Most people spend a considerable amount of time commuting to and from work each day, with around two million employees spending an average of 90 minutes a day in transit. That’s a significant amount of travel time each day, adding up to around 7.5 hours a week – the equivalent of a whole day’s work.

You can imagine how that time adds up over the months and years! But for most of us, the daily work commute is spent either battling traffic or idly scrolling through Facebook while listening to music on the bus or train. Have you ever found yourself staring out the window and wondering if this is really the best use of your time?

While it’s up to you how you use your time commuting to and from work, you might not have considered using this travel time to focus on your professional development. The daily commute presents an excellent opportunity for individuals to take the time to learn new skills, grow their professional network and keep up-to-date with industry news. It can also be a valuable time for quiet reflection and meditation.

By investing those otherwise lost hours into your own professional development, you can quickly and easily improve your skill set and give your career a positive boost. Here are some tips for maximising your daily work commute.

Improve Your Skill Set with an Online Course

These days, we’re lucky to have the convenience of eLearning, allowing us to easily enrol in online courses on our laptops, tablets and smartphones and study anywhere and anytime – including the bus or train.

In a recent article, we discussed how you can improve your job prospects with online learning, with eLearning being an excellent way to manoeuvre the gaps within your education. As we said then, “for anyone who is struggling to find a job or move up within their company, expanding on their skill set is an ideal way of setting themselves apart and becoming more equipped to handle the workforce.”

Employees who are willing to develop new skills and improve their existing skill set are highly valued by many employers and organisations. Take a look at our list of 5 free online courses to help you succeed at work, with our top pick of eLearning courses to help you improve your time management, public speaking or negotiation skills.

By using your commute time for regular eLearning, you’ll also be keeping your brain active, challenged and engaged, which is good for your physical and mental wellbeing.

Keep Up to Speed with Industry Podcasts or Webinars

If you drive to work, you can still spend your daily commute learning, by tuning into podcasts featuring favourite industry leaders or subjects relevant to your field. 

With so many industries moving at such a rapid pace, particularly IT and the creative industries, it’s important for employees to stay up-to-date with industry news and developments. Using travel time to catch up on podcasts for your professional development will help to improve your self-confidence and knowledge in these areas and give you a competitive edge over your colleagues.

Whether you’re driving in your car, or taking the bus or train, podcasts can help maximise your commute time, furthering your knowledge and sharpening your skills without even interrupting your daily routine.

Put Some Energy into Professional Networking

Your morning or afternoon commute can be the perfect time to actively build and maintain your professional network online. If you’re going to spend time browsing social media in your travel time each day, you may as well spend a few minutes investing in your career as well.

 Use some of your daily work commute to connect with other people in your industry through LinkedIn or Twitter. Being part of a professional network can help keep you motivated, focused and energised in your work.

If you’re lucky enough to have a work mentor, or someone who regularly inspires you, use your morning travel time to catch up on their news or career developments. Why not share some of your own recent work achievements, or articles about exciting things going on in your industry?

Spending a little bit of time each morning to feel inspired and energised will also have you arriving at work in a more positive frame of mind.

Using travel time to relax and recharge might not sound very beneficial for your professional development, but daily meditation can bring significant positive changes to your whole life, including your career. 

By taking some time, even just ten minutes each day, to practice deep breathing or guided meditation you can reduce the risks of burn out and improve your mental health. This will make you a more resilient and well balanced employee, contributing to better work performance and results for you and your team.

Your morning train ride or bus trip (as opposed to your car!) is a good time to practice meditation, as you’ll start the day feeling focused and calm and ready for work. Think about your morning rituals – do you usually start your day feeling rushed, frustrated with late trains or annoyed at fellow passengers? Choosing to incorporate more positive practices into your existing routine will cost you nothing in time or money, but bring significant long-term benefits to your health and wellbeing.

Now think about how you can start getting the most out of your own daily commute and whether you would be better off investing some of that time into your professional and personal development. It could be a very good move for your future career.

