Manufacturing companies may be hesitant to jump on the eLearning bandwagon, thinking it’s an all-or-nothing proposition. Below, we offer a recommended approach that can help manufacturing companies determine how to adopt eLearning.
How to Best Leverage eLearning in the Manufacturing Industry
With the dawn of the new manufacturing era brought by Industry 4.0, this sector needs to focus on human capital now more than ever. As a growing millennial population prepares to enter the workforce and baby boomers near retirement, nearly 2.7 million jobs are expected to open globally in this sector. With baby boomers retiring just as the industry is expanding, the manufacturing sector will need to proactively improve its learning and development initiatives to build a skilled workforce.
According to research by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “new employees in the manufacturing industry will stay in a job for an average of only 4.6 years.” Clearly, training must be an ongoing process in the manufacturing segment.
While classroom training has been a staple in this sector for the last two decades, eLearning is making its mark due to the significant cost and time savings it offers. However, manufacturing companies still show some hesitation. It’s also important to note that certain aspects of training in the manufacturing ecosystem are best conducted in the classroom with a more hands-on approach.
Nonetheless, a significant portion of training can be conveniently achieved with eLearning. Here’s how manufacturing companies contemplating eLearning should proceed.
So, where should you start? Start small.
To identify where to start, companies should first assess the entire training landscape. The idea is to take a gradual approach so that eLearning can easily fit into the learning and development framework. Therefore, the first step would be to identify which training programs to conduct using eLearning and create an eLearning adoption schedule for the company with quantifiable milestones.
Once the appropriate eLearning courses have been selected, companies can move on to the next step. At this stage, companies may have a small user base subscribing to the available eLearning courses. These users access the course, evaluate, and assess their outcomes. The learning and development team should evaluate the development process and results. Organizations can assess microlearning at this stage, as these courses are easier to develop and implement. The benefit of starting small is that there are no associated CAPEX, infrastructure, or other overhead costs.
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Pilot test
At the end of a set period, around three months, the company can validate the usefulness and suitability of the eLearning modules and microlearning programs. It is essential to analyze user feedback, as it will indicate gaps in the module, what could be improved, and whether knowledge retention has been adequate with these modules. Evaluating the eLearning data is also a good way to identify areas for improvement. Once this is done, the company can then plan for a larger but still controlled implementation, for example, in one department or with a specific audience with prior experience. Once this is identified, the development activity for eLearning within the company would begin.
Controlled deployment
The timeline for a controlled deployment could be set at six months. By the end of the schedule, the implementation should be complete, and feedback collected, analyzed, and evaluated. At this stage, all changes to the models and learning content are made and executed, as well as adjustments to the target audience to achieve more impactful results. Once the controlled deployment is completed, the company can consider a development and implementation plan for eLearning for its adoption across the organization. This moment helps decide priority levels by assessing needs and initiating development for the highest priority.
High-priority implementation
At this stage, the development and implementation of eLearning solutions for the highest priority needs must be completed within the specified timeframe. Once this is done, the company should begin planning the development of courses for the next priority level and start the development work for them.
The feedback analysis from the high-priority deployment should also be completed at this time, changes should be made, the deployment of priority 2 should be finalized, and feedback from that should be collected, analyzed, and evaluated. The development and implementation of priorities 1 and 2 can be completed within a timeframe of 18 months.
Once these steps have been taken and the company has become familiar with how eLearning works, this practice can be implemented organization-wide, ensuring buy-in from all stakeholders. By adopting this systematic approach to eLearning adoption, manufacturing companies will have considered the needs of their users, have the right number of modules, and have identified the correct priorities for their learning and development initiatives.
This gradual approach also ensures that there is room for proactive corrections even midway, ultimately ensuring a solid program that helps employees learn and train more effectively. Since this approach follows all the checklist points, it is easier to gain organizational acceptance and provides a clear indication of how much to invest and when to do so. Consequently, adopting a systematic and organized approach translates into smoother adoption, yielding better learning outcomes and a greater return on investment.
If you want to establish your eLearning implementation strategy in your company, contact us and we will help you set up the entire process from the beginning.
