If you’ve invested a lot of time and money into employee training, it’s worthwhile thinking about how you’re tracking skill development.

Tracking skill development is really important for the benefit of both your employees and your business. How so?

Well, first of all, tracking the skill development of your employees is the best way to help them build the skill sets they need to succeed. By monitoring professional development for each team member, you can identify any skills gaps that need to be addressed and improve the gap between the skills your business needs and the skills your employees currently have.

Secondly, tracking skill development will also allow you to continually re-evaluate employee training programs as needed, to ensure you’re providing staff with the best possible development opportunities and getting a good ROI on your training investment.

Ready to get started? Here’s everything you need to know about tracking employee skill development and how you can use your Learning Management System to achieve this.

The importance of tracking professional development

First, let’s look at why it’s so important to monitor professional development in your employees. If you’re an employer or manager, you should be taking the time to sit down with each team member, to come up with a personalised action plan that will help them plan for their career.

Having a professional development program in place is the best way to help employees identify the skills they want to build on. These can be role-specific skills, for example graphic design, or skills that are focused more on personal development, such as becoming more resilient to change, responding well to feedback or dealing with challenging situations or people.

Each team member’s professional development program should aim to improve their skills and competencies, helping them to perform well for the business and establish career goals for the future.

Are you already using a Learning Management System for training across your organisation? Did you know you can also use your LMS to monitor and track skill development?

Your LMS platform is most likely full of insightful data that you can be tracking, to really start improving the performance of your team. This data is invaluable when it comes to interpreting the learning habits of your employees, while also showing whether or not the LMS is delivering value to your organisation.

Soon, you’ll be able to build a comprehensive profile of your employee’s learning habits, which you can use to personalise your eLearning materials and create far more effective training courses.

Okay, so you’re ready to start tracking learning data from your LMS. The first thing you need to do is figure out which data is worth looking at.

Learning Management Systems contain a huge amount of data, so you need to know what’s worthwhile. Here are some of the key areas you should be reporting on.

Look to see just how many team members are completing the online training courses – your LMS should be able to track completion rates for each staff member.

Use the data you obtain from your employees’ online assessments to see how they’re tracking – if the majority of your staff are passing the training courses, and getting high scores in online tests, your eLearning courses are likely to be both effective and successful.

Review employee feedback on the course – here, your LMS is giving you really clear and valuable data that you can use to further improve your courses.

Christopher Pappas, founder of eLearning Industry, believes that the most important feature to look for in a new LMS is reporting and analytics. Pappas suggests inviting online learners to take a pre-assessment before the eLearning course, then using your findings to choose specific activities and modules that best suit their needs.

“eLearning assessment data also gives you the power to identify online learners’ strengths and weaknesses, which you can then use to create personal learning paths,” explains Pappas.

Tracking and interpreting data from your LMS should be a regular and ongoing process. By making constant adjustments to your eLearning courses, you can start getting the best possible results from your training materials and your employees.

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.

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Here’s everything you need to know about tracking employee skill development and how you can use your Learning Management System to achieve this.

The best way to track skill development

Over the past year, numerous news reports have surfaced about people with mental illness going into a current or former workplace to injure or kill. While some of these people had an existing mental health issue, others either developed or worsened a problem while employed by a specific company.

As more organizations shed light on the growing issue of mental health among the workforce, it becomes apparent that all business owners should make changes. Although you cannot eliminate someone’s anxiety, depression, or paranoia, you can take steps to prevent this type of issue from developing within your company through good design.

Today, it is relatively common to find companies that encourage their employees to talk openly about issues. In fact, some organizations have counselors on staff who listen to employees’ problems and try to guide them through various situations. These positive steps are certainly helpful, but they are not sufficient for workplace health and stress issues.

While it is not always easy to put together an excellent work structure, properly formulate tasks, and build and encourage relationships, the time and effort that you and your leadership teams invest is worthwhile.

Health and Safety – It is imperative you provide your employees with a healthy and safe work environment. Regardless of the type or size of your company, make sure you stay compliant with government regulations and laws. Also, have a company policy in place regarding decluttered walkways and hallways, proper lighting, a fire suppression system, good air quality, and so on. Take air quality as a perfect example of preventing mental health issues at work. When people cannot see well enough to do their job, they experience eye strain, headaches, muscle fatigue, and overall tiredness. Each one of those things alone is enough to cause stress, anxiety, and even depression. Combine them, and you could have a serious problem.

