Many companies rely on seasonal workers to reinforce their staff during busy times. In the manufacturing, distribution and retail industries, for example, additional workers will be hired during peak times of the year, to cope with increased demand.

While these workers should receive the same standard of training and development as regular employees, often this isn’t the case. Unfortunately, some employers choose not to invest in onboarding or training for temporary staff, in an effort to save time and money. But if you’re an employer or manager, you have a responsibility to ensure each team member is fully trained for the work they’ll be doing – regardless of how long their contract is.

Here are some things you need to know about providing seasonal workers with the right onboarding and training methods.

Each individual who enters your organization has an impact on your company culture – even temporary staff who are only employed for a short period of time.

For seasonal workers, the way you bring people on board is just as important as it is for any other employee. Paying attention to onboarding helps them feel welcomed into their new workplace, and says a lot about your professionalism as an employer.

There’s no reason why all new hires shouldn’t be provided with a short orientation that covers workplace safety, company policies and procedures, and details of human resources contacts. Throughout the onboarding process, employers can also set guidelines for what’s expected from employees in their role, which will be appreciated by most workers.

The Benefits of Training Seasonal Workers

Proper training methods are also often bypassed when it comes to seasonal workers. Many employers leave these new hires to fend for themselves and learn “on the job.” But starting a new job without knowing exactly what’s expected of you, or where to get the tools or resources you need for your job, is very frustrating.

While you may think that you’re saving time and money in skipping training, this can soon lead to increased errors and safety risks, unskilled employees and a poor work culture. Is it worth the risk? It’s far smarter to invest in proper training for seasonal workers, to make sure all team members can perform their work duties safely and efficiently.

Having an effective training system also helps build your engagement with new hires. Staff will know that you’re invested in (and investing in) their professional development, which is important for developing a culture of high-performing, satisfied employees.

Kevin Kruse, bestselling author of Employee Engagement 2.0, says the engagement of seasonal workers is critical: “Engaged workers—those who are emotionally committed to their employers—are more productive, provide better customer service, have few accidents and will be more likely to return the following year.”

Using eLearning to Train Seasonal Workers

When companies do deliver training to seasonal workers, it’s often in one upfront block of training, such as a two-hour workshop or half-day orientation. Matt Heller, an employee performance consultant, believes this is the wrong approach for seasonal workers. “Rarely do employees truly learn and absorb all of the material covered in a few days or hours of orientation,” he says, recommending employers provide training in “small nuggets – this way the material sticks better, and they have a chance to actually put it into practice.”

Online courses provide employers with the best way to deliver this kind of training for seasonal workers. Using this method, employees can log in and complete short modules at a time and place that’s convenient to them. There’s no need for employers to book large conference rooms, instructors or faciliators – eLearning courses provide everything you need to onboard and train staff, online.

You can keep your employee training courses short and concise, tailored to the exact needs of your seasonal workers, who may only need to know certain skills or a selection of company policies. Delivering training in this way also allows managers to monitor and gauge employee performance, with the results of training easily available to them online. Look through the Go1 marketplace, to find online courses that are relevant to the needs of your teams.

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Save time and money when training seasonal workers

Once you have incorporated or formed an LLC, compliance should be one of your primary concerns because if you don’t adhere to state and federally mandated compliance regulations, you could face serious penalties.

We have seen a number of compliance issues making their way into the business press lately, and that’s why we felt it was a good time to review the nature of business compliance requirements for our readers.

These requirements can be broken down into two primary groups: internal requirements and external requirements.

Internal compliance refers to everything that goes on inside your company in terms of compliance.

An few examples of internal compliance: both C corporations and S corporations are required to hold annual meetings for shareholders and directors and update their bylaws as necessary. All issuance or transfer of stock must be documented as well.

Limited Liability Companies are not bound to the same regulations as C or S corps, however, it’s still a good idea to document your operating agreements and official policies so you can refer to them over time. One of the easiest ways to organize your compliance materials is to put everything together into a compliance kit. This kit should include all of your stock or membership information, bylaws, your operating agreement, your corporate seal, and anything else regarding compliance that you feel you might need to refer to in the future.

