Where to next with corporate training?

Before the pandemic some companies provided employees with the option of taking online courses but the majority of training was conducted in person. Indeed, according to a report by the Ken Blanchard Companies in 2021, prior to the pandemic, corporate training was as follows:

• 70% in-person instructor-led training (physically present teacher)
• 14% virtual instructor-led training (a teacher connecting with the class online)
• 16% self-paced courses (structured online interactive content)

With the pandemic this changed unsurprisingly to:

• 19% in-person instructor-led training
• 57% virtual instructor-led training
• 24% self-paced courses

Now that the pandemic seems to be behind us, how is this affecting corporate training? Are we reverting to how things were before the pandemic or is online training playing a much more significant role than it did in 2019? Well, the indications are that online training is playing a much more significant role in corporate training than it did prior to the pandemic.

According to the Ken Banchard Companies report, the prediction is for the following:

• 34% in-person instructor-led training
• 40% virtual instructor-led training
• 25% self-paced courses

So, if this is right, traditional face-to-face training is just going to be half of what it was prior to the pandemic. And there will be more virtual instructor-led training than in-person training. However, what is even more interesting is the importance of self-paced courses. This refers to online learning platforms which include structured interactive digital content which allow course participants to work through the course material at their own pace.

Why has the balance changed? There are many different reasons:

1. More and more people are either working 100% from home or part-time from home, part-time from the office. Online training options particularly self-paced courses provide the flexibility to cater for this type of working environment much better than in-person instructor-led training.
2. Due to the pandemic, more people have now experienced online training options and realised that it can be an effective way to train people. As such it has broken down psychological barriers that existed with certain people who hadn’t experienced online courses before.
3. Self-paced courses and virtual instructor-led training can be more effective, more efficient and cheaper than conventional training options.
4. People are more digitally confident than they were prior to the pandemic. The vast majority of people have experienced Zoom, Teams or other web-conferencing tools. Following an online course is no longer an intimidating prospect for most people.
5. People now expect more flexible training options. They know that flexibility is possible and want to continue to enjoy these options.

The conclusion seems to be that corporate markets will require more and more flexible options to cater for a fast-changing work environment. Self-paced courses combined with virtual instructor-led training caters well for this environment.

Net Languages has over 20 years’ experience of doing just that.

Find out more about what Net Languages can do for your corporate training needs.

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