Employee Involvement – Involving your staff is another critical component. Whether engaging them in casual or business conversations, having them jump in on a project, giving them the lead in planning a community event, or allowing them to take online training courses that will enhance their knowledge and skill, you will see a significant change in morale. The more your team feels as though it is part of something important, the better it will perform. In response to that, you can expect to see higher customer satisfaction, increased profit, and even fewer quality defects. The goal is to identify the things that motivate your employees and then act on them.

Balance Between Work and Life – Perhaps of all reasons mental health issues exist in the workplace is that people try to do too much at home and work. Take the opportunity to come up with creative solutions. Schedule a meeting with the leaders of the different departments to understand the challenges at hand. If your company employs a lot of young parents, you might consider adding an on-site daycare center or if they drive long distances to work each day, think about establishing a telecommuting program.

Employee Recognition –Recognition has a huge impact on employees. Unfortunately, many companies only acknowledge employees who accomplish some great feat, meaning entry-level workers without the same opportunities go unnoticed. Create a system whereby department heads identify employees who stand out for things like not missing a day of work within a given month, volunteering for a “grunt” job without complaining, or coming up with an excellent idea. Especially when recognition comes from management, it has a huge impact. The person on the receiving end feels appreciated and noticed, which supports good mental health.

Employee Growth and Development – Most people want to advance their careers, whether in their current department or somewhere else within the organization. Although a better job might come along, they want to stay with their employer, just not become stagnant. Devise a plan that allows for both growth and development. One option is with online training courses. Offering eLearning as a perk of working for your company prepares your employees for greater things that will benefit them and the business as a whole.

Also, incorporate live plants into the décor. Oversized greenery combined with strategically placed water features have a calming effect on the workplace environment. You will discover that your employees have an easier time focusing, which increases their productivity.

For the training aspect of your company, Go1 has the right solution. We offer a vast library of related topics that will give your employees purpose. Have your leadership determine specific courses on an employee-by-employee basis and then make this a standard offer.

Prevent mental health issues in the workplace through good design

Fresh from his appearance on SBS TV, Go1's head of growth and co-founder, Vu Tran, will be presenting at the LearnX learning leaders’ summit in Melbourne on Oct 30 from 12:45-1:45pm.

Vu recently featured on SBS (see below) who followed his inspirational journey, from being the son of refugees who fled Vietnam to a doctor in Australia and co-founder of Go1.

GO1 Featured on SBS Small Business Secrets

At LearnX, Vu will be talking about Training: Curation vs Creation

This session will help participants understand:

How social and workforce trends influence whether trainers chose to create vs curate training

Simple ways curation can be used to enhance training

What the future of content curation will look like (AI/ machine learning)

LearnX will be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre on Tuesday, 30th October, 2018.

Drop by the Go1 booth to meet the team and learn more about what we are working on.

Go1’s Vu Tran presenting at LearnX in Melbourne

Regardless of the size or industry of your company, proper training is imperative for everyone. When it comes to training, this includes the CEO who can learn how to increase profit, the CFO who can decrease overhead, the HR Director for reducing employee turnover, the Compliance Manager to ensure the company follows all current laws and regulations, and the L&D Manager responsible for in-house training. However, training also applies to teams within each department.

Your leadership team should brainstorm to identify the training needs on a department-by-department basis, as well as the company as a whole. Once you approve the training objectives, your L&D Manager should create a program that ensures every person within the organization receives the training needed. By developing and honing knowledge and skills, your employees can perform at peak levels.

Along with the ongoing training offered by your company, it is essential to consider outside resources as well. Especially for a warehousing, manufacturing, processing, or distributing business, or one similar that exposes workers to a high level of risk for injury and even death, training is vital. OSHA offers an incredible outreach training program your L&D and Compliance Manager should understand and utilize.

OSHA, the acronym for Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a government entity that establishes and enforces protective standards for workplace safety and health. This organization also created the OSH Act of 1970. Through that, OSHA has the authorization to enforce the standards developed under the Act, which “assure safe and healthful working conditions for both men and women” on the job.