External compliance requirements are mandated by the state that you have incorporated in, as well as any state that you are registered to transact business within. In most states, for example, you are required to file an annual report so the state can monitor the activity of your company.

Another external compliance requirement is the franchise tax, which is a state tax you pay for the right to operate your business in that particular state. The amount of this tax varies from state to state, although it is usually based on revenue or corporate share value.

It’s absolutely critical to stay on top of the state laws regarding compliance—especially when it comes to due dates for fees. Different states have different rules regarding when you should submit your fees, and you may miss your payments if you don’t keep on top of the proper dates for your state!

Have you ever heard the term “piercing the corporate veil?” This is when you lose your limited liability protection due to non-compliance, and yes, it’s definitely as bad as it sounds. Once the veil has been pierced, the owner’s assets are now susceptible to legal judgements.

You always want to be in “good standing” status with the state. This simply means that you are sticking to the state’s annual or ongoing compliance regulations and making your payments on time. If you do not pay your fees on time, then the state can hit you with late fees and/or interest payments. In the worst case scenario, if you are out of good standing status too long, you may lose the benefits you receive for being a corporation.

Different industries have different federal and state-level regulations when it comes to compliance, and that’s why it’s important to have some sort of compliance training program in place for your employees. Compliance is not just a matter of administrative paperwork and fees, either.  It’s also about adhering to Federal mandates like the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Affordable Healthcare Act.

One of the most common compliance issues that companies face is harassment in the workplace. Sexual harassment, in particular, is a growing concern—and this one can sneak up on you. In fact, sometimes employees can be unaware that their actions or statements may be a problem, and that’s another reason why it’s so important to provide formal compliance training for your people.

You may choose to develop an in-house compliance program or you may refer to a third party provider for a pre-built solution. At Go1, we have thousands of free and paid resources to help you train up your employees, including detailed online learning programs for:

Preventing a Hostile or Discriminating Work Environment 

Remember: compliance is not a “set it and forget it” aspect of doing business. Instead, it’s an ongoing process where you need to keep your finger on the pulse of what is happening and what is changing with laws—on both the state and the Federal level.

A perfect example would be the Affordable Healthcare Act. Many companies did not stay abreast of the compliance requirements for implementing the Act until it was too late, and by that time they were facing costly penalty fees.

The best companies take the time to create a formal compliance strategy that can be referred to when it’s time to train new employees. This can save you a tremendous amount of time and headaches in the future…and it can also save you the expensive legal fees and penalties you face when you fall out of compliance.

Don’t wait for something to go wrong. If you haven’t integrated a sexual harassment compliance training program, for example, there are several free training resources available that you can use for on-boarding your staff. All it takes is a little bit of research and you can put a plan into place that will become a truly valuable asset to your corporation or LLC down the road.

Compliance requirements your business needs to know

We recently talked about how improving your listening skills can make you a better leader, helping you to be more effective in understanding, supporting and developing employees. As a manager, knowing how to listen to staff during training is a particularly important leadership skill.

Employee training sessions provide managers with some of the best opportunities to engage in important conversations with staff and collect valuable feedback. Take a look at your current training program – are employees being given the chance to contribute, or are your business leaders doing all the talking?

Training should be a mutually beneficial process, where employees and managers can learn from each other and grow, through conversations that are a two-way street. As Amy Jen Su, co-owner of executive training firm Paravis Partners, says – “as a leader, you need to have a strong voice and you need to know when it’s time to listen.”

Here are some steps you can take, to make sure you’re maximizing your potential to listen to employees throughout training.

Good listeners know how to practice ‘active’ listening, using a combination of “physical, mental, and emotional presence” to form a stronger connection with people as they speak. When using active listening, it’s important to maintain eye contact, turn your head and body towards the speaker and use physical cues such as nodding while listening.

Evan Hackel, author of the book Ingaging Leadership, takes this concept of active listening further, believing it’s just as important to “actively listen for what people are saying that is right, not wrong” and encouraging leaders to “stay alert for the good and useful things employees say.”