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Use your daily work commute to boost your career

You’re about to reach the busiest time of year for your company… Your primary focus should be on necessary prep-work and fine-tuning, but all of a sudden three customer service employees quit and you’re suddenly very understaffed for the season!

In these types of situations, a business owner’s attention is pulled away from their main priorities and they’re forced to find quick replacements.

Sadly, for companies that face a high turnover rate, this can seem like a never-ending battle. A high workplace turnover rate can lead to serious issues, such as:

All of these concerns can play a primary role in the floundering of a business’ success, and that’s why it’s absolutely critical to solve customer service problems ASAP.

John Hausknecht, an assistant professor at Cornell University, worked with a team of individuals to evaluate the effect of employee turnover on the quality of service within a company.

Providing Customers with the Best Possible Service

In high turnover environments, new employees aren’t usually offered the comprehensive training needed to successfully complete their jobs. That’s one problem.

They’re given the basic tools and then rushed to start working to make up for the lack in manpower needed to get certain jobs done. Urgency and limited training often lead to poor customer service.

If you’re searching for the best possible remedy to this predicament, it’s time to consider a learning management system.

These systems streamline the training process and help to ensure each new and seasoned employee has all of the tools needed to get the job done right.  Not only do these programs cover the basic education needed during a customer service employee’s initial hiring, they’re also a convenient way to roll out ongoing education amongst your teams.

Whether your company is undergoing things like policy changes or the installation of new technology, learning management systems are a convenient way to handle continued education within the workplace and will save you a tremendous amount of time.

Before you can recognize just how beneficial learning management systems can be, it’s essential to understand the various ways that your company might be affected by a high turnover rate within your customer service department.

As stated previously, having a high turnover rate not only means management will have to consistently set aside the time to search for, interview, and hire new team members, but they will then have to worry about getting new employees trained.

While the allocation of this time can be one of the most hard-hitting effects of employee turnover, here are a few of the other concerns to be considered.

Depending on the type of business you run, along with the type of candidate you’re looking for, finding a new employee can get pricey.

Common costs involved in this process are for things, such as:

Many employers forget to consider the cost to find applicants. The quality of candidates you’re searching for, along with the length of time you are searching, will determine the type of ads you need to place. In ongoing situations, this can get quite expensive indeed.

Covering the cost of travel and accommodations for qualified applicants during their interview process is just one of the ways this area can cost your employer money.

Even when a new hire is undergoing training, it’s still mandatory that they are paid. This training period can be quite the cost for business’ considering they have to pay a salary while no real work is being done.

Much like the interview process, new employee training also pulls current team members and management away from their own work in order to help the new people learn their jobs.

A constant revolving door of employees can really bring down the morale of a business. Current employees are often forced to pick up the slack left behind, not to mention the inevitable increase of distracting and productivity-draining inner-office gossip.

Constant speculation over why so many individuals are leaving and what new employees are like can be a harmful distraction for any business.

Last, but certainly not least, poor customer service is one of the most devastating effects of high turnover rates.

A decrease in overall employees, along with an increase in new, uncertain employees, can provide customers with little more than a lackluster experience.

Learning Management Systems May Be the Best Solution for Customer Service Departments with High Turnover 

Learning management systems can ensure that you have well-trained employees to support your customer service departments, along with guaranteeing that your team members stay around long-term.

These online programs provide a wealth of information that will provide all of the tools necessary for customer service success.

Not only is there a large variety of coursework available through these systems, but they also allow management to take a hands-off approach to new hire training while still providing them with the opportunity to stay abreast of an employee’s progress and performance.

These types of programs are proven to reduce the costs involved in new employee training and also decrease the amount of time needed to complete initial training.

Online learning systems also provide an easy way to offer continued education. Once the base program has been set up within your company, it’s simple to find additional courses and information that may prove beneficial to the continued success of the business.

