COVID-19 and its Impact on Learning

[sandeepnahata]

With the recent outbreak of COVID-19 (or the Coronavirus), many businesses are being encouraged to send their employees home to work instead of coming into the office.

We are seeing an impact of COVID-19 across all functions, geographies and industries. Where it is more difficult to manage it in some professions, organisations are coming up with unique ways to keep operations moving while reducing the impact or exposure of the virus on the employees.

While we all hope that we soon find a solution to contain and beat the virus, here are some suggestions for Learning and Development to keep things moving:

Remote Learning:

Also known as distance learning, remote learning is when an employee or student completes the course, while staying at home. This reduces the risk of spreading any viruses to anyone else in the classroom as the communication between a teacher and the student happens online via forums, chat rooms and video conferences.

Where possible, switch it to a digital format (eLearning and/or assessments) or switch to a Virtual Instructor Led training. This will allow employees to continue to learn through alternate modalities while remaining in a safe environment and in their comfort zones. This will also help reduce travel for those training sessions where people from out of location were travelling in. If successful, this can continue beyond the virus and continue to drive cost savings and efficiency for organizations.

There are many benefits of taking remote learning as an alternative training option:

Accessibility

If you have a personal computer, tablet or even a smartphone, you should be able to access the training materials with ease. Some training portals also have instant messaging and email options, so you can communicate with your instructor straight away.

Motivation

By combining gamification technology with the training industry, online dashboards can help motivate you to complete the course. Progress bars, awards, achievements are elements of gamification that can help you to keep moving forward.

Time

A typical adult life can be very time consuming. With distance learning you can start the course whenever you like! If it’s learning after work or during the weekend, this e-learning solution can support these requirements.

Social Learning

Encourage the use of Social Learning/Collaboration tools. Collaboration between employees can still continue digitally and help insure that digital collaboration culture many organisations have struggled to embed.

According to a recent study from Accenture, 82% of businesses that use social learning tools  want to increase their use for them in the future.

How can you adopt social learning to your business?

With SAP Learning tools including SuccessFactors Learning and SAP JAM, your employees can have the ability to access company software applications on their mobile devices, break down barriers between teams, eliminate information silos, and bring social tools into your business processes.

Training Plans

Encourage your employees to take some time off to learn more and enhance their skills. No matter what industry you are in, upskilling staff has always helped improve the performance of a project. Creating a training plan can help employees focus on improving their skills and knowledge of their field of work, and once they return to the company they will be ready to take your business to the next level. Other benefits include:

• Addressing and improving any weaknesses


• Improved quality of work


• Staff will feel more valued


• Enhances the company’s profile

Whatever happens with COVID-19, there are several ways to continue to engage and encourage your employees to use this time as an opportunity to develop themselves.