Hackel suggests that by focusing on trying to hear what is right in what another person is saying, rather than what is wrong, you can focus on the right issues instead of any preconceptions about what problems might be. He calls this approach “looking for kernels of wisdom” and believes it can significantly improve the way we listen, while allowing leaders to learn more about the perspective and talents of individual staff members.

“When I focus on trying to hear what is right in what another person is saying, I learn more, discover promising and even brilliant ideas, and focus on the right issues instead of my preconceptions about what problems might be,” Hackel says.

Another way for employers and managers to show they’re listening to their staff is to get them more involved in the design of training programs. This can have great benefits for an organization, as it’s often employees who can identify problem areas and training hiccups that leaders may not have a clear view of.

Ask staff for input on the type of training they want and need. This way, you’ll be able to design a training program around what employees need to learn; not what you think they need to learn to do their jobs.

As well as getting staff involved in the planning stages, continue to ask for feedback while training is being delivered. There’s no reason why you need to wait until the end of a training session or program to see if it’s been effective – if issues are identified during the course, address them as you go.

Ask employees questions as you go, listening carefully to their responses. Onboarding can be a particularly good opportunity to listen, as new hires can bring fresh perspectives and honest insight into the training practices of your business.

Ongoing feedback allows you to keep adjusting your sails to the wind, making your training methods more effective and improving the results for your employees and organization.

At the conclusion of a training session or program, you may think the opportunity for feedback ends there. However, by continuing to engage staff in meaningful discussion about training methods, you can commit to continually improving your activities within this area.

It’s also important to show that you’ve listened to feedback provided, by taking action on constructive points. Hackel points out that after listening, “certain business processes may need to change [as] implementing new and improved processes goes hand in hand with listening.” Employees will appreciate that you’re making changes to training based on their feedback, which will further encourage them to continue this dialogue in a positive way.

After following these steps, you should be able to once again look at your training program and know that employees are being given the chance to discuss, review and contribute to training methods within the organization. Showing staff that you know how to listen to their individual voices will also help to create a more positive work culture, with each team member feeling more valued and connected.

How to listen to employees during training

For those in the insurance industry, you’d be well aware that constant training is crucial for running your business successfully. Everything from the products you sell to how your staff deal with customers, even processes and regulations set by external bodies need to be taught and continually updated.

So when it comes time to implement training in the insurance industry, the most modern approach is with eLearning. When you consider the relevant and up to date information that eLearning can offer, it seems a perfect fit for this industry and those who work within it.

When dealing with a unique sector such as the insurance industry, you need to ensure your training has been perfected to meet the industry’s changing needs. Every aspect of your business, from the products you sell to how your staff deal with customers and how your business stays compliant with regulations set by external bodies, demands continual training. Your training must be able to adapt quickly so that your business can run successfully in the shifting industry landscape.

With its ease of delivery and speed of update, eLearning offers a variety of benefits that make it a perfect training solution for the insurance industry and those who work within it.

Considering the banking and finance industries were among the first to implement technology based learning, it’s no surprise that they still rely predominantly on this type of training today. When working with insurance specifically, the many government rules and regulations, as well as industry standards, are constantly updated.

Unlike traditional training methods which often teach outdated information in stuffy classroom scenarios, these technology-based industries can have recent and relevant information delivered straight to their staff with eLearning. So, what type of training can eLearning be used for in the insurance industry?

Like many companies in the banking and finance industries, businesses in the insurance industry can deliver almost all of their training and teaching through an eLearning system. Just a few examples of how eLearning can be useful for insurance companies include:

Considering all of the regulatory bodies that govern this industry, it’s crucial that staff stay updated with the latest information. With eLearning, you’re able to deliver the most recent and accurate information on both company compliance and national and international regulations. As an added bonus, staff can be automatically notified when they’re due to complete training to maintain their certification.

Software is a huge part of the insurance industry, as different companies incorporate unique tech solutions throughout their operations. eLearning makes it easy to provide initial software training during employee onboarding as well as deliver any ongoing training needed to upskill staff in order to keep up with software updates.

