Search the Internet and you will find more than 500 results for companies selling off-the-shelf eLearning courses with the sales pitch: buy our pre-packaged courses, plug them into your LMS, and benefit from the training. It may seem that you have a perfect solution for your eLearning requirements, but keep in mind that when it comes to learning and development, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for organizations. The better option is to have an eLearning course that is specifically designed to fit the requirement and structure of your business. Custom eLearning solutions have many benefits – not only are they cost and time-efficient, they also allow you to prioritize the areas and skills that need to be addressed in the context of your business without any compromise on the quality of the content.

So, if you want your employees to acquire specific behavioral changes or achieve knowledge that is unique to your organizational needs and requirements, you will need a bespoke eLearning solution.

In this post, we discuss the various advantages of custom eLearning solutions and how they can help to improve the productivity of your employees.

1. Focus on Your Target Audience

No two organizations are alike. Each organization has its own strengths & weaknesses and talent, which too, is unique in nature. So, if you take an off-the-shelf training product, you will almost certainly see gaps.  Therefore, when you consider trainings such as compliance, legal, accounting, onboarding, health and safety etc., a generic approach will do more harm than good. A better approach is to partner with a responsible eLearning content development company, who can conduct a target audience analysis and then design bespoke eLearning solutions for optimum results. The insights will certainly influence the course design and the results, once the course is executed.

Also Read: How to Create Online Course Modules for Employee Training

2. Achieve the Knowledge Transfer and Behavioural Changes You Want

It stands to reason that each individual, each department and each team has its own performance vision and set of goals and objectives. Once you are aware of any gaps in these goals and objectives, they become relatively easy to address in a bespoke eLearning solution.

Also Read: eLearning Localization – The Next Big Trend in Employee Training

3. Provide Performance Support

Custom eLearning solutions allow you to go beyond just training – you can create content that is engaging, interactive, fun and exciting and which your learners will be willing and motivated to pursue on their own and apply their new knowledge on the job. For instance, your custom eLearning solution can include ongoing performance support in the form of apps, video libraries, resource centres, how-to-guides and checklists that are designed to not only provide training but also, more importantly, provide information precisely at the time when they most need it.

4. Align Content with the Brand and Values

Another advantage of choosing bespoke eLearning solutions is that you can align your training courseware with your company’s values and branding. The design of your course content is equally important. Just as your custom content will engage your learners, an appealing design reflecting your color scheme and logo will achieve a greater connect. Added to this is the fact that by integrating your organizational branding and values to the courseware, you will get the perfect opportunity to reiterate what is most important to your company.

5. Improve Learning Efficiency

With off-the-shelf training courses, it is highly unlikely that you will get information that applies to your learners, except when the topic is generic in nature. The result is that the learning will be a waste of both time and resources and will impact your bottom-line. Bespoke eLearning solutions deliver exactly what your learners need to know, and so they are perfect for your employees.

6. Cost-effective Maintenance

Change is constant and this holds true for your eLearning courses. With technology advancing at a rapid rate, business processes and functions, too, are constantly evolving, implying that you would need to continuously update your eLearning courseware. Skilled instructional designers and course developers can design your custom eLearning content in a way that you have to put in minimum effort to make changes when they are required. In fact, most eLearning content development companies include minor changes in the purchase contract.

7. Conduct Targeted Assessments

Targeted assessments are beneficial to both the organization and the trainees. Your bespoke eLearning solution can include the tools for assessment, real-time feedback, tracking and analyzing live data, and reporting.  Assessments benefit the learners by allowing them to reinforce the information acquired, and specific feedback gives them an insight into how well they have completed a particular course or module. The course administrators can use the data insights to pinpoint pain areas and what topics need less or greater coverage.

8. Focused Training

Off-the-shelf courses are generalized in nature since they are created for a broader audience. Bespoke eLearning solutions, on the other hand, take into consideration both employee and organizational needs, which ensures a high level of quality and focus. Besides, they can also be designed in a format they are most comfortable with, while also incorporating new technology and learning methods such as blended learning, microlearning, social learning and collaborative learning.

9. Increased ROI

Last but not the least, custom eLearning solutions provide an increased ROI in the long term. The initial cost of investing in these solutions is definitely higher than the initial cost of purchasing off-the-shelf eLearning, but the long-term rewards are significantly higher. Employees who are well-trained are more likely to be loyal to the organization and use their new skills and knowledge to improve their productivity. Also, partnering with the right eLearning course development company can ensure that you receive an efficient process from start to finish and beyond.

In Conclusion

From the above discussion, it becomes obvious that off-the-shelf courses cannot support the unique business requirements of every organization. In fact, they can be a complete waste of time and resources if they are unable to fill the knowledge and skill gaps you need in order to remain competitive. Custom eLearning solutions, on the other hand, help to plug the existing gaps in your training and can be designed to provide a more relevant and engaging learning experience, resulting in better learning outcomes. As an organization, you also benefit from satisfied and loyal employees, and consequently, increased productivity. These courses are time-efficient and flexible, as you can focus on specific topics and also choose when and where your course will be delivered. They also provide a consistent learning experience, ensuring that each employee achieves the same degree of knowledge. Given the long-term benefits they provide, custom eLearning content is here to stay.

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