Benefitting Employees from Start to Finish

A sure-fire way of reducing the amount of turnover a business owner sees in their customer service department is to address the issues at hand.

Many times these will be related to an employee’s lack of ability or their want for a more challenging environment. Learning management systems are an ideal solution to both of these issues.

Why waste time looking for new employees and then trying to build them up? Focus your attention on benefiting the individuals already working for you and offering them the tools need to successfully serve your customers.  These learning management systems are a simple and cost-effective solution.

Streamline your customer service department with a learning management system

Do you have a good training program in place to help guide your managers through the maternity leave process with their team? 

We've have put together a FREE course created by a maternity leave expert that can help put a plan in place for your managers so that when they are next faced with an employee taking maternity leave, they will be able to set up a plan to help them through all aspects of the process from winding down at work, to re-entering the workforce when they are ready.

This course is a must have for all businesses.

With women making up just over 45% of the Australian workforce, it is inevitable that at some point an employee will tell you that they are pregnant.

In this course, you will learn how to effectively navigate the maternity leave process and how to best assist the expectant employee including how to handle the initial discussion, making plans leading up to maternity leave, and how to reintroduce new parents to the workplace after leave.

Looking for more? Try our Top Categories! 

Looking for something but can't find it? Meet one of our learning consultants and let us help you out!

Train your managers on how to handle maternity leave

Making your web content accessible to users with disability or age-related impairment is a very important part of web design and development. You want to make sure that people have equal access to the information on your website or online learning materials – including those who are vision impaired.

Many people with low or partial vision use the internet every day, at work and at home. And you may be surprised to learn that a large majority of these users do not use screen reading technology. Instead, they rely on using the amount of vision they have to continue working on screen. However, certain websites can be harder to read and navigate than others, which leads to eye strain, headaches and frustration with the online experience.

To address this, web designers and developers work to identify the main considerations for accessibility and inclusive design when creating web pages or electronic documents. This includes accessibility features that make it easier for users with impaired vision, eye disease, age-related macular degeneration or colour blindness to see information on screen.

Web accessibility guidelines also form an important aspect of making sure your content is compliant. In some industries, accessibility is a legislative requirement, meaning businesses have a legal obligation to make sure their web content is able to be read easily by all users, including those who are vision impaired. 

If you’re developing online materials for an eLearning course, you’ll need to be aware of some of these factors so you’re not excluding any members of your learning community. We’ve put together some guidelines for making your web content more accessible to users with vision impairment, allowing them to better navigate your website or learning materials.

For many users who experience low or partial vision or age-related problems with their eyes, simply making text larger on screen can mean a world of difference.

Offering alternate stylesheets with larger font sizes allows individuals to have the option of adjusting the text size to suit their needs. For large articles or amounts of text, you should also offer text-only versions such as PDFs that can easily be read on screen or printed.

If your target audience is over 50, consider making your default font a few points larger. As people in this demographic become increasingly comfortable with technology, the amount of internet users over the age of 50 will become even higher and you want to make sure you’re catering for that audience.

Keyboard shortcuts can make site navigation for visually impaired users a lot easier and far less frustrating. Using keyboard commands to move around a site or document, instead of the mouse, means less need to follow the cursor around on screen – which can be hard for people with low sight or partial vision as they need to constantly shift their focus to track down the mouse cursor.

Australian writer Robbie Kirk, who is vision impaired with partial sight in both eyes, says she relies on using the “good parts” of her eyes to read on screen. This means looking around the whole screen to see something in focus, rather than being able to take in information all at once as she used to. 

Because of this, it’s easy to miss certain parts of a website or document that are probably quite clear to other users. As Robbie says, “unless I turn my head around to see the sidebar I don’t even know it’s there.” She also struggles with losing the mouse on screen, which can lead to eye strain and headaches as well as frustration. 

Allowing people like Robbie the option to use the arrow keys instead of the mouse will improve your content’s web accessibility and create a more positive user experience.

