Norah Amboko

E-Learning Development: A Look at Its Benefits The fundamental message being sent out to contemporary business organizations is that they must align themselves with the market trends or risk getting out of business. Of course, the backbone of any businesses’ success is in its ability to constantly adopt, satisfy customers and go with the trends in the market. To achieve this, constant training of employees to keep them updated with the current business practices is of essence. The conventional methods of training largely entailed the use of report generation, book reading, evaluation of sheets, assignments among others. All these were done manually and somewhat cumbersome as individuals had to maintain huge amounts of assignments. The advent of the internet and evolution of online learning has somewhat breathed a new lease of life in the way individuals and by extension employees undergo refresher courses and training. The conventional methods of learning have now been digitized hence making learning not only fun but also cost effective and efficient. The use of tablets, PC, laptops and other electronic devices has without a doubt made E-learning a reality. The aforementioned remote tools have been found to be quite instrumental especially when it comes to training both in-house and remotely located employees simultaneously. E-learning development courses and resources have gifted many managers with the opportunity to easily orient new employees, and train existing employees while using a variety of innovative, modern and interactive solutions designed to equip employees with the best possible education. These resources equip employees with the much needed knowledge and training to enhance their performance and therefore improve efficiency and performance in the organization. To drive our point home, it’s imperative that we look at the myriad benefits of E-learning development. Considering the fact that E-learning can be effectively used to help new employees familiarize themselves with company rules and regulations or help existing employees learn the much needed skills, its importance cannot be underscored. So what are some of the benefits of E-learning development? Convenience is without a doubt one of the best advantages of utilizing E-learning resources. The fact that E-learning resources can be accessed remotely means that your employees can access the training remotely hence don’t have to fit a seminar into their schedules. What this means is that if an organization has employees located in various geographical locations, E-learning is a great way to have them learn of various skills and new business practices. Interaction is another aspect that makes E-learning development beneficial. E-learning training courses are considered a valuable tool as they enable employees or individuals to interact through the use of 3D environments, video games and audio clips. This serves to create conducive interactive environment making the whole learning process fun. The third benefit is that E-learning development enables a company to effectively track the progress of its employees during the training program. The report and analysis tool offered by many E-learning programs makes it easy to track the progress of employees. Of course, cost is another benefit of E-learning development. The program is cost effective, customized to suit the needs of a given organization and is designed to bring about the best results. If you are looking to enhance your employees output, efficiency and performance, E-learning might be all that you need to achieve your organizational objectives. Factors to Consider Before Settling For Leadership Development Services The ability to lead and the ability to manage are two different things. The problems that afflict organizations, multinational companies and even governments today is purely and squarely a problem of leadership. Governments and even companies undergo some sort of crisis because the individuals at the helm are not leaders but simply managers. This situation perhaps is the reason why there has been an increasing demand in leadership development programs. People are no longer comfortable with someone who can manage, but want an individual who can demonstrate leadership in times of crisis. The true mettle of a leader is determined not in how well he fairs during good times but in his ability to effectively deal with a crisis. That having been said, it’s imperative that we realize that not all of us are natural leaders. An individual like the late Martin Luther King had the rare natural gift of leadership. A man who thrived in crises and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. In as much as most of us are not born leaders, we can learn and develop leadership qualities, understand how to deal with problems, offer solutions and show direction in difficult situations. This is primarily the reason why leadership development services have become highly sought globally. Leadership development services basically refer to leadership training programs offered by individuals or companies with the sole objective of equipping individuals from different walks of life with leadership qualities. It’s all about empowering individuals to understand what leadership is all about, enhance their grasp of the concept of leadership and equip them with essential skills to lead and show direction. However, it’s germane that a person considers a number of things before settling for an individual or a company that offers leadership development services. What are some of the things that someone should look out for? If you are looking for a motivational leadership speaker, then you will agree with me that experience and professionalism is