5 Proven Benefits of Blended Learning in the Workplace
With more people than ever working from home at the moment, there has been a recent onus on employers to maintain the level of training and development for their staff through blended learning.
An approach centred around a combination of eLearning, mobile learning, classroom-based teaching and face-to-face instruction, blended learning is known to offer a number of benefits to employees – from increasing engagement to boosting morale.
In this article, we will be discussing a few more of these benefits in further detail, highlighting some of the critical reasons why blended learning can prove so beneficial within the Workplace.
1. Blended learning boosts confidence
Not all members of staff work – or retain information – in the same way.
While some people may enjoy learning in their own time using specific online resources, others may prefer having more face-to-face interaction when training themselves in a particular aspect of their role.
Using a blended approach will enable staff to identify which type of learning works best for them and allow them to work in ways that may be a little out of their comfort zone, helping improve their level of confidence.
2. Blended learning improves flexibility
Due to the online and cross-device nature involved with blended learning, this will enable staff to work more flexibly – something that is especially important in light of the ongoing pandemic.
Now more than ever, workers around the country are crying out for ways to balance their work and home lives, finding time to fit Zoom meetings in around the perils of home-schooling.
Blended learning allows this to happen, providing staff with various tools to utilise in their own time and allowing employers to manage remote teams of workers more effectively.
This, in turn, has a knock-on effect on staff's productivity and engagement levels since – as research has often proved – a flexible workforce equals a more productive workforce.
3. Blended learning encourages collaboration
Thanks to the mix of learning styles that the blended learning approach encompasses, this – in turn – encourages a more collaborative style of learning between employees.
Whether through interpersonal Zoom or Skype calls, eLearning or face-to-face worktop interactions, blended learning creates a dynamic environment that will encourage the design, discussion, delivery, and development of ideas.
Similarly, this way of learning will also ensure all the learners actively engage themselves within the experience, helping them better retain the information they are being taught about.
4. Blended learning boosts morale.
Trust is a big thing for employees. Nobody enjoys feeling like they are being micromanaged, after all, so the more you can do to loosen the reins, the better staff will feel.
Blended learning does precisely that, providing employees with a degree of choice and freedom to learn in their own way.
Implementing it at your Workplace will also demonstrate to your employees that you trust their way of working since you are ultimately allowing them to take charge of their development.
5. Blended learning works for all employees.
As we have mentioned already, employees often work in different ways to one another.
While it would be nice, unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” policy to teaching staff how to learn and develop – ultimately, it comes down to them and their specific way of learning.
As Albert Einstein once famously said: “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life feeling stupid.”
As such, blended learning provides an adaptable training platform that can meet the needs of a wide variety of employees, ensuring nobody is left feeling as stupid as any non-tree-climbing fish.
Final thoughts
The rise of technology has provided employers, employees and workplaces with a variety of tools to utilise when trying to improve performance.
Long gone are the days of needing to teach using the one-to-one or classroom-based methods.
While these may still have their merits, blended learning offers a much more effective way of ensuring learning and development budgets are put to good use in today's day and age.
So, if you aren't using blended learning at your workplace yet, ask yourself why not?
As the above benefits should now prove, you could be missing out on a more productive, better-engaged, and more cost-effective workforce as a result.
