eLearning is one of the top choices of enterprises all over the world to meet their training needs. It is as effective as a classroom course yet has cost benefits due to its logistical advantages. What makes eLearning stand out is its virtual one-to-one model, allowing employees to progress rapidly while ensuring reduced consumption in terms of trainers, travel, etc. This blog will give you tips to choose the right eLearning vendor.
Benefits of eLearning:
There are many benefits of using eLearning solutions, such as –
- It addresses everyone’s needs without needing individual trainers.
- Trainees can learn at their own pace without having to keep up with a pace fixed by the trainer.
- A single trainer can attend to more individuals as classes are conducted virtually. This ensures scalability.
- Trainees have access to the complete course material at every stage.
- Lectures can be attended any number of times for clarity, as they exist on a virtual platform.
- It is cost-effective as logistical needs such as accommodation and travel are no longer required.
- Trainees end up getting more effective training because of the flexibility of virtual classrooms.
Difficulties in Choosing the Right eLearning Vendor:
There are a number of eLearning companies offering a range of solutions. However, not every vendor is the correct fit for your company. One must choose the right eLearning vendor with due diligence to ensure effective results. But this can prove to be difficult. In this day and age of stiff competition, every vendor seems to promise best-in-class eLearning materials.
Finding reliable customer reviews is also tricky as what worked for one organization may not necessarily work for another. But there are several factors that can be kept in mind in order to make the right decision.
Tips to Choose the Right eLearning Vendor:
There are 11 quantifiable factors one can look at to decide their eLearning vendor –
- Experience – Experience is an irreplaceable advantage. Every organization takes a special interest in past experience on the job when hiring an employee. Hiring an eLearning vendor should be no different. Experience shouldn’t mean just the number of years the vendor has been in service. What is more important is the kind of projects they have managed to pull off. The experience and skills of the trainers are of utmost importance as well. Choose eLearning vendors that have shown impressive leadership qualities in handling difficult projects in the past.
- Quality Check– Before making a large-scale purchase, it is always prudent to ensure it is the right fit for your organization. The vendor must have the right resources to build and maintain the kind of training the organization is planning. Furthermore, it is best to review previous training materials created by them to determine if their work is indeed satisfactory.
- Scalability – A company may want to start small to test the waters. But sooner or later, it will encompass a larger section of employees. The vendor must have the capability to scale up when needed.
- Multi-device Access– Today, nobody uses a single platform. So, to have a training program that is accessible via desktop, tablets, phones, etc. is important. Any vendor you choose must be able to provide content on multiple devices and multiple operating systems.
- Cloud Support – Having the program on the cloud ensures that it is accessible from any geographical location and at any time, for every employee who needs it.
- Availability of Multiple Courses– When it comes to technical domains, employees in an organization have distinct needs. The chosen vendor must be able to serve all those needs, and for this, it is important to ensure that the vendor has all possible courses that fit the domain of your organization.
- 1-on-1 Sessions– Not all doubts can be clarified through courses or pre-recorded videos. Employees might sometimes face particular problems which need human intervention. For any such situation, ensuring that the vendor has the bandwidth for one-on-one sessions between employees and trainers occasionally is very important.
- Progress Tracking– Every company needs to know that the training they are paying for is turning out to be effective for their employees. The best way to know that is through live progress tracking. This not only helps the organization, but also the employees to understand how far along in the course they are.
- Project Management Practices– A project can run smoothly only with effective management. It is important to note the project management practices employed by a vendor at each stage of the process.
- Client Reviews– The best way to judge a product is by reviewing the experience of existing customers. In the case of choosing a custom elearning content development company or vendor, looking at what their former or present clients have to say about them will give you the right idea. Social media is one of the best places to find reviews. It aggregates all reviews and gives an idea of the bigger picture. But one must verify genuine reviews before forming an opinion.
- Transparent Pricing– The money being spent on training must be justifiable. For that, before hiring a vendor, ensure that all charges are disclosed on paper and that there are no hidden charges that will crop up midway through the engagement.
These are the main considerations one must take into account before zeroing in on a vendor. The idea is to not have to switch teams often as that leads to instability and reduces the effectiveness of the eLearning program.
The engagement between an organization and its eLearning partner must be long-term for them to sufficiently benefit from it. This is why it is better to take time and choose an eLearning vendor carefully rather than having to look for alternatives soon after.
