needed. You want your employee to fully recover and continue being a valued member of your organization. Because sexual harassment is a problem most companies deal with at some point, there are tremendous resources available.

For the training portion, Go1 has an incredible library of podcasts, videos, and articles specific to sexual harassment in the workplace. You, your executives, managers, and staff can access the site and complete as much training as wanted for a nominal price. Contact us to speak with a representative, so we can help you select the right courses for your business.

Sexual harassment training: how to stay protected

The Go1 team is proud to announce that our amazing customers and partners have won six awards at the 2018 LearnX Impact Awards! The prestigious awards highlight the impact of Go1’s eLearning solutions for our customers and partners and proves eLearning can deliver fantastic results for businesses.

LearnX Live Summit & Awards Show was held on Tuesday 30th October at the Melbourne Convention Centre. The awards are an annual event run by the LearnX Foundation; a not-for-profit organisation which recognises the exceptional impact of innovative workforce learning, technology and performance. The event attracts the leading learning and training industry organisations in Australia.

Congratulations to our award-winning customers and partners:

Best Deployment Learning Management Solution:

The Law Society of NSW – Platinum winners

There’s more where this came from - Go1 is excited about the eLearning projects our team are helping to develop for our customers and partners now and in the future!

Go1 customers and partners make an impact at the 2018 LearnX Impact Awards

What technology solutions are you using to hire and develop your employees? How well are these tools working for you and your HR team?

Technology is moving and changing rapidly in the HR landscape. And investing in contemporary tech solutions is an important part of efficient human resource management.

With the right technology, human resources professionals can work to greater understand a company’s biggest asset – its people. By keeping up-to-date with emerging HR tech, your human resources department will be able to greatly improve the way they’re recruiting, onboarding, training and managing employees.

Each new year brings further advancements in workplace technology, and we are currently seeing more exciting developments taking place in the HR space.

Here are some of the top emerging technology solutions for HR teams that are helping to revolutionise business as we know it.

The Ongoing Rise of Cloud-Based Solutions

Josh Bersin is founder of Bersin by Deloitte, a provider of global research in human resources and HR technology. Bersin has been analysing the HR tech market for almost 20 years and believes things are moving faster than ever in 2018.

Among the top disruptions in the HR sector are cloud-based solutions for human resource teams.

These days, “the question for most companies is no longer if you go to the cloud, but rather when and how,” Bersin says, with more and more organisations using cloud-based solutions such as HRMS (human resource management software) and HCM (human capital management) tools for payroll, onboarding, talent management, financial services and other ERP solutions.

Moving to cloud-based systems can provide organisations with greater collaboration, innovation and agility, while streamlining HR operations such as goal setting, coaching, feedback and evaluation.

Bersin also sees productivity to be the big topic in business today, as organisations embrace new tech tools that can help their teams achieve greater productivity.

“Burnout, focus, and employee engagement are all issues, and we are now dealing with email, messaging from many different systems, and a plethora of communication tools that overwhelm most of us,” Bersin says.

In response to this, he believes we’ll see more HR software emerging that’s been specifically created to improve productivity and help teams work better together.

David D’Souza, head of engagement at CIPD, agrees that there is some really interesting work being done in the partnership between human resources and technology.

“HR leaders need to become far, far more technology aware – outside of our traditional realms of HR systems – and start thinking about how technology can be used to support performance and reinforce culture,” he says.

We’ve talked a lot about gamification in the workplace over the last year. And now we’re seeing it extend to the human resources space.

We know gamification technology has huge potential for changing the future of our workplaces, particularly when it comes to learning environments.

The application of gaming design psychology and principles to learning content has been shown to increase employee engagement and motivation, while encouraging individuals to hit learning goals faster.

Gamification is now being successfully adopted by HR teams to make recruitment, learning and development processes more fun, interactive and successful.

We will also see the recruitment process revolutionised by the next generation of screening technology being automated.

This new type of technology is being used to carry out the early stages of the interview process, through innovative use of chat bots, facial expression analysis and video interviewing.

“High volume recruitment (hospitality, services, healthcare, retail) is being automated by chatbots and other new tools; skilled job recruitment is being revolutionized by open sourcing tools, [and] more automated applicant tracking systems,” explains Birsin.

Chatbots have become increasingly popular across the customer service and marketing spaces, and they are now being successfully adopted by human resource departments.

D’Souza also believes that the use of chatbots will really take off over the next year.

