Providing mandatory training courses online
How to save time and resources with digital training
Mandatory training is part of everyday life in every company. Training topics such as occupational safety, data protection and compliance are not only required by law, but are also crucial to maintaining a smooth and safe workflow. Regular training is the order of the day, especially in professions such as pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and the financial sector. Traditional training methods often involve high logistical effort and additional costs. But there is an efficient and flexible alternative: Online mandatory training.
In this article, you’ll learn why it pays to provide your mandatory training courses online. You’ll discover the numerous advantages of digital training formats, and learn about the different ways you can implement them in your company. Whether you want to create training courses yourself, commission an eLearning agency, or access existing libraries, we’ll show you how to make the most of the options going digital offers you. Make your employee training more efficient, cost-effective, and futureproof.
Providing mandatory training courses online: How you and your employees benefit
If you offer your mandatory training courses online, you’ll gain a number of advantages for both your company and your employees. With digital training, you not only optimize the learning process, but also boost your workforce’s levels of efficiency and satisfaction. Take a look at the specific benefits and find out why online mandatory training is the ideal solution:
Flexibility and accessibility
Employees can access the training content at any time and from anywhere. This enables people to learn at different times, thereby reducing downtime for the company.
Cost-effectiveness
Online training saves costs that would otherwise be spent on travel, hiring event spaces, and providing training materials. You invest once and benefit over and over again.
Uniformity and quality assurance
Digital training ensures that all employees receive the same training content and quality. This keeps knowledge uniform throughout the company.
Traceability and reporting
Maintain an overview of your employees’ progress. With detailed reports and statistics, you’ll know exactly who has completed which course.
Time savings and efficiency
Online training courses can be organized quickly and easily. Your employees can integrate training into their daily work routines without losing time.
How to implement your mandatory training courses online
Methods for providing mandatory training digitally
There are many different ways you can deliver mandatory training online, depending on your resources and requirements. Each has its own advantages and unique features. Below, we’ll explore three common options: Using ready-made online training courses, commissioning an eLearning agency, and creating your own mandatory training courses. So you can find the best method for your company and optimize your employee training.
Method 1
Using existing eLearning courses for your digital mandatory training courses
There are already ready-made online courses and trainings out there that you can access, covering a wide range of topics. This option is particularly time- and cost-efficient as you can use content that has already been developed and proven effective.
Advantages
- Variety and scope: Ready-made online training courses cover a wide range of topics and are updated regularly.
- Time savings: You don’t have to create your own content, and can instead gain immediate access to high-quality training courses.
- Simple integration: Many of these training courses can be easily integrated into existing learning management systems (LMSs).
- Immediate availability: Your employees can start training immediately, without spending an excessive amount of time preparing.
Disadvantages
- Limited customization: Pre-made courses may not be able to cover all of your organization’s specific needs and requirements.
- Lack of company specificity: The content could be too general and not take into account all of your company-specific processes and guidelines.
- Lower employee relevance: Standardized courses may seem less appealing or relevant to your employees, which can lead to lower motivation and engagement.
- Dependence: When using ready-made courses, you’re dependent on regular updates and maintenance being delivered by the provider.
- Limited control: You have less control over the content design and updating process compared with training courses you create in-house.
At chemmedia, we work with our partner agencies to offer a comprehensive selection of corporate education and online mandatory training courses that you can implement immediately at your company. These courses cover current and relevant topics and are constantly being expanded and updated. Our eLearning offerings save you time and resources and ensure that your employees always get the training they need.
Method 2
Working with an eLearning agency
Working with an eLearning agency can help you develop customized training solutions. You benefit from professional support through the design, creation, and implementation of your online courses. This method enables you to provide high-quality and customized online mandatory training courses for your employees.
Advantages
- Professional quality: You benefit from the agency’s expertise and experience, which ensures your online mandatory training courses will be packed with high-quality and appealing content.
- Individual customization: The digital mandatory training courses are tailored precisely to your company’s individual needs and requirements.
- Complete service: From consulting to development and implementation, you get everything from a single source.
- Time savings: Outsourcing the creation of your online mandatory training courses allows you to concentrate on your core business.
- Currency: eLearning agencies ensure that the content of their mandatory training courses is regularly updated online and adapted to the latest standards.
Disadvantages
- Costs: Working with an eLearning agency can be more expensive than other methods, especially for smaller companies.
- Dependence: You are dependent on the agency’s availability.
- Time required for coordination: Coordination and communication can be time-consuming, especially for complex projects.
- Less control: You have less direct influence on the development process and have to trust that the agency will implement your requests correctly.
Working with an eLearning agency gives you the opportunity to purchase customized, high-quality mandatory training content online and provide it to your employees. Our experienced team develops content that is precisely tailored to your requirements and supports you throughout the entire process. Use our expertise to implement your online mandatory training courses effectively and professionally.