An insurance company is only as good as its best salespeople. Luckily, eLearning is able to deliver modern and relevant sales training that can allow your staff to work to the best of their ability. Other soft skills relevant to the role can also be taught with eLearning, and staff are often appreciative for the chance to expand their knowledge base.

Insurance companies generate most of their revenue from their products, making it critical that employees fully understand their company’s business offerings. eLearning allows you to deliver employee training at any level, all from the same system. New recruits can be taught about your full range of products during their orientation and existing staff can be updated whenever new products become available or new offers arise.

There is truly no limit to what you can achieve for your staff and company when you implement eLearning, whether you want to utilize just a few of its possibilities or all of them. By giving your staff access to the best training in the industry, you can ensure you’re competing just as strongly as the top players.

This Method of Training Keeps You Competitive

With thousands of companies offering insurance to meet all types of needs, it’s difficult to remain competitive in the US insurance market. By implementing eLearning and getting rid of tired, old training methods, you’re able to utilize innovative technologies to give your company the best chance for success in this overcrowded market. 

For example, eLearning allows businesses to use automation to keep a closer eye on how their staff may be performing administrative processes. Automatic auditing simplifies the process of evaluating your employee training to help you determine the ways you need to tailor your program to stay competitive in the insurance industry. 

With freedom to learn where and when it suits your employees best, eLearning is one of the simplest ways to increase employee engagement. Unlike traditional training methods, many eLearning platforms and courses allow employees to access training at any time, and in shorter spurts, to improve retention and enable successful training programs.

The usefulness of eLearning has also been proven in many other commercial and professional industries, not just the insurance industry. As the way we learn and communicate makes a shift towards more digital-based systems, it makes sense that our education and training does too.

According to Forbes, every dollar invested in eLearning results in a $30 increase in productivity. So, whether you want to use eLearning for your software, processes, compliance, there’s never been a better time to consider this modern approach to workplace training. 

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.

With its ease of delivery and speed of update, eLearning offers a variety of benefits that make it a perfect training solution for the insurance industry

What you need to know about training in the insurance industry

When building an eLearning course, it’s important to make sure it’s as effective and engaging as possible for your learners. This will help your students or employees get the best learning experience from their online course materials, while in turn making your eLearning course more successful.

If you’re new to this, you may think designing an online course looks quite simple. But as with anything, there are certain principles you can follow for best practice in eLearning.

To help you out, we’ve put together 5 tips for building a better eLearning course, so you get the best training results from your staff or students.

Establish the kind of training course you need

It sounds simple, but this is an important step to take before you even start to build your online course.

The truth is, there’s no point designing a super complex course if your employees only need a quick and straightforward update on a company policy, for example. Making staff or students spend a lot of time on courses that are overly complicated or time consuming is never a good idea – they’ll resent learning and be wary of future training materials.

Think about the kind of format that’s best to address the needs of your audience. Then get to work on designing and developing your course in line with those needs.

Split your eLearning course into smaller modules

Next, decide if you can break down your course materials into smaller sized pieces. This has a number of benefits – for both you, and your learners.

Designing your eLearning course so that it is can be built and delivered over a series of modules means it will be easier to modify further down the track. It will also make your course more appealing and easier for employees or students to digest. Most people find it easier to read and absorb learning materials in smaller chunks, and can even be turned off by online courses that are too long and time consuming.

Short, succinct modules also allow users greater flexibility, as they can log in and complete each module at a time that’s convenient to them.

Incorporate tasks and activities into eLearning courses

Have you ever sat through a training session, listening to a presenter talk through endless slides of text? This can get very boring and frustrating for learners, while also failing to engage them in the content. Online courses that are nothing more than slabs of information on-screen are just as ineffective.

In contrast, by having students or employees complete tasks and activities throughout the course, you can make it a far more engaging experience. When incorporating activities into your materials, think about the actions your employees will need to take in the workplace. For example, tasks that explore decision making, problem solving and other ‘real world’ scenarios.

Be clear about the outcomes of the course

Be clear about exactly what it is that learners will achieve from completing your online course. Will they receive accreditation in a new skill, for example? Your eLearning course will be more successful if you can state clearly what outcome will be achieved by learners.