However, OSHA offers even more in the form of employee and worker assistance and training. Rather than just set and enforce strict regulations that help prevent injuries, illness, and death, this organization serves all types of industries through an incredible training program. OSHA wants workers to succeed, which entails having a safe and healthy place to work.

What Does the OSHA Outreach Training Program Consist Of?

OSHA, which falls under the guise of the United States Department of Labor, voluntarily developed an outreach program that promotes both safety and health within the workplace. The primary goal of this is to increase the knowledge of workers specific to hazards, as well as their legal rights.

Something important to note is this Outreach Training Program does not include the training requirements found in the OSHA standards. That means your Compliance and L&D Managers would need to provide employees with additional training for hazards, and the specific jobs they perform. The topics covered in the Outreach Training Program are also different from those your leadership team would choose from a learning platform to develop worker knowledge and skill further.

Started in 1971, this program has now served almost 4 million workers. Just as those individuals, future participants of the OSHA Outreach Training Program will learn how to identify hazards at work and the appropriate way to avoid them. The program also covers abatement and prevention, along with employees’ rights, employer responsibilities, and even the correct way to file a complaint with OSHA.

Although the OSHA Outreach Training Program targets entry-level workers, it can benefit anyone. Employees can complete either a 10 or 30-hour program depending on the level of training required. Regardless, both options offer incredible benefits that include:

Safety culture promotion via peer training

Emphasis on the value of workplace safety and health through hazard recognition and avoidance

Customizable topics based on each employee’s needs

As with ongoing training your leadership team can offer to employees online, individuals can complete the OSHA Outreach Training Program through the internet. That prevents any disruption in production yet provides workers with what they need to stay safe and healthy on the job.

When opting for this program, it is essential your L&D Manager select the right trainer. Not only is it vital to choose someone qualified on a specific topic, but because trainers work as independent service providers, the associated cost for training varies. According to OSHA, any company interested in its Outreach Training Program should talk to several trainers, finding the one that matches the company’s criteria.

Keep in mind that every trainer is OSHA-authorized. That means you can select a trainer regardless of your industry, whether industrial, construction, automotive, maritime, and so on. For the trainers to offer their services, they must complete an updated course every four years and have met several prerequisites of OSHA standards.

Once your employees complete the OSHA Outreach Program, they will have new knowledge and skills in dealing with hazards at work. Your workers will be more in tune with their surroundings, making it easier for them to identify a possible threat. They will also know who to turn to if they spot something suspicious, as well as the steps to take to ensure their safety and health, along with other workers nearby.

There is no question this OSHA training is an excellent opportunity. Combining it with what we offer at Go1 and you will feel more confident in your leaders and their teams’ abilities to spot and report hazardous situations. From that, you will see fewer accidents, avoid costly fines for being non-compliant with current laws and regulations, have less employee turnover, and possibly reduce your liability insurance premium.

The courses we offer online at Go1 also meet high standards. All of our training is the result of hard work by an industry leader. We have an abundance of beneficial topics, all competitively priced and a short duration. Give your entire staff what they need to perform but also stay safe and healthy in their respective roles.

What you need to know about the OSHA Outreach Training Program

Although preventing warehousing injuries and boosting safety within the overall industry falls back on multiple players within an organization, three have critical roles. Starting with the Human Resource Director, this individual must have policies in place to ensure the company hires qualified individuals on a job-to-job basis. That entails conducting backgrounds, requesting past employment referrals, and going through a detailed interview.

The second responsible party is the Compliance Manager. Considering there are numerous regulations and laws in place, this person must ensure every worker follows strict orders. The third party is the L&D Manager who oversees training for company employees. This individual must select the right courses and medium so workers grasp the training and apply what they learned to their jobs.

In other words, preventing warehousing injuries and improving safety is a collaborative effort. Otherwise, a company could face severe consequences. The following shows how working together on a plan reduces risks and more.

Human Resources - Hiring the right people for the job not only reduces the potential for on-the-job accidents, but it also decreases the volume of employee turnover and compliance costs.

Compliance – Again, there is less risk of someone sustaining an injury when working within the confines of the law. Staying compliant also reduces costs.

Training – With proper training, the risk of injury decreases substantially. Look at it this way, with direct and indirect costs of work-related injuries and illnesses hovering around $170 billion annually, the same for what it costs to treat cancer patients; you can see how vital a good training program is for everyone within your organization.

