In response to savage budget cuts imposed by central government, many public sector organisations have had to think of some ingenious way to make their money stretch that little bit further. And, although training and development has been one of the areas hardest hit by the cuts, a degree of creative thinking coupled with some technological advances in communication tools, have allowed talent management to hold onto its place at the public sector table.
The forward thinking organisations have focused on streamlining these areas rather than simply cutting them. This has involved deploying online training and E-learning systems that have helped them to reduce costs and increase automation.
However, while the cost and process benefits of such systems are clear to see, how can large organisations ensure that their employees, who may be scattered across various geographical locations, know about the new systems and use them?
Utilise existing technology to spread the word
While the process of using training courses online may be new to a lot of people, a whole range of existing systems already connected to employees are available to help get the message out there. Ten to 15 years ago, companies would have had to train staff to use email. These days, everyone is well aware of how email works and uses it virtually every minute of their working day. Therefore a simple email marketing campaign is a great way to reach staff and keep them informed. As long as it’s on a well-designed template and appealing on the eye, you can include all sorts of information about new E-learning resources – where to find them, the benefits they can bring, how and when to use them.
As well as email, employees will normally have access to an organisation’s intranet, which they will be familiar with using. Exploit the fact that employees are comfortable with the existing system to spread the important messages about new ones.
Make IT easy to digest
One of the great advantages of E-learning tools is their ability to let users access them at their own convenience, and this emphasis on convenience will be key to getting people involved.
A useful way of getting people started and dispelling any unnecessary worries is to arrange a web session to introduce the new software – watching tutorials online is a fresh and exciting way to digest information, and take up will reflect this. Use an email campaign as mentioned above to publicise this and include any vital information you think attendees will need – log in credentials are essential, but also think about providing a brief explanation of what will be covered in the sessions. Then, make sure the session is easy-to-follow and not too complicated, remembering to leave time for questions. Also, remember to record the session so people that couldn’t attend can watch it afterwards and add a few answers to the most commonly asked questions.
Exploit social media opportunities
If social media channels are already set up, utilise them to communicate news of the E-learning programmes to staff. Depending on how you use them, that could mean tweeting about important updates, posting web sessions or FAQs on your Linkedin or Facebook pages or uploading tutorial videos on to YouTube. But don’t think that sending a tweet or updating a wall post is enough, because the social media platforms are just vehicles, and once the information is posted up, someone has to ensure that it is actually being read. In terms of the email marketing, the software available today will identify who opened your E-learning email and when – giving the broadcaster the opportunity to follow up on those employees who opened the email and clicked links.
Importantly, as controller of the social platforms, you will have a certain amount of control over how public you want to make these social media channels, as many platforms allow you to restrict content to particular users.