Contrast levels on screen can cause significant problems for people with vision impairments, as they often have difficulty differentiating between similar shades and levels of brightness.

Robbie says that certain contrast levels can cause “shadows around letters, like halos” which makes them very difficult to see clearly. Some fonts can also be impossible to read. While each user will have a different experience, bold text on low-contrast items seem to be best for vision impaired users.

While it might not be possible to offer a second version of your site with more contrast between elements, you could give people access to the mobile version of your site. This is a great way to improve your site’s readability and accessibility, with no extra financial cost or development.

You might think it’s a good idea to use big green and red action buttons on your site, especially for submitting forms or accepting conditions. But for colour blind users, this will cause a lot of confusion.

When creating eLearning materials for an online course, or choosing colours for your website, think about how accessible they are to all users. It’s not just people with colour blindness that are affected by the way colours are used on screen. Vision impairment can cause difficulties in perceiving certain colours when they’re placed on a different coloured background.

For Robbie, the hardest colour combination to read on screen is anything that uses a black background with white text. “I can’t see the letters at all,” Robbie says. “Pale green, orange and yellow are also hard to see.” This means action buttons or hyperlinks will be missed if they’re in any of those colours, which greatly affects user experience.

Choosing accessible colours for your content is obviously important for users who have problems with their sight, however you can see how it also affects the readability of your materials in general. Paying attention to these factors of your eLearning materials will not just make your content accessible to a wider range of people, it will also make your web content more usable for everybody.

Learn More About Web Accessibility for the Vision Impaired

If you’re keen to learn more about this area, or refresh your skills in accessibility, online courses such as Web Accessibility: Learn Best Practices, Tools & Techniques can provide you with tools to confidently develop accessible websites, ensuring your content is able to be easily navigated by all users. 

With eLearning course Web Accessibility, participants can take part in a hands-on experience in making web applications accessible, gaining insight and understanding into when and why users need accessibility. You’ll learn how to make a page work properly with screen reader and keyboard navigation techniques, that help users with partial vision navigate your pages easily and reliably.

Is your learning content accessible to vision impaired users?

In an ever-evolving society where the concept of due process seems to be changing on a daily basis, professionals may be wondering how to keep up and what type of education is key to doing so. Here is how to improve your job prospects with eLearning.

So, can one really improve their job prospects with eLearning?

Let us first take a look at the reality of post-grad life: once high school seniors have finished with the hustle and bustle of college applications, scholarship interviews, and graduation requirements, they’re expected to leave childhood behind and enter the world of four-year universities and college degree programs.

Unfortunately, however, those next four years don’t necessarily translate into a clear path to the future. Traditional undergrad and post-grad education has a tendency to become a very expensive pre-career placeholder that does very little to prepare young men and women for the jobs they hope to obtain.

Julia Freeland Fisher, Director of Education Research at Clayton Christensen Institute, says this about current educational process:


There’s no doubt that eLearning is an excellent way to maneuver the gaps within your education. When an individual is struggling to find a job or move up within their company, expanding on their skill set is an ideal way of setting themselves apart and becoming more equipped to handle the workforce.

The large variety of online courses available lends itself to the variety of needs amongst professionals. While the majority of online courses available fall within the realm of technology, science, and mathematics, there are other opportunities that may better suit a person’s circumstances.

The ways that eLearning courses may be beneficial can seem endless, but here are just 5 key reasons men and women can improve their job prospects with eLearning.

1. Resume Preparation And Interview Skills.

Great first impressions are a key part of finding the right job. Unfortunately, however, a vast number of adults don’t know what actually goes into putting together a proper resume or even how to handle themselves in an interview.

Thankfully, a large number of online learning institutions offer courses that cover subjects, including:

These can make a significant difference in your success as a job candidate.

One of the advantages to choosing eLearning education is the ability to work the courses around your own schedule.

This provides students with the chance to pursue a wider range of employment opportunities and internships while expanding upon their existing skills. The potential to gain real-life experience in a person’s field of choice while still taking classes is an invaluable asset to employers.