Among the many causes of warehouse injuries, some are more common than others. Following are examples of four, and the appropriate steps you can take to prevent or minimalise them.

As stated by OSHA, slips, falls, and trips account for the majority of warehouse injuries and 15 percent of all warehousing deaths. What makes this risk so interesting is, in most cases, the injury was preventable. The Compliance Manager needs to conduct regular inspections to make sure that workers follow all compliance regulations and laws.

Included is keeping aisles clear of clutter, cleaning up even the tiniest spill immediately, and reporting an issue that could cause a problem such as inadequate lighting. Again, proper training will go a long way in preventing slips, falls, and trips. Along with boosting the safety of warehouse employees, staying compliant prevents production downtime that could prove costly to the company, not to mention increasing insurance rates.

Failing to store materials correctly on pallet racks can lead to a collapse. Especially for multi-tiered racks or mezzanines, even small and lightweight objects falling to the ground can cause severe injury, or worse. In addition to putting adequate space between the stacks of pallets, this is a prime example of how critical it is for the L&D manager to provide workers with extensive training.

As part of that, employees will learn the right way to maneuver a forklift, the importance of stacking smaller and lighter weight items on top of large and heavier ones. The Compliance Manager also plays a critical role by regularly inspecting the racks to ensure their positioning and other factors are in line with current regulations and laws.

If your employees work around or handle hazardous materials, ongoing inspections and training are vital. Although a hazmat team would likely come in to deal with any accidental leaks or spills, it is still essential for workers to have proper training. That way, they can quickly identify a possible threat and report it to the appropriate authority.

In this situation, the Compliance Manager should make sure that employees have easy access to both safety data sheets and personal protective equipment. From there, the L&D Manager can take over by providing workers with thorough training on how to use these items. When dealing with hazardous materials, your company needs to establish a response plan that allows employees to control the situation and thereby, avoid injury or illness.

When interviewing people to work as a forklift driver for your company, the HR department needs to confirm experience and training. Even when hiring someone who ran this type of equipment for years, the L&D Manager must continue to provide training in line with the company’s policies, as well as compliance laws and regulations.

Along with teaching drivers how to avoid crashes, a supervisor should carefully check forklifts before each shift. While this requires a little more work, it helps prevent injuries and even death.

When you consider the types of jobs that people do in a warehouse environment, accidents will happen. However, when the HR, compliance, and training departments work together to formulate a plan, the level of risk decreases significantly.

For training, the L&D Manager can choose from multiple topics online that relate to warehouse work. At Go1, we provide excellent courses written and often presented by industry experts. By going the online route, there is virtually no disruption to workflow and production.

Have your HR, Compliance, L&D managers determine the appropriate courses for new hires as well as existing employees. You can take training a step further by giving your leadership the opportunity to learn new skills and hone existing ones. With that, they become aware of potential risks, and thereby, more effective in their respective roles.

Preventing warehousing injuries / safety in the warehousing industry

OSHA, operated under the US Department of Labor, is a government entity responsible for setting and enforcing rules that promote health and safety in the work environment. As long as your company remains compliant, you do not have to worry about fines, temporary production shut-down, and reckless actions that could ultimately lead to employee injury, illness, or even death.

Many people have the misconception that OSHA is nothing more than a tough enforcer of strict laws. While that is one aspect of what it does, this organization offers a lot more value. For one thing, remember the regulations enforced by OSHA are to help businesses like yours decrease the number of incidents within the work environment.

However, OSHA also offers both assistance and training to employers and their employees. Through a unique opportunity known as the OSHA Outreach Training Program, you can have your leadership team identify workers who need new or additional knowledge and skills for the work performed. The number one goal of this program is to help employees identify potential and known risks and to prepare them to take the appropriate action.

Because of the many benefits the OSHA Outreach Training Program provides, some states now mandate specific workers to complete a portion of or the entire program. Whether required to complete the program or having employees take it on a voluntary basis, there are two options, 10 and 30-hour training. Both of these include an overview of the types of hazards someone might see at work, the proper way to avoid, control, and prevent a dangerous situation, and the appropriate person to tell about a possible threat.

Not only is the OSHA Outreach Training Program available online, but this nationally accepted program gives workers access to their trainer 24x7. After completing the program, participants can download their certificate immediately. Following are some examples of the topics covered in this program, some state-specific and others with a broader reach.