Karla Gutierrez, writing for Shift eLearning, believes that “the best eLearning courses … give learners clear and compelling reasons why the content is so important for them to learn. If the course doesn't answer the “what’s in it for me?” from the beginning, learners will not be interested or motivated to continue, no matter how great it looks.”

Gutierrez highlights the importance of gaining the learners’ attention from the start and remembering to apply the “WIIFM – what’s in it for me” rule. Tell users what they’ll be getting out of the course, if you want them to enroll.

Last, but not least – make sure your online course looks good. While this may seem superficial, the reality is that when it comes to eLearning, first impressions matter.

In fact, it only takes about 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website and decide whether they want to continue or leave. And eLearning courses are no different. After all, eLearning is a visual medium, so you’ll need to spend time getting this right if you want to stand out from the competition.

It’s best to keep things simple when it comes to building an online course. Cluttered, text-heavy screens can distract or confuse users, so stick to clean white space and simple relevant images.

By following these 5 steps, you’ll be making sure your online materials are easy to use, engaging for learners and aesthetically pleasing – the corner stones of a successful eLearning course!

Unsure about whether your organization needs a social media policy?

Recent headlines involving the Secret Service are a strong reminder of the importance of social media guidelines for any organization. In January 2017, a Secret Service agent was criticized for her use of social media, after posting comments on Facebook suggesting that she would rather go to jail than risk her life for Donald Trump.

The events drew negative attention to both the agent and her employer, with the Secret Service forced to issue a statement about the incident. The statement, from the agency's headquarters in Washington, assured members of the public that "any allegations of misconduct are taken seriously and swiftly investigated.” “All Secret Service agents and employees are held to the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct," the statement continued.

In this case, you can see how comments on an employee’s private Facebook account have become labelled as serious ‘misconduct’ – while putting the professional and ethical reputation of the organization in question. To avoid these kinds of situations from occurring, it’s vital for all companies to have a strong social media policy in place, outlining guidelines and expected behavior from their employees.

Here are three ways your organization will benefit from a good social media policy.

The primary function of your social media policy is to protect the reputation of your company.

These days, with much of our life being documented online, there is a thinner line between what’s private and public. Many people include details of their occupation and employer on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, meaning anything that is posted on social media could be seen to reflect that company’s organizational values. While this might not be true, or even fair, if the content contains sensitive or confidential information about your workplace, it presents a serious risk for both employees and their employers.

A social media policy helps to define what’s appropriate for staff to post about their company on social media channels. Having clearly defined guidelines means employees know the difference between what’s appropriate and not appropriate to discuss on social media.

“Generally, the policy will state that employees shouldn't write anything they wouldn’t want splashed across the public media,” says Mark Henricks, in an article for Entrepreneur. Keeping this framework in mind can help protect both staff and the organization, as in the case of the Secret Service above.

Social media presents significant potential for risk when it comes to posting sensitive or confidential company information, which can lead to serious legal consequences for both staff and employers. In today’s workforce, social media policies are no longer a simple ‘nice to have’ detail – they have become a very necessary legal policy document.

By having a social media policy in place, you can remove any confusion about legal issues. A good social media policy will:

Clearly spell out which social media use in the workplace is acceptable and which is not

Include information on what’s considered confidential or private company information

Explain the consequences of going against the rules of this policy

As an employer, you’re doing the right thing by educating staff in this area. And most employees will appreciate having clear guidelines about what the organization considers public information.

Rich Nadworny, Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, explains: “social policies won’t stop all poor behavior. But they will cause some people to pause and think before they act socially.” Stopping to think before making a careless Facebook post or Tweet could be the difference between keeping your job or from getting fired and drawn into a serious legal dispute.

Promote your organization through social media

Now that we’ve talked about the more serious aspects of social media, it’s important to also realise its potential for bringing positive attention to your company. Using social media in the right way can raise more awareness of your organization and what it does. And your social media policy will help you do this!