“They have the potential to make real differences to the efficiency of HR teams whilst also improving speed – and potentially accuracy – of response for employees,” he says.

Companies spend billions each year on recruitment, so this development will certainly save businesses a considerable amount of time and money.

If you’re a HR manager, you should be constantly thinking about what avenues you can explore to improve the way you hire, onboard, train and manage staff. Having relevant, up-to-date technology solutions that are easily accessible is critical.

Keeping abreast of emerging developments in HR tech can help you improve your human resources strategy while bringing great benefits to the business and its employees.

The emerging HR tech that is revolutionising business as we know it

Has someone ever said to you, “Don’t bring your work home?” If so, you’re just one among millions. Regardless of the industry, job title, or responsibilities, a lot of people carry the burden of bringing work home. Especially for those in leadership roles, they worry about deadlines, customer satisfaction, product or service quality, job safety, and the list goes on.

Job Stress – A study performed by Everest College found that of all workers in the United States, 83 percent feel stressed. The primary contributors include a lack of job security, inadequate benefits, low pay, too much work, insufficient professional development opportunities, and mismatched position, responsibilities, or industry.

Productivity – In an extensive report generated by Health Advocate, experts found that stress has a significant impact on an employee’s productivity. Annually, stress leads to lost productivity to a tune of $300 billion.

Accidents and Injuries – Of all accidents in the workplace, stress is responsible for up to 80 percent. The more accidents occur, the higher the risk of injury and even death for some types of industries. More stress on the job is also the reason claims for worker’s compensation are on the rise.

Missed Work – Stress is the reason roughly 1 million employees miss work every day. Absences at that level lead to a host of issues relating to production, customer satisfaction, generated revenue, and even morale among workers who don’t call in “sick.” For those who faithfully show up, 60 percent do so because they feel guilty about missing work, which only intensifies their level of stress.

Health Care – The cost of health care among stressed workers is considerably higher compared to non-stressed employees. According to experts, doctors can link some type of work-related stress to 90 percent of patient visits.

Frustration and Anger – In some work environments, employees feel extremely frustrated and stressed, which often leads to anger. In fact, a study conducted by Gallup on this very topic found 14 percent of employees felt stressed to the level of wanting to hit another worker. Another 29 percent admitted to yelling at their co-workers citing stress as the reason.

Work Overload – Too much work is another key contributor to stress on the job. Even with a stabilized economy and business growth, a lot of companies feel the need to squeeze every ounce of work from their employees as opposed to bringing more talent onboard. As a result, 70 percent of workers feel there’s no way to complete the tasks assigned in the number of work hours available per day.

The best employers still expect a lot from their workers, but they also provide them with the tools, support, and resources needed to perform optimally without becoming stressed. One way they accomplish this is by offering training. Along with in-person sessions, the top employers recognize the value of allowing employees to complete online courses. While they learn new skills or hone existing ones, they can finish the training without pushing to meet a tight deadline.

By learning the primary causes of stress in the workplace, you have the opportunity to find solutions.

Although a lot of people love their jobs, they still work to earn a paycheck. The goal is to make enough money to pay the bills and enjoy life a little. However, low wages are a continuing issue. Some companies may not be in a position to increase their employees’ wages while others choose not to.

Either way, if people work hard, volunteer for special projects, or come in early or stay late to help a department catch up, it’s essential to recognize their efforts. One report showed that as much as 25 percent of workers in the US would switch jobs for only a 10 percent increase in pay.

Even if your company can’t afford to increase wages, find other ways to compensate them for their dedication and work. Often, simple gestures like a $25 gift card, leaving work a few hours early without having their pay docked, or ordering pizza for an entire department goes a long way in reducing stress and achieving employee satisfaction.

Remember, 70 percent of employees feel they have too much work on their plate. Especially for workers who care about the company and strive to please their managers, not finishing tasks creates a lot of stress.

For this situation, spend time with the leaders of various departments to identify the issue and determine a way to fix it. When a worker feels overloaded with work, there are several potential causes such as poor management, an employee working in the wrong position, or a shortage of help within that group.

Once you and your department heads find out what’s going on, you can then take the appropriate action. Often, online training courses help to teach employees excellent time management skills, making it possible for them to stay on top of work. Also, you could have your leadership team take advantage of training in whatever area it needs improving.

Most people would rather stay busy at work as opposed to twiddling their thumbs. While it might seem that reading a book, playing games on a tablet or computer, or calling friends during work hours would be fun, the fact is people with no viable responsibilities feel bored, unappreciated, and unimportant. Boredom alone is enough to cause stress but when you add in the other negative emotions, the problem skyrockets.