If you operate your business out of any of the following states, by law, you must ensure the required supervisors and employees complete the right portion of the OSHA Outreach Training Program. The information provided outlines the specific training requirements, as well as the employees or supervisors who need to complete the program.

Connecticut – This state mandates all employees who work on a public building project with a total cost of $100,000 or more to complete the OSHA 10 Construction training program 30 days before awarding of the contract. These same individuals must complete this part of the program every five years.

Massachusetts – Employees working on all public sector projects have to complete the OSHA 10 Construction training program before going onsite.

Missouri – This state mandates all employees who work on a public works project complete the OSHA Construction training program 60 days before starting work.

Nevada – While construction employees must complete the OSHA 10 Construction training program, supervisors have to go through the OSHA 30 Construction training program, both within 15 days of their hire date.

New Hampshire – Employees working on funded projects of $100,000 or more, both local municipality and state, must complete the OSHA 10 Construction training program within 15 days of starting work.

New York – For public work projects valued at $250,000 or more, the mandate is for employees to complete the OSHA 10 Construction training program.

Pennsylvania – For construction and demolition projects that require a permit, workers must take the OSHA 10 Construction training program. Also, under Section 9-1004 of the Philadelphia Code, all licensed contractors must employ a minimum of one supervisory employee who finished the OSHA 30 Construction training program.

Rhode Island – Workers on state or municipal construction projects of $100,000 or more must complete the OSHA 10 Construction training program.

West Virginia – For any public improvement project of $50,000 or more, employees have 21 days from the date of hire at a public improvement job site to complete the OSHA 10 Construction training program.

There are a few important things to note.

First, while the OSHA Outreach Training Program is of tremendous value, it does cover the requirements for training according to OSHA standards. That means for both safety and health topics, it is possible that you will need to provide your employees with additional training even after completing this incredible program.

Second, you can take advantage of a broad range of topics available through an online eLearning platform. By combining the three and implementing the appropriate measures, the chance of someone sustaining an injury or becoming ill on the job diminishes substantially.

Along with state-specific mandates and available training through OSHA, Go1 has tons of topics on workplace health and safety for multiple industries. Our online training courses are of short duration, usually no longer than one hour, and offered for a nominal price. However, because experts develop and often present the training, you never compromise on quality.

By providing not only your employees but also leadership teams with excellent training, you end up with a company that operates more proficiently, as well as safer. With fewer incidents on the job, you and your entire organization can focus on the business and achieving long-term success. As a responsible owner who cares about every employee, take the opportunity to get your HR, Compliance, and L&D Manager involved with selecting training courses they feel their teams need.

State-specific OSHA Outreach Training Program requirements

Most people see a leader as someone who gives direction and guidance, not a person who asks a lot of questions. However, as you are about to learn, the best leaders do ask questions — and for good reason. Whether you want to move into management or are already part of the leadership team within your organization, this information will create positive change.

There are stark differences between today’s work environment and even 10 years ago. With the advancement of technology, greater customer demand, more complex products and services, compliance issues, and a significant amount of disruption, leaders can no longer rely on their experiences alone. Great leaders have to ask questions to get the right answers and, therefore, identify better solutions.

Successful companies recognize the need to develop curious leaders. Leading a discussion with a question opens a dialog, which encourages debate and engagement. Questions also drive employees to want to learn more. In response to a question, a team will work more cohesively to produce an appropriate answer. That requires them to research, investigate, and delve into things they may have never considered or perhaps overlooked.

Especially now that we live in a digital era, it is critical to ask questions that build connections and promote innovation. The best leaders know the value of creative thinking. To encourage that among their teams, they need to use questions as a way of not just stimulating the mind but also changing it.

According to Medium, questions trigger the brain to respond in specific ways. “Questions hijack our thoughts and our unconscious mind goes to work. Before we know it, someone’s question has conjured new thoughts and ideas. We might imagine something related to the question itself or we might imagine possible solutions.”

Pause – After posing a question, there should be a moment of pause. That helps quiet your mind, so you can objectively listen to the answers your staff gives. A pause also gives your team time to formulate a creative response. As a result, you can expect a more impactful conversation.

