As a training and development professional, you receive training requests from various departments to meet diverse business demands. You have a deadline to fulfill these requests and aim to make skill acquisition fast and efficient. But what works best, in-company or online training?
Making this kind of decision can be overwhelming – that’s when a pros and cons list can help. In this article, we bring the pros and cons of each modality to support you in making the best decision to engage the team in relevant and impactful training.
In-company Training Programs: Pros and Cons
In-company: Pros
Community feeling
The advent of pandemics spurred companies to undergo a profound transition toward remote work and training.
While individuals appreciate the enhanced quality of life and job satisfaction associated with remote work and study, humans inherently yearn for face-to-face connections and interactions and in-person interactions are related to better wellbeing.
In-person classes allow for immediate feedback and personalized attention. This can be beneficial for employees who thrive on interpersonal communication and need hands-on guidance.
Group activities that enhance connections and build networking are generally more productive in in-company training.
Clarify doubts and ask questions
During in-company training, face-to-face interactions offer more social cues, including facial expressions and vocal nuances, which can contribute to people feeling more at ease when asking questions and clarifying doubts about the content.
Reserved time to focus on learning
One frequent challenge in achieving corporate learning objectives is the difficulty of prioritizing upskilling amid the demands of daily work. In-company training provides individuals with a scheduled date and time specifically allocated for focused learning sessions, helping to overcome this obstacle.
A little break from computers
In-company training offers much-needed time away from computer screens, which can be a welcome relief for office workers.
In-company: Cons
Low schedule flexibility
While having a set time and day for learning is advantageous, in-company training frequently adhere to rigid schedules that may not accommodate employees’ busy workdays.
Rescheduling these sessions can be challenging and often needs significant advance notice. Moreover, if a participant misses a session, they have to wait until the next scheduled session to catch up, further complicating their learning journey.
Higher cost per learner
Hosting in-company training incurs significant costs, particularly when setting up numerous groups.
These costs are associated with renting or allocating facilities, hiring instructors, and managing logistics. These expenses can quickly add up, especially for large enterprises with extensive training needs. In an era where cost-effectiveness is paramount and training budget needs to be more strategically managed, investing in traditional in-company training sessions may not be the most prudent decision.
Doesn’t accommodate different learning paces and skills levels
In in-company training, it’s essential to group individuals based on their skill levels, such as basic, intermediate, and advanced for language training, for example. However, this approach may result in advanced learners not progressing to their full potential if the training content only covers basic concepts and doesn’t evolve.
Additionally, agile learners might feel demotivated by the slower pace dictated by the group’s learning trajectory.
Harder to offer tailored training
In in-company training, there are often constraints in customizing the content to match individual learning preferences, such as preferred media, or addressing the specific contexts of participants’ job roles and departments.
The one-size-fits-all approach to curriculum design and instruction can hinder learners from receiving the tailored support necessary for success. This lack of personalization has the potential to be less engaging and impede progress.
Doesn’t accommodate hybrid and remote workers
With a growing number of individuals working remotely or in hybrid positions, it becomes increasingly challenging and costly to arrange gatherings for group learning sessions.
Limited Resources and Expertise
In many cases, in-company language classes rely on a limited pool of resources and instructors who may not possess the specialized knowledge and teaching skills required to effectively facilitate language learning for work.
Limited number of people
In this format, incorporating new participants and adjusting group settings proves more challenging. Additionally, the requirement for physical space renders this format non-scalable.
Hard to track progression
When conducting in-company training through non-platform-based classes, tracking individual learner progress and overall program performance becomes significantly more challenging. Gathering, categorizing, and analyzing metrics to make informed decisions about training programs is not straightforward.
Online Training Programs: Pros and Cons
Online Training: Pros
Scalability
Delivering training via online platforms is the optimal choice for companies seeking scalability and reach. It facilitates rapid program expansion and enables efficient day-to-day management, including the seamless addition and removal of participants.
Flexibility
In an online training platform, learners typically enjoy the autonomy to schedule and reschedule sessions within a short time frame, resulting in higher attendance rates.
Faster to implement
With online training, the process of conducting an initial assessment, planning the goals and the number of participants, launching, communicating and tracking the program is easier and faster than the time it takes to form the groups to match skills levels and people’s availability.