Many managers have noted that while they do find traditional degrees impressive on a resume, they also recognize the amount of effort it takes to juggle full-time jobs and schoolwork. This type of effort speaks highly of the applicant and suggests that they’ve gained hands-on knowledge many graduates don’t receive in a normal classroom setting.

When an employee is interested in climbing the corporate ladder and increasing their opportunities in the workplace, developing their management skills can be one of the most important steps to take.

Taking a variety of online management courses will exemplify your desire to do more for your employer and will help you to improve in areas, such as:

Not only will these skills prepare you for potential management positions, but also they will better equip you to take on team leading roles within your company.

The number of different skills needed to succeed in any job type can be endless. This idea is even more prevalent when you consider how often the way jobs are performed will change.

Each day companies are producing new software and processes that are better than the ones used in the past. In order to be the best employee you can be, it’s essential that you stay with the times and keep up with these changes.

Whether you’re vying for a promotion in your current job or looking to start a career in a different field, learning new skills is imperative to your success.

Let’s say, for instance, that numerous job postings require experience with a certain software program you’ve never worked with.

Signing up for an eLearning course on the subject can be a fast and simple way to learn the program and become a viable candidate for the position.

Within any given field there is bound to be an array of eLearning opportunities to help you move forward in your career.

One of the most valuable assets gained from many digital classrooms is job placement assistance at the end of the course.

Many of the networks that offer these classes will provide you with contacts and companies that are currently searching for new hires. Utilizing your newly gained skills and relationships at the school to find your dream job is an excellent way to get the ball rolling and start your brand new career.

eLearning Could Be The Answer You’ve Been Looking For

If you want to further yourself professionally these days, you must look at the ways in which you can improve your skill set and become a better employee. Through the use of eLearning, professionals are presented with an ever-changing variety of educational opportunities that can help them do just that.

Those high school graduates discussed earlier are expected to go to college and earn a degree. While there’s nothing wrong with that plan, a successful member of the workforce won’t stop at 4 years of formal education.

eLearning coursework can truly be a game changer when it comes to improving your job prospects.

How you can improve your job prospects with online learning

In an ideal world, the workplace would be a place where everybody is excited to work together to be a part of the team and help contribute to the success of the organization. Unfortunately, this isn’t an ideal world and there is often an individual or two in the workplace who is unwilling or unable to do a competent job.

Simply put, some people are simply less capable than others and—if it’s not addressed—this can lead to considerable problems within an organization. Of all of the attributes that are expected of leaders, effective management can be among the toughest of them all. It’s inevitable that at some point every leader will encounter a member of the team that is unwilling or unable to do their part. This is when we get to see the difference between what makes a leader, and what makes a great leader.

Break things down and remember everyone starts somewhere

A common mistake among leaders is to assume that because something is easy for them, it should be easy for everybody else as well. It’s important to remember that when somebody is new to a particular task then they may face a sense of resistance or even anxiety.

However, just because a person is struggling with a particular task at first, that doesn’t mean that they’re not capable of achieving it. It could just be that they need the right training and guidance and they could soon be completing the task efficiently and effectively. A great leader can put themselves into the shoes of an inexperienced person and give them the guidance and support they need.

A recent report from the UK has shown that one in three workers are in the wrong job. If somebody is in the wrong job for them, then their performance will probably be lacking. The solution? If you have a member of your team that is not performing, then find out their strengths and if possible place them in a more suitable role. Do this and you may find that they flourish and become a very valuable team member in a completely different position.

Having somebody assigned to a role that they are better suited for will not only increase productivity

Unfortunately, some people are just bad apples and will be uncooperative no matter how hard you try. In such a situation it’s important that you maintain your own sense of professionalism and composure. Don’t allow them to drag you down to their level. Maintain any necessary records of all that is going in, making sure also that you follow the correct disciplinary procedures when necessary.