E-trainings
Method 3
Creating your own digital mandatory training courses
If you have the necessary resources and expertise, you should opt to create your own digital mandatory training courses. This method offers maximum control and adaptability, meaning that the training is tailored to your company’s specific requirements and objectives.
Advantages
- Full control: You select all the content and can ensure that all your company’s specific requirements are met.
- Cost efficiency: In the long term, creating online mandatory training courses in-house can be more cost-effective as no external service providers are required.
- Flexibility: You can update the content at any time and adapt it to new requirements.
- Making use of internal expertise: You can use your own employees’ knowledge and experience to create relevant and practical training content.
- Uniqueness: Your digital mandatory training courses are customized and tailored precisely to your corporate philosophy and culture.
Disadvantages
- Time spend: Creating your own online mandatory training courses can be very time-consuming, especially for complex topics.
- Resource requirements: You need sufficient human and technical resources to develop and maintain high-quality training courses.
- Specialist knowledge: You’ll need people with specialist knowledge of eLearning and didactics to create effective and appealing content.
- Initial costs: Acquiring authoring tools and platforms and training staff to use them can involve significant investments.
- Quality assurance: Without external expertise, there’s a risk that the training courses will not meet the desired pedagogical or content standards.
When creating your own digital mandatory training courses, it’s important to utilize user-friendly authoring tools and platforms to help you develop professional and engaging training courses. Make sure the content is didactically well-thought-out and attractively designed. Also be sure to plan sufficient time and personnel resources for the creation and regular updating of training courses.
As an experienced eLearning partner, we can support you in mastering these challenges. We can provide you with the eLearning tools, services, and advice you need to ensure you deliver first-class, standard-compliant online mandatory training. Together, we’ll ensure that your employees always get the training they need and that your company benefits from effective and customized digital mandatory training courses.
Authoring tools
Step-by-step guide to ensure a successful launch for your digital mandatory training
Step 1: Evaluate your company’s needs and resources
Start with a thorough analysis of your current training requirements. This will give you a starting point from which you can implement your digital mandatory training courses. It ensures that you cover all the relevant aspects and that the training courses are well-integrated into your company.
Identify the mandatory training courses you need:
Create a list of mandatory training courses that have to be carried out regularly. This will usually include standard mandatory training courses such as:
Occupational health and safety: Training on accident prevention, first aid, handling machinery and hazardous substances.
Data protection: Training on the legal provisions relating to data protection and the secure handling of data.
Compliance: Training on legal requirements and internal company guidelines, e.g. anti-corruption guidelines and codes of conduct.
Fire safety: Training on evacuation plans, firefighting, and emergency measures.
Ergonomics in the workplace: Training on maintaining correct posture and setting up workstations to avoid health problems.
In addition to the standard mandatory training content, there may be specific topics that are relevant to your company or industry. For example:
Industry-specific safety regulations: Training on specific safety requirements in certain industries such as chemicals, construction, and healthcare.
Product training: Training on specific products or services that your company offers to ensure that all employees have the knowledge they need.
IT security: Training on the secure use of IT systems and the prevention of cyberattacks.
Evaluate your existing resources:
Determine what resources are available to you—in terms of both personnel and technology. Be aware that:
Human resources: Do you have staff with the necessary expertise to develop and deliver mandatory training online? Can you involve internal experts when creating training content?
Technical resources: Do you have the technical resources—such as learning management systems (LMSs) and authoring tools—to create and manage digital training courses?
Budget: How much budget do you have available for developing and implementing online mandatory training? Take into account both one-off and ongoing costs.
Analyze your company’s needs and set your priorities:
Carry out a needs analysis to help you determine priorities for your mandatory training courses. Ask questions like:
Which training courses are required by law and therefore have the highest priority?
Which training courses will have the greatest impact on your employees’ levels of safety and efficiency?
Are there any training courses that need to be updated due to new developments or amended laws?
By carefully evaluating your needs and resources, you’ll create a solid foundation for the successful implementation of your online mandatory training courses. It ensures that all relevant aspects are covered and that you have the necessary resources to implement the training efficiently and effectively.
Step 2: Choose the right method for your company
If you want to deliver your mandatory training online, you need to choose the method that best suits your needs. Take various factors into account to find the optimum solution. We’ll explain the most important decision-making criteria and provide detailed guidance here:
Costs:
Cost plays a key role in deciding which method to choose. Be aware that:
One-off vs. ongoing costs: Creating digital mandatory training courses in-house or by working with an eLearning agency tend to involve higher one-off costs. However, if you choose to use ready-made online courses, you often pay license fees that are spread over time.
Budget framework: Make sure that the method you choose is compatible with your budget. Compare the costs of different providers and models to find the most economical solution.
Flexibility:
The flexibility of the chosen method will determine how well you can react to changing requirements. Things to consider:
Adaptability: Can the training courses be easily updated and expanded as required? This is particularly important when legal requirements or internal guidelines change.