Whether a receptionist, mail clerk, filer, or any job for that matter, your leaders need to find ways to keep them busy. Keep in mind this isn’t “busy work,” but actual job responsibilities that help other departments. Your management team should take time to understand what an individual has interest or skills in, and based on that, select work he or she enjoys and excels at doing.

As explained by Psychology Today, “Worrying about the passage of time and lack of events and stimulation to fill that time are not the only issue involved in boredom. There is also a more global aspect of a person’s motivation to work.” The experts go on to say that when employees do something genuine or useful to others, they find their work worthwhile.

When running an organization, it’s critical that you and your leaders set clear expectations. Based on those, your managers need to provide employees with feedback, good and bad, to help them become more efficient and confident in their roles. Just as your leaders should point out areas that need improvement, they should also verbally recognize employees when they do something great.

Finding the perfect work and personal balance is tough, made even more challenging due to technology. The issue is a vast number of people check work-related emails, review contracts, return phone calls, and handle other matters while off the clock using a smartphone. Feeling the need to take care of business away from work creates unnecessary stress.

For this, always lead by example. As a business owner, make sure your executives, department heads, and staff aren’t required to perform work-related tasks while away from the job. Although some will still do it, they should know it’s not mandated.

Not only do you want to limit the number of hours your employee spends at work each week, but also, when someone has a doctor’s appointment, a sick child, or a car that requires servicing, have a plan in place that allows for some degree of flexibility.

Even if you have a smaller company, find opportunities for your dedicated employees to advance as your business grows. Whether changing positions or adopting new responsibilities in their current role, do what you can to help your staff move forward. People who feel stuck in a dead-end job experience a lot of stress. The unhappier they are, the less they perform.

The last thing you want is for someone interested in growth to become burned out or frustrated to the point they move on. That’s the kind of talent you want to retain. It’s already difficult to find hard-working and loyal employees. Don’t lose someone because they feel trapped rather than empowered.

As part of looking for remedies to correct work-related problems that lead to employee stress, it’s vital for you to develop or adopt various coping mechanisms for your organization. By doing so, you show your entire staff that you care and you’re willing to do the necessary things to curb stress in the work environment rather than for it to control your workers.

Wouldn’t it be nice if work-related stress just stopped? Since that’s not going to happen, you need to take the reins and force positive change. Following are just a few suggestions:

Identify Stressors – Have regular meetings with your managers about stress and stress-related topics. Ask them to identify stressors within their respective departments. The first step to making positive changes starts with recognizing the problem and its underlying cause. Just as you meet with your leaders, have them do the same with their employees to help build rapport that leads to open and honest communication.

Provide Healthy Responses – When employees open up about their stress, they need and deserve a healthy response from their managers. Receiving support will help reduce stress, especially for workers who feel uncomfortable or intimidated by talking to their superiors.

Set Boundaries – Remember the comment about limiting the number of hours employees works each week? As a business owner, it’s essential to set boundaries at all levels. Experts say children actually like discipline because it makes them feel safe. The same concept applies here. By establishing boundaries where they are needed, your staff will feel safer and less stressed.

Downtime – While you need to set boundaries, it’s also crucial to have some flexibility. For this, there’s a ton of options. A few considerations include offering a four-day work week instead of five, allowing some employees to work split hours, or perhaps setting up a telecommuting program. After all, things always come up that people can’t take care of after 5 or over the weekend.

Special Programs – Along with offering online training courses to your leaders and their teams, consider starting other special programs. For instance, you could have a yoga instructor come in once a month to teach a class. Don’t forget about the importance of team-building exercises as well, which help bring down stress both at work and at home.

For reducing or eliminating stress at work that carries over to the home, remember the value of online training. Go1 ranks among the most respected platforms with virtually thousands of professionally developed podcasts, articles, videos, and more.

Coping with work stress in and out of the workplace

A Learning Management System or LMS has become a critical part of the e-learning process. This system includes beginner to expert guides, articles, blogs, tips, and more. Because an LMS offers different outcomes and strategies, the primary goal in using it depends on your company’s objectives. However, the primary purpose of implementing this system is to deploy and track online training courses.

For a Learning Management System, a software program uploads a host of courses. Your management and their teams then have easy access to online information, perfect for gaining new knowledge and skills or honing existing ones. After selecting the preferred LMS, users with the login details and password have vast resources at their fingertips.