If it comes to the point where a tough decision needs to be made in regard to the troublesome individual's employment with the company, then at least you have remained professional throughout should any mud-slinging occur. Remember that leadership is also about making difficult decisions to ensure that your organization stays strong.

Dealing with difficult people can be among the most frustrating things that any leader might have to face, but it is often inevitable. Seeing your best efforts have no impact while the individual seems unable or unwilling to do their best can be frustrating, but a great leader will still maintain his or her composure.

We are all human and we all deal with stress and pressure. When this happens you can identify a great leader by the way they deal with these obstacles. One of the best things to do if you begin to feel that the frustration is getting too much is to walk away from the situation temporarily and gather your thoughts. Speaking with another person about the situation can also help you to release some of your frustrations, so you can handle the situation more easily.

Sometimes, a lack of motivation might be the root of a problem with a troublesome employee. The 9-5 lifestyle can sometimes get to people, and it affects some people worse than others. Occasionally the whole team might need a pick-me-up to provide a lift in spirits. The best leaders know how to motivate their teams and lift them up when things seam rough or mundane.

If somebody is struggling with their role at work then it could be that they are doubting whether or not they are up to the job. Getting ‘hands on’ and showing your team that it can be done and how to do it, is a great way to teach and motivate your team through example. Actually showing somebody what needs to be done can be a lot more effective than simply explaining how it is done. We all look to leaders to guide the way and rolling up your sleeves and leading by example is a great way to pass on your experience and boost your team’s confidence.

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.

We analyse everything you need to know about how great leaders deal with challenging people, including keeping your composure and leading by example.

How great leaders deal with challenging people

We analyse everything you need to know about how great leaders deal with challenging people, including keeping your composure and leading by example. 

Things are changing at an exponential pace in today’s world. The manner in which people are expected to acquire new skills and complete tasks is ever-changing and the practice of keeping up can seem daunting.

Why Should You Consider Online Learning To Acquire New Skills? 

In an effort to share in the changing of time, many employers expect their employees to acquire new skills or improve their existing ones on a continual basis through training and coursework. While the standard of yesteryear may have mandated that these lessons take place in a traditional classroom, today’s norms see more and more people utilizing eLearning alternatives.

From a professional point-of-view, employers and employees alike understand that continued education is a guaranteed way of improving success within the workplace. Online learning is an incredibly efficient method of providing, and receiving, any necessary instruction needed to further one’s business. While many tend to think of distance learning courses in relation to degree programs and certificates, but they often don’t realize that these classes can be used to develop individual skills in the workforce.

While there are numerous ways that eLearning can be beneficial for professionals, there are 3 major advantages that we are going to talk about today.

One of the most common ways for an employee to ensure they’re being considered for any available promotions is to expand their skill set within the company. If, for example, an individual is interested in moving up within the marketing department, they should look at what skills are needed to successfully fulfill the requirements of the higher-level positions within that area. Since social media marketing has become a huge platform for companies, for example, these candidates may want to consider taking an online course in the subject that may provide the additional knowledge needed to make them an ideal candidate for the job.

By expanding their wheelhouse and continuing to learn throughout their careers, professionals are able to use eLearning to become invaluable assets to whatever company and/or job they’re vying for.

2. Professional Gains And Business Success.

Your company has a lead on an Italian organization that could become a major asset to your business. However, you realize that your Italian language skills are nonexistent and you have no way of attempting to communicate in the company’s native tongue. However, if you learn some rudimentary Italian, you can show the reps for that company that you’re willing to put in that extra work. An online course in basic Italian is a great way to improve your skills and preparing for this opportunity.

These types of distance learning opportunities are available in a broad range of subjects and areas. Whatever your immediate business need is, there are options available that can expand your reach as an employee.

Technology is in a constant cycle of growth and change. While it may seem impossible to keep up, eLearning provides an ideal space to grow right along with it. What better platform to increase your technical skills than in a digital space?