Personalization
Online training platforms offer numerous opportunities for personalization. Leveraging AI, these platforms can be enriched with data such as the learner’s preferred media, areas for skill improvement, job role, department, and industry upon program initiation.
Comparing to in-company language training for example, this allows for tailored and targeted learning experiences that cater to individual needs and preferences.
Diverse media options
Online training employs a variety of media types to deliver training content, including video, audio, text, quizzes, and others, is an effective strategy for enhancing learner engagement and solidifying understanding of the topics.
Accommodates different work regimes and geographic locations
An increasing number of companies are adopting hybrid and remote work setups to provide greater flexibility and cater to individuals in various time zones. Online training seamlessly aligns with these arrangements, offering a convenient solution for accommodating diverse schedules and locations.
Data-driven program administration
Meeting the common need for L&D professionals to be more data-driven, online training allows for the setup of dashboards.
These dashboards offer fresh and relevant information to both professionals and leadership regarding progression and metrics. Consequently, it becomes easier to measure strategic metrics such as training return on investment (ROI).
More productive
Based on research conducted by the Brandon Hall Group, employees generally require 40 to 60 percent less time to learn a specific material through e-learning compared to traditional classroom settings.
With a training program delivered through an online platform, individuals no longer need to interrupt their work for extended periods and then disengage from training until the next session.
Online learning enables the segmentation of content into smaller doses, known as microlearning, and short sessions. This approach integrates the topic being studied more seamlessly into the learner’s daily life.
A study by IBM with companies using learning technology saw important improvements in productivity (14%), staff satisfaction and engagement (19%), customer satisfaction (17%) and reduction in time to competence (-12%).
Makes learning more accessible for people with disabilities
Ensuring training accessibility for all learners guarantees fair access to top-notch learning experiences irrespective of ability. By adhering to digital accessibility guidelines, online learning becomes more inclusive and accommodates workers with disabilities, a prevalent challenge faced by L&D professionals.
Online Training: Cons
Requires autonomy for self-learning
In in-company training, participants often dedicate consecutive hours to their learning, benefiting from the sense of accountability fostered by a community of peers (classmates) and guidance from a mentor (instructor). Conversely, online learning demands self-responsibility and autonomy from individuals to achieve their goals.
Impaired interactions
In online training, individuals may feel less comfortable engaging in interactions, asking questions, and participating in smaller group activities. While all of these are technically possible in an online setting, non-verbal forms of communication are compromised compared to in-person activities.
Tech related stuff
Several years after the pandemic, not only has technology improved to adapt, but people have also become better at participating in online training and meetings (who hasn’t spoken with their microphone muted, right?). However, online training can encounter more tech issues due to factors like connection quality, platform availability, and hardware problems.
Screen fatigue
Depending on their job role, individuals may spend extended hours working on the computer, and also time on their phones. Occasionally, learners may choose to use their after-work hours to take training courses, resulting in increased screen time and less time offline.
Tips to get the best of both worlds
- Deepen the project of planning training programs involving online platforms regarding personalization, tailoring content to individual learning preferences, job roles, and departmental needs. This ensures that learners receive relevant and engaging training experiences.
- Foster people’s desire to gather in groups and form communities by combining online training with occasional face-to-face meetings. Even with minimal frequency, these meetings are capable of forming important connections.
- Provide robust tech support to address any issues encountered during online training sessions. Additionally, ensure that online training materials are accessible to all learners, including those with disabilities.
Conclusion
In-company language classes have long been a standard feature in corporate learning and development programs. However, with the rapid advancement of technology and changes in workplace dynamics, it’s time to reconsider their effectiveness. While in-person classes may have once seemed like the go-to solution for language training, they now present more challenges than benefits.
By embracing digital solutions, businesses can empower their employees to learn at their own pace, from anywhere, and equip them with the language skills needed to excel in today’s globalized business world.
Ultimately, the choice between in-person and online classes should be based on careful consideration of the organization’s objectives, budget, and the preferences and learning styles of employees. In some cases, a blended approach that combines elements of both in-person and online instruction may provide the ideal solution, catering to diverse learning needs and maximizing the impact of the language program.