of great importance. You need to find out how long he has been nurturing leadership qualities, what are his/her success stories, what model of leadership he utilizes and so on and so forth. If it’s a company offering leadership development services, be more concerned on the experience of the motivational speaker rather than the company’s experience. This is because the number of seminars a company has held does not necessarily reflect on the experience of a motivational speaker. Most likely, the motivational speaker in question could simply have been contracted by the company recently and therefore might not be qualified enough. You also need to look at what drives the company that offers leadership development services. Is the company or individual in question simply interested in making money or is he a person who is committed towards getting results? You should settle for an individual or company that is passionate about developing leadership qualities and adding value to a person’s development. Look at a company’s reputation, analyze critically its success story, the models of leadership training it adopts, how it goes about it and above all, its success stories. You definitely do not want to contract a quack to come train your employees. As such, the aforementioned play an important role in management leadership training and equipping of the right leadership qualities. The Essence of Team Building Workshops In recent years, team building has steadily been incorporated into the corporate culture of many organizations. The need to achieve efficiency, improve performance, form cohesive units and achieve a competitive edge has seen many organizations incorporating team building in their culture. Be it a small business or large multinational, the fundamental benefits of team building cannot be overlooked. We are not only looking at the numerous and wondrous benefits a company enjoys from team building but also the bonding it accords employees. We cannot understand what team building is all about if we don’t understand what a team is. A team entails or comprises of a diverse group of individuals whose sole objective is to accomplish a given task. Basically, all members of the team are synchronized to deliver personal tasks from their end. The upward to building successful and high performing teams within an organization is that it serves to positively impact the fortunes of an organization, the well being of the employees as well as the feelings of customers towards an organization. In order to achieve success with a team, it’s germane that proper objectives are set and each member understands what’s expected of them. Of course, if you have cases of group conflicts, demotivation and poor performance in your organization, it’s about time you introduced team building activities in your organization. Team building workshops are tasked with equipping members of a given team with the right skills to co-exist, improve their efficiency and understand the importance of working as a team. These workshops combine development, planning, communications, team building and training to bring out the best in a team. It’s all about making employees find renewed sense of motivation and purpose to achieve not only their set objectives but also the objectives of the organization. Team building workshops aim to enable employees participate in various activities designed to empower, enhance cohesiveness and achievement of a given task. To put into perspective, workshops have been found to be quite effective in the management of change, achievement of improvement in the team (as well as personally) and creation of initiatives meant to help participants achieve certain objectives. To break it down, team building workshops have been found to be instrumental in: Breaking down barriers Improving communications inside departments as well as outside Integrating staffs after a merger or acquisition Customer relations management Achievement of higher performance Workshops focus on key areas of an individual vis-à-vis the interests and objectives of an organization. They are basically designed to streamline any differences existing in an organization, find workable solutions, useful in minimizing group conflicts at work place, helping employees be motivated and above all attain high levels of performance. Team building workshops are a solution to organizations where employees are dysfunctional and don’t work as a unit. It’s the perfect remedy for an organization whose employees lack motivation, instrumental in not only strengthening employee relations but also customer relations and plays a pivotal role in helping employees understand what their roles are and what is expected of them. Essentially, workshops tend to help an employee ask themselves where they are at the moment, where they want to be as well as how to get there. Why Personality Assessment for Organizations Is Important When seeking to hire a new employee, many human resource managers find themselves grappling with a number of questions. Is the person we are about to hire suited for the job? Is she able to work independently under minimum supervision? Does his personality augur with our corporate objectives and expectations? Every organization seeks to find the right employee that will not only add value but also become an asset in the long run. The desire to have only the best has led to the popularity of the use of personality assessment tests in the organization. These tests are specifically carried out with the objective of determining whether a person’s personality is suitable for a given organization. The very essence of personality assessment for organizations is to help employers weed out individuals who might be deemed to be