A good social media policy will contain clear guidelines to help employees understand ways they can use social media to help achieve company goals. Encourage staff to share good news stories and company wins across social media channels. You should feel comfortable that employees know what’s considered confidential or sensitive information, as it’s outlined in your policy document.

Your social media policy should also contain details of your company’s social spokesperson, so all staff know who to direct enquiries or concerns from these channels. You don’t want employees to be fielding these questions themselves – firstly, it’s not part of their job description, and secondly, they probably aren’t best equipped to handle these enquiries in the public eye.

For more help creating a social media policy for your organization, take a look at this short one-hour course on Developing a Social Media Policy. This eLearning course is useful for anyone wanting to know more about protecting their business and employees while using social media. You’ll also receive a free social media policy example for you to download at the end.

Delivering the most effective training for the workforce is a serious challenge for many companies today.

All too often we hear about companies who are experiencing dismal engagement rates and poor results from their current training methods—so that’s a great place to start looking. If you want to make the most of your workforce, you should always be looking for ways to improve the training experience for your learners.

One way to improve the learning experience for your people is to group them into small teams during the education process.

Here are a few reasons why this is still such an important thing to do:

When your employees work together in small groups then they have better opportunities to discuss the project at hand. This discussion will naturally create more opportunities for ideas to flow and to be shared between the group. Think about it: it's certainly easier to be creative when you have a few people around to bounce your ideas off of.

On the other hand, when you’re learning on your own then you are only getting exposure to your own ideas about the particular project. You don't have the advantage of additional perspectives from your teammates and this limits your ability to find solutions when confronted with learning-based problems.

When approaching a learning objective alone you can only evaluate things based on your own experience and limited exposure to that experience of others. However, when you are learning within a small group you are benefiting from the experience of those who you are working with as well.

These individuals may come from different backgrounds and they may have been exposed to business environments that you have never been a part of. This collection of varied experiences makes it much easier to find solutions to learning-based problems.

An organization is only as strong as its weakest link. When you train your personnel to work in small teams, then each individual is able to get support from those they are working with. This means that your learners can take more risks, gain more insight, and benefit from the support and encouragement of the rest of the team.

When you are working on something alone then you are like a castaway on a deserted island. It can be quite lonely and lead to self-doubt, which ultimately ends up with the employee staying within their safety zones.

This is a problem when you want to increase productivity. When you put people together in small groups then everyone is able to bring the group up to a higher level of accomplishment.

Working together in small teams means that ideas will be repeated within the group. Some individuals will grasp the concept quickly, while others will need to be exposed to the ideas multiple times before the process truly sinks in.

By asking your learners to work together in groups you are ensuring that ideas will be repeated within the group. This means that everyone will be better equipped to recall the information that they are learning.

You can identify potential leadership talent faster.

How often do you get the opportunity to identify potential leadership talent within your workforce? When you put your learners together into groups then you will be able to evaluate their performance and quickly identify those who have a talent for leadership. These individuals can be promoted and help you grow your business faster, without bringing in outside resources. We have discussed the advantages of promoting from within before, and this is an easy way to find candidates.

Simulations are one of the most powerful ways for you to reinforce the concepts that you have presented to your learners. While computer-based simulations are certainly efficient, there are several areas where real-life simulations might be more effective. Sales teams, for example, can practice their sales presentation skills within their groups and get real-time feedback on their strengths and weaknesses. The same goes for customer service departments and many other departments within your organization.

Learners gain valuable feedback from the other team members.

Feedback is critical when practicing something for the first time. While it’s certainly helpful to gain feedback from administrators and instructors, some of the most valuable feedback can come from others within the same or similar positions.

By placing these individuals into smaller groups you are giving them the opportunity to communicate with each other and help each other with feedback. Each individual may see different opportunities for improvement that may have been missed if you had someone working solo.

Your training strategy has a direct impact on your profits. If your workforce is not getting effective or engaging training then you are missing out on a key component of growing and maintaining your competitive edge.

There are several different proven strategies for improving your training processes, but a great place to start is by placing your learners into small groups.

If you are looking for resources to help you train your staff in everything from compliance to communication, visit the Go1 Marketplace today. We have thousands of free and paid resources to help you.