Scalability: Verify that the method you choose will allow you to increase the number of users easily as your company grows.
Options for individual customization:
The ability to customize training courses is a key factor:
Company-specific content: Make sure that the training courses can be tailored to your company’s specific requirements and processes.
Branding: Check whether your corporate design can be incorporated into the training courses to encourage employees to identify with the content.
Time spend:
The time required to implement and maintain online mandatory training courses should not be underestimated:
Speed of implementation: Ready-made online courses in particular can be quick to implement, whereas creating your own training courses or working with an eLearning agency takes more time.
Maintenance and updates: Consider the time that will be required to update training content to keep it current and relevant down the line.
Content quality:
The quality of the training content is crucial to your employees’ learning outcomes:
Didactic quality: Ensure that the content is pedagogically sound and engaging to maximize employee motivation and learning outcomes.
Relevance and currency: Make sure the content is always up-to-date and covers the current legal requirements and best practices.
By carefully considering these decision-making criteria, you can choose the method that best suits your company’s needs and objectives. This ensures that your digital mandatory training courses will be implemented efficiently and effectively, and will last you for as long as possible.
Case Study
Step 3: Implement suitable eLearning tools and platforms
The successful implementation of your online mandatory training courses requires thorough planning and a systematic approach. Here are the essential steps to follow to manage this process effectively:
Choosing the right technologies:
Learning management system (LMS):
Choose an LMS that meets your requirements and offers a user-friendly interface. It should include functions such as course management, progress tracking, and reporting.
Authoring tool:
Use an authoring tool to create interactive and engaging content. It should be intuitive to use and support a variety of multimedia elements.
Creating a detailed implementation plan:
A detailed plan is crucial to the success of your online mandatory training courses:
Goals and milestones: Define clear goals and set milestones to measure progress.
Roles and responsibilities: Determine who is responsible for which tasks and make sure everyone involved knows their roles.
Schedule: Create a realistic schedule that includes all of your key steps and deadlines.
Developing and designing the training content:
Design your training content in a didactically effective and appealing way:
Learning objectives: Define clear learning objectives for each training unit so that participants know what to expect.
Interactive elements: Integrate interactive elements such as quizzes, simulations, and videos to boost learner engagement.
Modularization: Structure the content into manageable modules to make learning smoother and the content easier to digest.
Pilot phase and feedback:
Conduct a pilot phase to test the course and gather valuable feedback:
Test group: Select a representative test group to evaluate the training under real conditions.
Gather feedback: Use surveys and interviews to obtain feedback from participants and identify weaknesses.
Make adjustments: Optimize the training content and methods based on this feedback.
Training rollout and communication:
Plan the rollout for your online mandatory training courses carefully, and communicate clearly with your employees:
Launch phase: Inform all employees about the launch of the new training courses and how important they are.
Instructions: Provide comprehensive instructions and assistance to make it easier for staff to get started.
Support: Offer technical support and educational assistance to ensure questions and issues are resolved quickly.
Monitoring and continuous improvement:
After the rollout, it’s important to continuously monitor and improve the training:
Progress tracking: Use your LMS’s reporting functions to monitor your participants’ progress.
Regular updates: Regularly review and update your training content to ensure it meets the latest standards and legal requirements.
Feedback loops: Implement regular feedback loops to continuously identify and implement opportunities for improvement.
By following these steps, you can ensure that your online mandatory training courses are successful and that your employees always get the training they need, thereby boosting efficiency, safety and security throughout your company.
Step 4: Inspire and motivate your team
Communications with your employees about the introduction of online mandatory training should be open and clear. Explain the advantages and benefits of digital training in detail. Your employees should understand that this training is not simply about ticking boxes to ensure legal compliance, but also contributes to their own personal development and safety in the workplace.
Actively motivate your employees to participate to boost engagement. Regular updates and reminders that emphasize the value of the training are helpful. Share specific examples and success stories that demonstrate how the training has already helped others. Emphasize the flexibility and convenience of online mandatory training—such as the ability to complete it anytime, anywhere—to boost interest and participation.
Encourage employees to give feedback and share their experiences. This fosters a culture of open communication and enables you to continuously improve the training courses and adapt them to your participants’ needs. Regular feedback loops enable you to determine which aspects are working well and where there is still room for improvement.
With clear, transparent communication and comprehensive support, you can ensure that your mandatory training courses enjoy a high level of acceptance and are used effectively. This leads to better compliance, increased efficiency, and higher employee satisfaction and motivation.
The bottom line
If you make your mandatory training courses available online, your company will benefit from numerous advantages. It will save time and costs, improve flexibility, and ensure uniform training quality. Through careful planning, clear communication, and continuous improvement, you can ensure that your employees get all the training they need. Whether you want to use ready-made courses, develop customized training content, or create your own, we have the right solution for you. Draw on our expertise and comprehensive services to optimize and modernize your training processes. Take the next step and make your mandatory training a futureproof and successful part of your company.
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