Although LMS benefits have a broad reach, it is essential that you first determine whether your company is ready for this method of online learning. You need to identify training and organisation objectives before taking the leap. Simplify your decision by using the tips provided.

LMS Project Validity – Conduct an audit of the learning environment and the staff that would use the system to confirm the readiness of your organisation. As part of that, analyze how many online training courses the system would need to offer and the number of users that would utilize them. Also, consider the length of time it would take for your leadership team to get up-to-speed on assigning courses to their groups and running vital reports.

Improving on Compliance – If your company is among those mandated to stay compliant with current laws, regulations, and policies, but you struggle to ensure everyone has the same knowledge and applies it the correct way, an LMS is ideal. Remember, the more compliant your organisation is, the less the risk of receiving hefty fines or having employees injured or worse. Staying compliant also helps your business improve on efficiency, giving it a competitive edge.

Solid Content Strategy – You need to identify your content strategy. Because the LMS becomes the “go to” for all training, seldom will your organisation rely on outside sources like courseware vendors and universities. By brainstorming about the type and volume of content required for your LMS the better opportunity your company has to succeed. When conducting your internal audit, determine the content your employees want and need, as well as the most efficient way to distribute the courses throughout the organisation.

Standardization – It would be far better to take a little extra time to launch an organised and standardized LMS than to back up after to clean things up. Not only do you need a professionally designed system layout but you should also come up with topic headings, course categories, report names, and so on. With standardization, everyone within your organisation uses the same LMS language and gains a better understanding of how the system works.

Phasing – While some companies perform a complete rollout of an LMS, you might start by introducing yours in phases. Initially, allow willing participants to take various courses that will help them perform better in their respective positions. With a successful first phase, you can then offer the system to everyone. Depending on your company’s specific needs, you may or may not at some point make the LMS mandatory.

Establish Realistic Expectations – Any time companies introduce something new, they want it to achieve immediate success. An LMS is no different. However, to avoid frustration and unnecessary stress, it is imperative that you have realistic expectations. You may find the rollout going smoothly but more than likely, you will face a few bumps in the road, which is why good preparedness is so critical.

Reasons for Implementing an LMS Into Your Organisation

Enhanced Leadership – Because your managers, administrators, or directors will typically determine the courses their teams take, they play a crucial role in the Learning Management System. For one thing, they can also benefit from the available online courses, but they can also produce different reports to identify strengths and weaknesses within their groups. As a result, your leadership team becomes more effective and has the information required to make personnel or work adjustments that would benefit their department and the organisation overall.

New Hire Orientation – An LMS is perfect for all new hires. Having onboarded employees complete specific online training courses, they start off understanding the company’s policies and expectations. Although you can still hold an employee orientation meeting and hand out booklets, the best way to get the message across is with an LMS.

Employee Training – An LMS is excellent for employees who need training for a new position in another department, have different responsibilities within their current group, or to improve productivity and performance. With online courses developed and often presented by industry experts, this system is an excellent way to learn. An LMS is a more cost-effective and successful approach compared to bringing outside instructors into the organisation to provide training.

Retaining Knowledge – Whether having your employees complete training on an individual or group basis, an LMS helps with knowledge, information, techniques, and skill retention. You want your entire staff to succeed, not just for themselves but also for the organisation.

Is your organisation ready for a Learning Management System?

The Go1 Product Guides are designed to help you learn some tips and tricks to better manage your Go1 Learning Platform. In today’s guide, you will discover everything you need to know about creating and managing a course. This guide will demonstrate how the new Go1 course creation flow works, for both creating courses and Standalone Learning Resources. The content in this guide is not transferable to the creation and/or management of Awards.  

Course versus a standalone learning resource?

If you have content that you want to include across different courses, create that content as a standalone learning resource. By building a library of standalone learning resources, you have ready-to-use content for when you create your courses. Don’t forget:  standalone learning resources are classified as; Text items, Documents, Web-link, Videos or Interactive files – they are not Quizzes or Events.

Including a Terms and Conditions document at the beginning of all your courses, requiring your student to acknowledge they’ve read it by marking it as complete.

If you create company onboarding courses that are department-specific you might still have general organisational content relevant across departments at the beginning of your courses. With content re-use, you can create a standalone Mission Statement PDF or Company Welcome Video, that you include across all onboarding courses!

How to create a Standalone Learning item?