Why training for small teams is still important

Blended learning is one of the most powerful approaches to workplace education available today because it combines both online digital media and traditional learning methods to deliver a more effective and engaging solution for learners.

Here are a few reasons why blended learning is the new workplace learning solution:

When your instructors can incorporate digital solutions into their teaching programs then they have more tools in their arsenal. However, not only do they have more educational firepower, they also have a more efficient platform to educate your workforce as well.

In traditional learning environments, slower learners typically hold back the pace of the class. This means that you need to spend extra time educating a few people while others are forced to wait.

Blended learning, on the other hand, allows you to customize the experience so that those who are faster can complete various parts of the training while others are still coming up to speed.

You really can’t personalize the traditional learning model very much. The classroom approach has more of a one-size-fits-all methodology and that’s one reason why some students find themselves less engaged when they attend this type of training.

Blended learning allows you to serve up content that’s optimized for each individual learner. Some students may pick up on the material faster by being exposed to an online chat room, for example. Others might respond the best by watching streaming videos. You can still take the traditional approach and give lectures in a blended environment, and at the same time customize the experience so that your team is more invested in it.

Traditional models come with a lot of expenses. The instructors need to spend more time in the classroom, the materials need to be updated regularly, and you usually need to spend money renting out the space to train your learners.

Blended learning, on the other hand, allows you to spend much less on trainers and materials. Learners can study the material from anywhere that they have online access and it’s usually quite fast and easy to update digital content.

There’s not a lot of flexibility in a traditional corporate learning environment. The lecture cannot be paused or replayed when the learners are having trouble with a particular concept, for example.

However, in a blended learning environment you can incorporate a wide variety of multimedia options into the lecture to keep your learners engaged. This also gives them the ability to approach the material from multiple angles.

Making adjustments as you go is easy: if you need to pause the program and switch gears, you can do it easily when you are using online blended learning solutions.

Your employees are already accustomed to learning online.

We now have a workforce that has spent the past decade growing learning online. We search for facts on Wikipedia and we study languages by watching YouTube videos. We take online quizzes to see what Friends character we are, and we interact with people all over the world using our mobile devices.

It just makes sense to capitalize on this by delivering content in a way that your learners are used to it. This familiarity will help your learners stay focused on the material and prevent boredom from creeping in.

While there are some metrics that you can track in a traditional learning model, a blended learning environment gives you access to tools that can track many more important data points.

There are tons of online tools available to evaluate learner performance and this information is extremely important if you want to make the most of your training.

Using online tools you can now track things like:


The time it takes employees to respond to individual questions



Vocal inflection and quality on customer calls


All of these tracking solutions have a duel benefit as well: they keep the learners engaged. Engagement is a critical component to delivering high-quality training, and performance tracking simply helps keep your learners “in the game.”

The very nature of work itself has changed quite a bit over the past few years, and as we continue to integrate more tech solutions into our organizations it’s becoming more important than ever that we keep our training methods up to date and relevant.

Here are a few tips to help you implement your next Blended Learning teaching experience.

Decide early on how interactive you want your program.

Some blended learning programs still rely heavily on instructor-led classrooms, while others are 85% or more online. Before you set out to create your program, you should decide how much of it you want to be delivered over the Internet or via multimedia. 

Feedback is critical in a blended learning environment. If you want to optimize your program for results, then you should be looking for opportunities to improve it wherever you can. This might mean something as simply as improving the video narration to help keep the video modules interesting.

We are social animals and this means we are hard-wired to learn in a group environment. Online resources make this easy to implement: you can use forums, chat rooms, webinars, and a wide variety of additional options to inspire your learners to collaborate as they go through the material. 

If you’re interested in learning more about blended learning solutions for your organization, have a look at the Go1 Marketplace. 

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Why blended learning is the future of workplace learning

eLearning has had a tremendous impact on workplace education over the past decade. Perhaps that's one reason why over 70% of all companies now utilize some form of learning management system. The pharmaceutical industry in particular is one that requires a heavy amount of multimedia instruction in order to train up their employees these days.

