Competent, hardworking employees are the backbone of any successful company. No matter how good job management is, if the workforce is less than satisfactory, there isn’t much anyone can do.

This is why it is essential to have a good idea about just how competent your workers are and to regularly think of ways to improve their skills for the betterment of the entire corporation. One of the ways you can do this is to put new and existing employees through a training protocol that will teach them all they need to know about the job position they wish to fill.

Employee Training: Reasons and Benefits

Suppose you notice multiple employees repeating the same mistake, no matter what it may be tied to. In that case, that’s a sign that you need to consider investing in some employee training. This can cover pretty much any topic, from ethics at the workplace to developing one of the many skills your employees have yet to pick up on their own.

When hiring new employees, one of the most desirable traits is the existing experience in the field that the employee is interested in. Unfortunately, this isn’t a commodity we can always count on. More often than not, your new employee will not have experience in doing the exact kind of work expected of them, and employee training can be a great help there. For example, when hiring older individuals that do not have that much experience or skill with computers, and if that is something that they will have to do, it is a good idea to have a training program in place that will show them the ropes beforehand.

Many studies have proven that it is more effective to hire employees that do not have the existing experience and put them through a training program that will teach them everything they need to know. Group-based employee training is also a great way to develop your employee’s team-building skills and teach them the value of teamwork in the company and increase their morale in general.

When developing a training program, there are generally two paths you can take; you can have the training face-to-face, in a classroom with a dedicated trainer, or opt-out for a software solution. Both methods have their pros and cons, and today we’d like to make a fair comparison of those two so you can make an informed choice for yourself and your company.

The Face-To-Face Method

The traditional method of teaching would have a group of students in a classroom or a theater and listen to a single teacher elaborate on a lesson they need to master to improve their skills and, in this case, become more proficient in the workplace in whatever aspect they deem necessary. E-learning is catching up to the tried and true method of face-to-face training, and many of these advantages will entirely possibly be obsolete in less than a decade. Still, we think it is essential to state and acknowledge them.

One of the most apparent advantages is that face-to-face training has the potential to be more engaging than e-learning for the employee. It takes a great deal of self-discipline to pay maximum attention and not be tempted to multitask (check one’s Facebook/Twitter feed and the like while trying to pay attention to the lecture) when there’s an actual physical barrier between you and the instructor.

Additionally, should any problem or inconsistency arise, it’s easy to ask a question and engage in a 1-on-1 interaction with the instructor (as long as they’re willing to respond to and answer such queries) and clear up anything that isn’t clear. Learning is more engaging if the trainees do not have the required discipline.

And finally, one might argue that the face-to-face method allows for more discussion between the instructor and the trainee. As long as you’re in the same room, there’s even potential for a debate, which is an excellent way for students to get more involved in the lecture and learn much more. Granted, you can still do this via an Internet protocol, but some would argue that it isn’t as effective.

The Software Method

When it comes to E-learning, there are many advantages that both the employees and the company can enjoy if you opt out of a software-based training program. First of all, we have to mention the apparent benefit of how easy it is to use multimedia to teach students; images, audio, video, and interactive virtual environments can help students learn in many different ways, not to mention that feedback and assistance can be given at the push of a button.

Also, because software-based training can be attended from the comfort of one’s home, you can have as many students participating in a lecture as you’d like – you aren’t limited by the amount of physical space, unlike the face-to-face method.

The lower cost argument also has to be mentioned; when going for the traditional face-to-face teaching method, the company generally has to take care of employees’ accommodation and travel expenses (among other things). If many employees take the training, this can add up to quite a large number. There’s also the subject of environmental impact and reducing your company’s carbon footprint by switching to E-learning. According to certain studies, this can add up to as much as 90 percent if the training program is implemented correctly.

In the end, which method you’ll end up using is up to the company and its particular needs and requirements, but it’s a good idea to have all the essential information about the pros and cons of each before you make such a decision. Many people might argue that E-learning is the future and that software tools will become indispensable in education as they keep evolving, so that must be considered. We wish you the best of luck in developing your training program and hope that the information we’ve put forward today will come in handy during the process.