While in-person training is sometimes required, it often comes with high costs, logistical headaches, and lost productivity. The good news is that there are plenty of trainings that can be delivered online that will save your company time, money, and internal resources. For instance, if you run a warehouse or any business that requires the use of heavy equipment, OSHA forklift certification can be completed online in just one hour, reducing downtime.
But it’s not just for industrial operations. Online training is widely used in retail, food service, healthcare, and even tech, making it easier than ever to develop teams without draining your budget. If you haven’t done so yet, here are all the best reasons to replace pricey weekend training seminars with affordable, easy online modules employees can complete from anywhere.
- Slash travel and accommodation expenses
Whether you’re hosting a weekend training locally or flying your team out to a central location for off-site training, travel and accommodation costs aren’t cheap. Online learning slashes these expenses (and headaches) instantly.
- Eliminate travel logistics. With online training, there’s no need to find flights, book hotels, or calculate daily meal stipends for your team. Employees can take their respective training courses online from the comfort of their own home. You might still be required to pay for their time if they aren’t already on the clock, but you won’t have any travel, lodging, or meal expenses.
- No venue fees. There’s no need to rent conference halls or arrange catering. Online training can be run from your office or from each employee’s device.
By moving some of your training online, you can eliminate 100% of the associated travel costs.
- Consistent training
When you rely on in-person trainers, you have to trust that they’ll all train the same way while maintaining high standards for teaching safety and other industry regulations. If just one trainer deviates, you’ll end up with team members who don’t know they’re doing something wrong, and that can cause problems.
Online training creates consistency in your training program. Whether you create your own training or use a third-party company, all employees will get trained from a single source. The best part is you can update the content at any time when laws or regulations change without having to re-train your trainers.
- No instructor fees
Hiring people to train live requires paying daily, hourly, or weekly fees each time you hire someone new. With online training, your modules can be delivered over and over without incurring any extra fees. The training will be available 24/7, so your ability to train your team won’t be tied to anyone’s availability.
- Minimize downtime
Training online eliminates the need to pull employees off the floor, and that means no operational disruptions. You can have team members go through short modules during slow periods and avoid full-day disruptions. You’ll also avoid having to pay employees overtime to complete their training at home or putting extra staff members on the floor to cover roles.
- Increase retention rates
Long, lecture-style trainings often lead to glazed eyes and minimal knowledge retention. But when you break training into short, modular lessons, employees are more likely to stay engaged and retain what they learn. Increased retention means fewer mistakes and less need to retrain with the same material every few months.
When training actually sticks, performance and safety improve. Employees make fewer errors and there’s less downtime caused by preventable accidents and misunderstandings. Employees are also happier when they feel confident enough to do their job well, and retaining what they learn makes them feel capable.
- Reuse and scale
Once your training is online, it’s infinitely reusable and can be adapted easily without high costs. One training course will support every new hire, year after year, without the need for booking instructors or venues. This will free you up to scale your business while maintaining consistent training, no matter how many employees you hire.
Stop bleeding cash on outdated training
If you’re still sending your employees to off-site company trainings, or packing them into in-house conference rooms for all-day sessions, you’re draining your bank account and stifling your ability to grow. Online training delivers better ROI by eliminating travel costs, reducing downtime, and giving your team flexible access to high-quality instruction.
Every dollar you save on training can be reinvested in your business. In any industry, online training is scalable, efficient, and more cost-effective than hiring in-person trainers for everything.