As the pharmaceutical industry continues to evolve at an exponential rate, the demand for adequately trained personnel grows right with it. The old way of doing things when it comes to training simply does not work anymore, and taking a one-size-fits-all approach to training is flirting with disaster. There are simply far too many legal and safety issues that must be addressed on a company-by-company basis.

Today we are going to talk about one example of how modern eLearning made a huge impact on the pharmaceutical industry. 

James L. Vesper won the 2015 Dissertation Award for his design-based research study where he designed, developed, and refined an eLearning program for the World Health Organization (WHO). This program was developed to help train employees on handling vaccines and other pharmaceutical products—and to train employees on how to keep these products at the correct temperature through their life cycles.

Vesper started out by evaluated the WHO existing course, which was essentially a “Learning on Wheels” course where 15 individuals would follow three mentors on a bus trip through Turkey. As they crossed the country, they stopped at various healthcare sites and evaluate how these organizations handled their temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals.

This was obviously an expensive process, both in terms of time and financial resources, so there was a clear opportunity for capitalizing on an eLearning-based alternative that could be reused and tailored to the specific needs of employees.

Building The Course and Looking For Opportunities To Optimize

One important thing to keep in mind when building an eLearning course is that you should evaluate your technology and look for opportunities to improve content delivery and performance.

Once you have optimized for these factors in the beginning, then you will have created a course that can be used over and over again, rather than reinventing the wheel every time you try to perform the training manually.

For example, Vesper and his team learned that integrating YouTube clips into the program was a problem: they were actually being geo-blocked for some of the trainees depending on what country they were in.

Another valuable lesson that they learned when building the course was that it's important to keep your trainers and mentors involved during the process.

This is so that you can lead your trainees and help guide them through their training. Just because you are rolling out a technology-based solution, does not mean that you can abandon your people to learn everything on their own!

There were three different versions of the design and development phase of this program. The first phase included an expert review based on a Failure Mode Effects Analysis risk assessment tool.

The second phase revolved around a mentor review, which was what they used to develop their trainer/facilitator guidelines. This was also the phase where the developers were able to create specific learning expectations and eliminate risks.

The final development phase included a “field test” where various individuals from 11 different countries went through the eLearning course. Developers paid specific attention to keeping this test group as diverse as possible by including trainees with different backgrounds in nonprofit, government, and industry.

The reason for this approach is quite simple: this is what the learning population will look like in the pharmaceutical industry across the board, very, very soon. After all, we are living in an increasingly diverse and global workforce.

Vesper came away with 13 design principles once he finished this award-winning program, and one was that it’s important to look for “opportunities of articulation” when creating your course. The idea is that it’s paramount to have your learners demonstrate what they have learned from the program. In this particular case, for example, the learners had to evaluate the vaccine-handling processes of various healthcare organizations in Albania.

So let’s summarize what we can learn from Vesper’s case study:

When building an e-learning solution in the pharmaceutical industry it helps to have an existing program that you are improving on. Starting out from scratch can take more time and resources.

Creating multiple stages of evaluating and refining your training material is important, because this is the only way to identify risks and inefficiencies.

Look for opportunities for your learners to articulate what they have learned. Give them the opportunity to apply the concepts and present their findings to you.

When building your platform, look for opportunities to demonstrate the effectiveness of your processes by addressing existing real-world cases.

How online learning is impacting the pharmaceutical industry

Go1, the education technology startup I co-founded, recently announced a $4 million raise. Inevitably an announcement like this triggers a stream of congratulations and questions on how to fundraise.

I find it somewhat awkward to respond. Raising money should not be seen as an achievement in itself. Instead, hopefully, it is the means to achieve the real work that a business is setting out to do.

Our goal is to transform corporate learning by providing the world’s largest marketplace of courses. Raising investment helps fuel our growth faster than we could through free cash flow – no more, no less.

So rather than address misplaced congratulations, I want to respond to questions on how to fundraise and share some advice to Australian founders.

1. THE STARTUP ECOSYSTEM IN AUSTRALIA IS GETTING STRONGER – YOU SHOULD LOOK LOCAL AND GLOBAL

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