If any individual is unsure of a new software program or update that is vital to their personal and professional lives, online courses are great solutions. It’s essential that employees stay abreast of the latest technical improvements within an organization.

4 Reasons Why Digital Courses Are Incredibly Effective

There’s often a lot to be said about the benefits that can come from a face-to-face learning environment. However, it’s also important to note that a digital classroom comes with its own set of perks and benefits.

While the reasons previously discussed are often enough incentive for people to consider online education, you might want more specific examples of the ways digital courses are often preferred to their in-class alternatives.

For working professionals, there never seems to be enough hours in the day. So driving to campus multiple times a week, at mandated hours, often isn’t feasible. With online learning, however, individuals regain the ability to control their own schedules. This advantage makes it easier for people to obtain the new skills that will improve their chances of further success.

The lower costs that come with choosing online learning make it a more feasible option for learning new skills. When students are paying less money, they are often more willing and able to take multiple courses as well. This means that an individual can spend some time focusing on Quickbooks this month and then brush up on their Spanish next without the added burden of high course fees or potential debt.

When an individual is considering a class in a traditional classroom setting, there is no room for spontaneity. The student must first select a specific semester to begin their lessons and are then limited to the number of times their course of interest is being offered. Depending on the timelines and needs for the skills and information learned in these courses, waiting for a new session to start may not be beneficial. With an eLearning platform, many colleges and/or companies will allow the student to begin their coursework whenever is beneficial for them. If someone’s need for a certain class is more imperative, this provides them with the chance to start their lessons right away.

No two people are exactly alike, including the ways in which they learn and with eLearning you have tons of options.

For example, here are a few of the various learning formats available:

By selecting a class that’s more appropriate for your desired style of learning, you’ll be better equipped to actually absorb the information in the long run.

Learning New Skills Has Never Been Easier

For today’s adults, the preference for digital coursework is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. In fact, by the end of 2016, experts believe that the eLearning market will be worth approximately $51.5 billion.

Men and women realize that in their professional and personal lives, it’s essential to grow intellectually and keep up with the ever-changing times. While finding the time and availability to acquire new skills may seem challenging, online classes make it quite easy and efficient.

How you can use eLearning to acquire new skills

Having a mentor is one of the most valuable opportunities for professional development, allowing you to improve your individual work performance and boost your career.

Mentoring presents many benefits for employees, both professionally and personally, including increased knowledge sharing, improved skill sets and the opportunity for constructive feedback and support.

In mentoring relationships, you’ll meet or talk regularly with your mentor to exchange ideas, discuss work progress and set goals for professional development. Your mentor doesn’t necessarily have to be someone you report to – they may be your manager, but they could also be a co-worker or someone from an entirely different industry. Regardless of who your mentor is, they’ll be someone who knows how to succeed and is passionate about sharing this knowledge with others.

Let’s look at why 86% of executives say having a mentor is important for career development.

The role of a mentor is “to encourage the personal and professional development of a mentee through the sharing of knowledge, expertise and experience.”

Knowledge sharing is an incredibly important part of the mentoring relationship, as a mentor can provide you with real world knowledge on how to advance your career, based on their own professional experiences.

He or she can also help to identify gaps in your skill set and push you to learn new skills. For example, you may have always been terrified of public speaking and shied away from challenging yourself in that area. Having a mentor’s encouragement can make you feel more motivated to develop your public speaking skills and achieve new personal goals in the process.

Online learning provides a convenient and effective way to bridge those gaps in your skill set – ask your mentor what online courses or training they’ve completed to build up their knowledge. You’ll find thousands of eLearning courses for professional development available and free of charge.

One of the best things a mentor can do is empower you with a newfound sense of confidence in your work.

As successful leaders, mentors offer regular support and encouragement, helping you to maximize your potential so you can get where you want to go in your career.

Having a mentor can also help you to stay motivated and focused on your goals. When there’s someone else you’re accountable to, who has placed a lot of time and energy into your career, you’ll want to deliver your best work possible.

