Understanding the landscape of remote employee training: key insights
68% of organizations that invest in career development initiatives now have online learning programs
Remote employee training follows right behind remote work as the main fundamental change in the global workforce.
Now, one-third of US workers who can work from home always do so. The 2023 Survey of Business Uncertainty reported that 10.2% of employees work fully remotely, with 16.3% working in a hybrid arrangement.
There is less available data about remote training. However, the 2024 LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report revealed that 68% of organizations that invest in career development initiatives now have online learning programs. 37% of companies allocated parts of their budget to updating meeting technology to facilitate remote/hybrid meetings in 2023. All updates in the workplace and remote working trends point to training that adapts to a remote workforce.
Going forward, remote employee training is only set to get more popular and efficient. Different reports point to a solid majority of workers preferring online training, primarily for its flexibility. Companies are also demonstrating preferences for hybrid or fully remote employee training. Due to flexible training delivery, low costs, and no need for transportation, it’s the clear choice for globally active businesses.
Benefits of remote employee training
With the right practices, remote employee training is the most efficient option. Take a look at all the benefits of remote employee training:
Cost
It is far more cost-effective to organize training activities online for remote employee training. You cut out a large portion of the 35.6% of training expenses that you generally only need with on-site training:
The software you need to offer remote employee training comes in a monthly, all-inclusive subscription package.
Any on-site classroom experience comes with many small expenses. But those expenses all add up. With on-site training, paper, stationery, and human labor costs are also higher. Even printing can add up to a shocking price tag, costing up to 3% of small businesses' annual revenues.
With remote employee training, no one needs to work out the logistics of getting everyone to a set location at a set time. Instead, they just use the hardware they already have, plus some inexpensive software. That’s all anyone needs for remote employee training.
Even printing can add up to a shocking price tag, costing up to 3% of small businesses' annual revenues
Flexibility
Remote employee training is in line with the modern remote workforce. More importantly, it also ensures that training is only minimally invasive on employees' busy schedules. With remote training, employees' schedules can become more flexible because they don’t need to commute. They can just stay at home and join remote training sessions when they and their trainers both have time.
Time-efficient
We’ve already covered this because time = money!
Remote employee training saves everyone time. There are many instances where a goldmine of time is saved without everyone even noticing it. Digital tools make creating course material and organization much faster and more repeatable. Think about the instructor’s role, which is streamlined with online training. Once their material is prepared and ready to start instructing, they can roll it out all the time.
Scalable
Due to all of the above reasons and the ease of onboarding new trainees, remote employee training is highly scalable. If your training needs are comprehensive and may require scaling, digital training strategies are your most adaptable option.
Environmentally friendly
This type of training also reduces the negative environmental effects that organizations incur with travel requirements.
Step-by-step guide and best practices: how to train an employee remotely
Remote employee training is about careful planning that enables precise execution. Once you’ve established a system that works, you have a repeatable, fully scalable process.
Set goals
First, you need to set SMART goals that are:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-sensitive
The goals of your training will serve as documentation not just for you but for trainees and their companies. Goals are centered around a well-defined and measurable set of desired outcomes. The first stage is determining what those qualitative goals are and quantifying them. Identify skill gaps and metrics that need to be filled or achieved by the end of the training:
Employee performance benchmarks.
Proficiencies in new skills.
Measurable demonstration of knowledge.
Also, take the time to consider the time and budget constraints that you face. For example, estimate what goals will be accomplished by certain lessons.
When you’re listing SMART goals, place as much emphasis as possible on the ‘S.’ Specific outcomes are easier to measure and are better for grounding your training plan. The 'T' should also be broken down into acceptable and realistic timeframes. Don’t focus too much on end results without setting as many smaller goals as possible.
Consider training formats
There’s more than one way to make an omelet. Remote training can also be conducted in several ways, and there are opportunities to mix training formats.
What makes sense for your trainees depends on:
The difficulty and focus required to achieve the desired outcomes.
Time and budget constraints.
Personal preferences.
Whether trainees are learning more hands-on skills vs. conceptual knowledge.
Effective remote training can be as formal as traditional on-site learning. But when the goals of your training courses don’t require anything too intensive, a more loose and hands-off approach may work. However, in more and more cases, online training takes on a more flexible format.
If you can reach trainees in person but don’t want to manage an entirely in-person course, you can also partially leverage remote training. For example, blended/hybrid learning enables you to blend some in-class training with online learning.
Establish expectations early
It’s best to start with an introduction or orientation session to set expectations. The plan for your first session should include a polite and encouraging but serious explanation of:
Commitments that trainees will be expected to make.
Session etiquette, such as Q&A guidelines and when to mute or unmute the microphone.
What to do if technical difficulties arise, like poor connectivity.
How to use remote training software features like ‘hand raising’ features.
Practices like closing other windows to maximize focus and bandwidth.
Digital learning material
Remote employee training material can be just as diverse as those used in an on-site location or even more diverse!
You can even offer multimodal training, and it often makes sense to leverage a mix of:
Video lectures.
Video demonstrations.
Presentations and demos.
Slide decks.
Downloadable worksheets.
Audio-based learning.
In-class activities.
Learning management software (LMS) makes it easy to deliver various file formats and engage with trainees in various ways.
Remote employee training material can be diverse, and creativity is actually encouraged. However, the purpose of these formats is to create an ideal system for remote learning. Carefully consider your trainees' needs, schedules, and attention. If you’re using the right tools, you can easily analyze the results, change your course materials, and offer trainees more engaging training that maximizes their retention.
Choose a digital learning platform
Manually creating and managing remote employee training at scale is time-consuming and logistically difficult. Choose a digital learning platform to reap the maximum benefits of remote training, with all the tools you need neatly organized in one interface. One option is an LMS.
A learning management system (LMS) provides a complete framework for remote employee training. You have the course management and authoring tools to create courses from scratch quickly. Making changes is also easy. It just takes a few clicks to change files inside your modules.
Online solutions like Easy LMS can be used to create well-organized, engaging courses. You can also use LMS reporting features to track progress and which course materials produce better final results. Our software gives you everything you need to organize, host, analyze, and optimize remote employee training.
Measure your success
To measure remote employee training success after launch, break down your analysis into:
Standard testing results.
Post-training surveys.
Post-training discussions.
Pre- and post-training questionnaires or tests.
Beyond the training phase, businesses will normally gauge the desired changes in their employees’ performances. The expectations will vary widely by industry and company, but managers will generally expect some noticeable:
Productivity improvement.
Increased return on investment (ROI).
Reduction in employees' human errors.
Some managers use more stringent models to gauge the value of any employee training. For example, the Phillips ROI Model applies a 5-step process to tie the capital invested into training programs to the rewards.
For now, consider the analysis features of any online course enabling technology you’re using or considering using. Discover which analyses best align with your regular training needs.
