Why SMEs should take advantage of online learning for their staff

As an SME, your company needs to have smart, highly skilled teams working in the wings to make sure your business achieves everything it’s capable of.

But what if you can’t afford those people at the moment? What if the top talent is out of your reach, but you know you need skilled professionals alongside you to make it work? Upskilling your staff is the answer.

Find out the top ways that SMEs can take advantage of online learning and why it could be the perfect solution for your business.

Save money

One of the main ways that you can take advantage of online learning for your staff is the cost. The benefits of upskilling your staff are massive.

One main point is that it will increase your bottom line. There are lots of reasons for this. The obvious one is that you’ll have more skilled people working for you and the cost of upskilling a current employee is far less than finding a new hire. As an SME, you can take advantage of the saving when you train your staff with online learning.

Another major benefit is that your staff will be more motivated if you invest in their development and will produce better results. Ultimately the ROI of training up current staff is a lot better than hiring new employees, so online learning is a lot more cost-effective.

Access more effective learning

It’s all well and good sending your employees on leadership courses or training them up on your company values, but what about the hands-on technical skills that are essential to the job? It’s hard to find courses that teach your employees the things they actually need to know to make your SME a success. With a smaller business, often it’s unaffordable to keep people who don’t possess the necessary skills, so ensuring people have the right training is very important.

With online learning, your staff have that technical knowledge at their fingertips and will gain the ability to translate what they learn into workplace scenarios. The online courses we offer at Learning People stretch across several industries, so you’ll have access to the effective learning that your team need.

Build employee trust

Professional development matters to Generation Z. 91% of them say that professional training is an important factor when choosing an employer.

A great way to show that you care about their career trajectory at the company is to invest in your staff. Once you have this trust, and you’ve established that you’re all on the same team, this will help you grow your business with hardworking employees who are genuinely invested in the company.

Staff retention

As an SME, it’s important to keep the employees that you have so that they grow with the company. For lots of small businesses, the staff members shape the company culture at the start so it’s really important to hold onto those people who made the business what it is.

If you want to save money and keep your brand identity, then a great way to retain staff is by training them up. People want to stay in careers that are moving forward, so there’s no better way to keep your best people than invest in their training.

As an SME, you can really take advantage of the benefits of online learning for your staff. Employee satisfaction, increased bottom line and cost-efficiency all make online learning a no brainer. Whatever you want your staff to upskill in, learn more about your options today by speaking with our expert team.