troublemakers or have uncouth behaviors that might upset an organizations customers. Personality assessments are also used to help an organization establish where an employee best fits in the organizational setting. While there are people who are completely against personal assessment tests, it’s instructive to note that most organizations undertake them as a way of ensuring that an employee delivers the most in his work station. Basically, most organizations use this test to match employees to their individual strengths, to help in the improvement of communications, relations and formulation of various training activities. Its instrumental in helping an organization come up with the right training model designed to ensure that an employee gives 100% output. The general consensus or rationale is that personal assessment for organizations tests help such entities understand the behavior of an employee and thereby serves to reduce conflict in the place of work. If a supervisor understands how an employee is, then that serves to enhance harmony in the place of work. It’s important to note that the personality of an individual goes a long way in impacting the general success of an individual. Having the skills, the experience or the motivation to perform and failing to harmoniously co-exist with colleagues might hamper an organizations quest to achieve its objectives. If you are temperamental, hates working with others, then it means that you are going to jeopardize team efforts. On the other hand, if you go along well with others, can work as a unit in the achievement of an organizations objective, then it means you are more of an asset to an organization. The personality of an individual plays an important role in how such an individual can handle a crisis as well as motivate others if he/she is in a leadership position. In a team situation, if a person has a personality that makes it difficult for him to work with others, the success or development of an organization suffers a beating. Consequently, if a manager’s personality hinders him from adequately motivating his juniors, the result is that productivity and service quality takes a nose dive. In this regard, we cannot overlook the essence of personality assessment for organizations as it serves to ensure that organizations get the right people who can fit in their organizational setting. Why Should Managers Go For Management Leadership Training? Word has it that if you can’t tell the difference between a leader and a manager, you are by all means a manager. Transformation of a manager to a leader is a long and delicate process. Most people think that because they manage books of accounts or inventory they are fit to be leaders. This is a fallacy that is not only frivolous but also scandalous in every aspect. There is indeed a great difference between managing inventory and managing people. The skills needed to manage a team or people are quite different from those needed to manage books of accounts or inventory. Training in leadership takes a different approach as compared to training in management. Dealing with people and leading them is a whole different ball game altogether. Who is an effective manager? Who is an effective leader? Does management leadership training all that’s needed to turn around the fortunes of a business? Why do managers fail? The truth of the matter is that managers tend to manage things and people at the same time. This is where they get it wrong. If the age old business saying is anything to go buy, you can only manage things but when it comes to people, you lead them. Management leadership training is aimed at equipping individuals with proper knowledge on how they can transform themselves from mere managers to leaders. A combination of these two goes a long way in ensuring not only success but also progress of a business. Let’s face it. Managers need proper training in leadership to be able to effectively manage aspects of a business as well as lead people. The reason many businesses fail is because people confuse business management with leadership. Most people are thrust into management and have no idea of what it means to lead, to inspire people in the organization and to make them attain their highest performance. Leadership abilities differ greatly from managerial functions. Leadership is all about showing directions, inspiring those who are your subordinates and providing solutions in times of crisis. It’s more or less about getting results through people. Management leadership training serves to equip managers with the right skills, qualities and knowledge to both manage and lead effectively. What normally happens is that when a manager fails to get the much needed results through people, he/she tends to do the work themselves hence initiating a cycle of subsidization. The domino effect is that productivity goes down as subsidizing trickles down to low levels of management. Breaking this cycle requires that an individual takes part in executive leadership training. Such training equips a manager with the ability to effectively lead while achieving organizational objectives. It equips a manager with the qualities required to become a leader, makes him understand that there is a difference between management and leadership and learn vital lessons on leadership. Through management leadership training, managers get to learn vital and important skills of decision making, goal setting, communication, motivation, delegation and problem solving. They get to learn that people are not objects and that success in an organization is pegged on the relationship you form with people. They learn interpersonal skills, how to respond in terms of crisis as well as how to demonstrate leadership.