Your mentor can act as a good sounding board for your work experiences, allowing you to consider certain interactions or situations in a different light.

Things that go wrong in the workplace, whether it’s interpersonal relationships or problems with a project, may not seem so dire to someone with more experience. Your mentor can offer you a more objective perspective on the situation, helping you to keep your focus on things that are more important.

Mentors can help you to navigate career challenges, through sharing insights from their own past successes and failures. They can also provide you with exposure to new ideas and ways of thinking that can help you to further grow.

Through the lens of experience, your mentor can help you to view your mistakes in a more positive way.

Successful leaders often see mistakes as an opportunity for professional development and positive change. Everyone makes mistakes at work from time to time – the important thing is to learn from these mistakes and become more resilient in the process.

As Sally Blount, Dean of Northwestern University’s School of Management, stated in an article about the benefits of mentorship, “we may gain confidence from our successes, but it’s our failures that develop our leadership muscle and offer the most powerful insights.”

Another benefit offered through mentorship is the opportunity for both parties to grow their professional network.

Mentoring isn’t just a one-way street. Your working relationship with your mentor can also bring benefits to their career, offering them professional development in their leadership skills and recognition as a mentor and subject matter expert.

Through your mentor’s introductions, and vice versa, you can both develop positive working relationships with new contacts that you may not have had the chance to meet otherwise. This also provides you with an opportunity to build your personal brand, through a wider audience of social media contacts and greater levels of exposure.

When choosing a mentor, you’ll want to look for someone whose experience and success is greater than your own, although they don’t necessarily need to be from the same industry. Someone from a different organization or sector can still provide valuable insight into areas of leadership and professional development.

People who have used strategy to get where they are make great mentors, as they can share their experience and help you to build your own roadmap to success. You’ll be able to learn firsthand how they got to the role and position they’re in today.

As well as experience and strategy, mentors should inspire you by their values and character traits. If empathy and honesty are important to you in your career, align yourself with a mentor who understands the importance of these values. Look for people who are passionate about their work and love what they do. You should admire the life and work of your mentor, as they exemplify the skills and success you want to achieve yourself.

Have you got a mentor? Why having a mentor is important for your career

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 A new study of local Australian government agencies has revealed a systemic problem affecting staff training processes. The study—which was conducted by online training provider GO1 and incorporated data collected from 55 Australian government organisations—cited budget constraints and a lack of technological resources as the primary reasons for a recent setback in training productivity.


Completed during the first quarter of 2016, the study paid close attention to the learning management solutions employed by each of the surveyed government departments as well as the methods used during training and the types of training courses that were preferred. The results were somewhat staggering.

The findings suggested a downward trend in the cultivation of properly trained staff members and signalled that:

Only around 43% of Australian government agencies use online training solutions to help prepare their staff to meet the needs of the public (which implies that over half of the government sector still uses traditional, non-digital methods for staff education)

Fewer than one in three departments use mobile devices to facilitate eLearning among personnel

Approximately 46% of agencies are still hoping to reduce their training budgets despite these issues

The GO1 Local Government Study 2016 [which can be accessed here] exposed a range of obstacles that currently stand in the way of more efficient training program delivery, GO1 co-founder and chief technology officer Dr. Vu Tran said. “Local government is failing to switch over to eLearning despite the huge benefits it offers. The reason being given is that many agencies don’t have access to the technology required to be able to run an online solution due to budget limitations. [The agencies] also don’t have sufficient time to move to a new system [or] learn how to use and manage it,” Dr. Tran observed.

For the uninitiated, this means that, though online training courses such as those provided by GO1 offer comprehensive one-on-one solutions to help prepare personnel for the workplace, in many cases the technology simply isn’t there. It’s impossible, for example, to design an online class for new employees when your Internet is unreliable or your budget limits you to one computer for every five staff members.

Beyond the issue of limited technology, the survey results indicated further challenges facing the public sector. These included:

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