Quality – Work on the questions you ask, ensuring they will prompt your staff to find innovative and inclusive solutions.

Listen – If you ask the right questions, you will receive multiple points of view. A great leader is not only an excellent speaker but also a listener. Keep in mind that you do not always have to agree with every answer received, but you should be receptive to hearing what your team has to say. That way, you learn from your employees, which makes you an even better leader.

Overall, your team will change for the better. As mentioned, your employees will start to work as a cohesive unit, striving to resolve problems and develop innovation. Something else to consider is the change you will see in your customers. Because you ask questions that draw on your team’s creativity and inclusive thinking, they produce unique ways to improve operations. In response to that, you will start to see measurable results in sales and customer satisfaction.

The great leaders of today have one particular thing in common: Their teams highly respect them and their position of authority. Leading with questions and giving your staff time to respond does several things. First, as mentioned, it allows them time to think, so they respond with better answers. Second, your employees will develop more respect for you as their leader.

Interacting and collaborating with your staff shows that you value their input. That alone makes a significant difference in the loyalty they have for you and the company as a whole. The fact is that people want to feel both valued and challenged. Asking questions and giving your employees time to answer will accomplish both. It will also enhance engagement and promote accountability.

The questions you present to your team will depend on the situation, as well as the person or persons you address. As one example, if you ask a question like “What can I do to help you perform better,” your staff recognizes that instead of trying to figure something out themselves, they have your support and guidance for coming up with a viable solution. This question also shows them that you want their opinions and suggestions.

To learn more about using questions to become a great leader, check out some of the incredible online training courses offered by Go1. You can also develop a training program that will encourage creative thinking among your team members.

With the right resources, your leadership team can develop an online training program that gets your staff excited about learning. Whether employees need new or additional skills and knowledge, an LMS helps your administrators and managers prepare their teams for a successful career.

An LMS (or Learning Management System) prepares your company to move from the more traditional classroom or in-person teaching method to online learning. Although companies use this system for a variety of reasons, the primary objective is to give your administrators and managers quick and easy access to a wealth of courses that benefit their teams.

An LMS has two distinct roles. First, it serves as the source where employees go to complete online training. Second, it is the resource for your leadership teams to select appropriate topics for their staff. For each course that an employee finishes, the individual’s direct supervisor or manager can maintain a log of accomplishments.

The great thing about a reputable LMS platform is that it benefits employees and leaders alike. Used by a multitude of industries, this system gives anyone who completes courses a definite advantage. Keep in mind that along with workers who perform various tasks on-site, an LMS is excellent for anyone who travels for business or telecommutes.

For your company to get the most from an LMS, it is essential for your managers and administrators to identify the training needs on a department-by-department basis. Whether for HR, sales, marketing, customer support, technical support, or another department, each member of your leadership team would start by outlining the objectives for eLearning. From there, they would choose the appropriate courses and then formulate a plan for scheduling.

Cloud-Based – The cloud hosts some LMS platforms. In this case, both your leadership team and their staff would have a username and password. Because there is no software to download and the fact that authorized people can access the system from virtually anywhere, this platform has several unique benefits.

Self-Hosted – A self-hosted LMS is what it sounds like, meaning your company would download the required software and then access it from within the organization. While this type of system provides more customization and creative control, the downside is that you would likely have to pay for updates.

Desktop and Mobile Applications – While a desktop LMS installs on standard computers, a mobile LMS comes in the form of an app downloaded and is accessed from a smartphone or tablet.

Small, Medium, and Large LMS – There are also LMS platforms designed specifically for certain sizes of companies. For instance, if you have a large organization that consists of hundreds, if not thousands, of employees, you could go with a large LMS platform that would streamline the monitoring aspect of eLearning.

Freelance Work – An LMS platform for freelancers is also available. With collaboration tools built in, this system is ideal for individuals who work with many different customers and provide a broad range of deliverables.

Safe Data Storage – If you offer a lot of training opportunities for your employees, there is an excellent chance that your managers and administrators struggle to keep all the course records organized. Storing a significant volume of data safely is another viable concern. With the right LMS platform, you do not have to worry about either one. Instead, everything that your leadership team organizes for its staff remains on one encrypted site.