Complete Title and additional meta-data fields 

Publish and Share. Share settings must be greater or equal to the share settings of the course you re-use the item in, that does mean it is able to be enrolled in outside of the course. 

You will notice with the redesign of courses, the layout is different but the fields are still the same.

Animated GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Create a course and add; Title, description and image. You will also be asked to nominate a quick share setting.  For ease, select Only Me so your students can’t access the course whilst you building it. By selecting only me other admins on the portal will still be able to edit the course. We strongly suggest if you want your course cards to look consistent then ensure all fields are completed. 

In the Structure Tab, select the blue +Add to add Modules to your course. Modules are really useful if you want to group your learning resources according to their content. You can also include a quiz or assessment item at the end of each module to ensure your learner has sufficiently understood the content before they move onto more modules.

There are three types of Learning items to create

 Resources are Documents, Link, Videos, LTI tool, Weblink, Interactive file or Assignment, Quiz (with matching questions) and Events (look out for a separate guide on these).  All resources you create within the context of the LO will not be standalone.

Select a type of learning you want to add from the drop-down list of resources (eg Document) and create a new resource by completing the title. 

The right side of the page will highlight the overview of your new learning resource, and it will alert you that action is required.

Select Edit.

 	Write a description
 	Upload a file  
 	Upload an image  
 	Save and exit


Re-use existing learning resources (created outside a course)

Select + Add learning and choose the type of standalone learning resourcse you have already created.

Begin typing the name of the resource - it will appear. Select and add to course. Alternatively use the search bar on the right-hand side of the page, to search the exact name of the resource, authored by you. 

The overview of the resource will alert you that action is required.  All you need to do is view the item in edit view and check all details are up-to-date (image, description). Be sure to save and exit, even if you don’t make changes!

If you do update the learning resource (eg update a new version of the PDF document) it will update the learning resource inside this course, but also all other instances where that document exists. 

Add interactive file and search the name of the premium file you want to add, it will come up as an existing learning resource. 

Or use the search bar to the right to seach recent, suggested or popular content

 	Find your course and drag across. 
 	You can arrange the order learning items, to best compliment your course, using the grab tool found on the left of each item title. 



To note, while the course creation search engine is being improved, it’s best you know the title of the course you want to add to find it quickly!

You can arrange the order learning items, to best compliment your course, using the grab tool found on the left of each item title. 

Use the more button (three dots) to Add a completion rule to your module(s) or learning items. 

If you want the modules to be completed in the order they are displayed, select for each module that the earlier module is prerequisite material that must be completed. If you set assessment it will need to be reviewed or passed for the learner to be able to then move onto the next module. If you want, your learner to complete each learning item in the order you’ve created, select the tick box in the module stating learners must complete in the order stated. 

You can also set specific dates you require each module to be complete, or a completion rule that states after your learner has enrolled in the course or the module, they have a certain number of days to complete the required work.  Always make sure if you make changes in the information box, you ensure they save by selecting Done.

If you want users to enrol / be enrolled in the course then you must publish the course. 

In an unpublished state, the course cannot be found. 

Share is a new feature that allows you to choose which individuals, portals or groups you want your course to be shared with. By default, any course you create will be shared with you. It’s a good idea to keep the course on the Only Me sharing setting whilst your editing it – so your users can’t find the course in Explore. If you have other admins on the portal, they will be able to access and edit the course even if the sharing setting is only you. You can also make your fellow Admins Co-authors of the course (course creators) and they will be able to find the course in their My Teaching > Resources section of the portal. 


When the course is ready to share to your Learners, make a selection from the share pop-up. If your organisation has multiple portals and only want to share certain courses to certain portals or individuals this setting is really useful. Alternatively, share the course to an individual subset of your users if you want it to only be accessible by certain users.  Sharing to a portal or specific user does not automatically enrol, assign or notify the user it has been shared to them, it just specifies visibility – so it can be found in Explore.  

Can view or can enrol? If you have enrolment settings (such as price) and you want your users to by-pass and enrol immediately; select Can Enrol whereas, Can View – will enforce those settings.

Error message: If you receive an error on your re-used resources, it is probably because the sharing settings on the item are different to the course. Share settings of the item must be greater or equal to the share settings of the course. For example, if I share a standalone item to myself, but the course settings are to share to my portal (greater than the standalone permission) you will receive an error.  If your course is not published but the resource outside of the course is, your learner will still be able to enrol in the item.

Access Enrolment settings such an enquiry or not allowing enrolment. These settings will only be applicable if your sharing settings are set to Can View. 