eLearning can boost business goals

Sep 06, 2005: Organisations can avoid the pitfalls of eLearning and use it instead to drive business growth for the future, according to information management experts that believe it is important to approach this strategy in the correct manner.

Rolph Sohner, the manager of Learning Services at iFocus, which specialises in information management consultancy, said that poor eLearning implementations without proper research could run the risk of alienating the users and diminishing business performance.

"It is vital to understand why an eLearning solution is required. Who needs to be educated and why? How will it improve our business? Being motivated to reduce training costs alone is not enough, and can potentially damage business performance."

"Aligning eLearning to your business goals should lead to a sustainable programme that drives future business growth."

But Sohner also warns that user support will make or break an eLearning project and organisations that are complacent about their users may be in for a nasty shock.

"Users are complex and variable. An organisation may know their users well, but have no idea how they will actually interact with an eLearning solution.

"Running usability trials, pilot programmes and encouraging user feedback will help guide an organisation to the right solution. Remember that your users are also key stakeholders."

Sohner recommends that stakeholders should be involved right from the beginning to ensure that there is understanding across different departments.

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