Monitoring – A top-rated LMS has both analytics and reporting built into the system. With that, your managers and administrators can keep track of the training courses completed, as well as how each team member did on any given topic. Your leaders can use the progress and performance information generated to identify teams or individuals that require more or perhaps different training.

Resource Allocation – Another reason for using an LMS platform is that your managers and administrators can allocate eLearning more effectively. As an example, if one aspect of the current online training program does not meet expectations, they can make the necessary changes. If your company has employees working in more than one city, state, or country, your leaders can deploy online courses to ensure that everyone receives the same training.

Personalization – Although your managers and administrators can choose several courses for everyone across the board to take, with so many topics, they can also personalize the eLearning experience. In other words, if just one employee feels challenged in a specific area, that person’s manager can select a course specifically for that individual. If the sales department struggles to meet goals, the manager of that department can choose courses for the entire staff.

How to increase staff interaction with their online training

Excel, one of several programs in the Microsoft Suite does more than most people realize. Typically, this is something used for crunching numbers, but beyond that, Excel is an excellent solution for developing graphs. If your boss asked you to come up with a spectacular graph, it is worth the time to learn how to make one using the Excel program.

Line Graphs – For this, you can select between 2- and 3-dimensional line graphs. If your boss wants to show trends spread over time, this is perfect. What makes this option unique is you can plot more than one parameter of data, including the number of products sold, types of products, average cost, and annual sales against different time periods or the same X-axis.

Column Graphs – This graph also works to show how parameters change over time. The difference between a column and line graph is this one uses just one data parameter. For example, you could show your boss the average cost of products sold within a given week.

Bar Graphs – While somewhat similar to column graphs, the difference is you work with a constant parameter, such as the amount of time an employee worked, which you would assign to the Y axis (vertical), and then add variables against data using the X-axis (horizontal).

Fill in the correct axis based on the information you want to plot

With the data values added, go to the “Home” tab under the number section to assign the correct data type to each of the columns. For instance, if you plan to use column B to measure time, assign the “Time” option to the entire column. You can do that by moving your cursor over the letter for a particular column. You will notice a small downward-pointing arrow. Click on that cell to highlight it. Then, assign the data type.

Once you select a column, go to the “Insert” tab and choose the “2D Line Graph.” Immediately, a graph appears below the data values.

Design – Why provide your boss with an ordinary graph when you can enhance the design? For instance, under the “Home” tab, you can change the coloring of one or all columns or rows. Again, you would highlight the cell or an entire column or row and then click on the look you want.

Layout – Excel even allows you to change the graph layout you just created. By clicking on the “Page Layout” tab, you can add pictures, shapes, and text boxes. The layout option also allows you to change the title of your chart or an axis title, plus more.

Format – For adding a black or colored border to a cell, column, or row, click on the “Format” tab. You can also choose a fill color, add an outline, and apply a special effect to shapes within your graph.

Keep it Clean – There is a difference between creating a fancy and cluttered graph. While you want something eye-catching, it is essential to use only the information that gets the point across to the intended audience.

The Right Theme – With excel, you can select from a variety of themes. Make sure you stick with one that coordinates with the type of graph and the data included. For this, you may need to experiment a little.

Correct Text – Because an Excel graph is primarily a visual tool, use concise yet descriptive language.

Element Placing – When you use graphical elements, titles, symbols, legends, and so on, make sure they enhance the graph as opposed to becoming an unwanted distraction.

Data Sorting – Before generating the final graph, be sure that you sort the data. That way, you can remove any duplications.

How to create a graph in Excel that impresses your boss

Go1 is excited to announce that we will be at world-leading learning and development conference, DevLearn, in Las Vegas from 24-26 October.

Come and meet the Go1 team where you can:

Learn about accessing 5,000 courses in one subscription through Go1 Premium.

Meet Scott Cooper, our VP of Marketing, and get a signed copy of his book, A Guide to Better e-learning.

Sign up for a Go1 demo and get a showbag.

We’ll be at DevLearn alongside our partners from Totara Learning, a leading open source learning technology software provider, and EdCast, AI-powered knowledge cloud for discovery, management and learning.

Get in touch if you'd like to arrange a meeting at DevLearn.

Welcome to the Go1 blog. Helping you to achieve your L&D goals through the latest learning and development insights, trends, and technology.

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Over 200 L&D pros shared their biggest challenges and investments in learning. Read the full report