By: Sharon Laverick

An elearning program is most effective when staff are motivated and encouraged to use the opportunity to develop their skills.

My first experience with introducing elearning into an organisation was very interesting.  We built up an atmosphere of expectation in the organisation and soon everybody knew that something different and exciting that was going to be launched.  For a week, each morning before the staff arrived at work we put a little note on each of their desks.  Some of the notes were attached to sweets, for example, a box of Smarties with a note saying “Do you want to become a smartie” or a sucker with a note “Don’t be a sucker, you can do better”.  At the end of the week everyone was invited to a presentation and demonstration on the new elearning system and content.

The e-learning courses were aligned to each person’s job descriptions and key performance areas, or  KPAs.  They were asked to complete one of the courses within a week and again invited to a presentation were certificates of completion were handed out and small gifts (mostly chocolates) to anyone that completed more than one course.  A notice was also put on the company’s intranet site congratulating those who completed their courses.

At the end of each week a report was run to see who had logged on and if any more courses were completed.  Arrangements were made to have certificates handed out and notices of completion put on the intranet.  If someone had not logged on during that week an e-mail was sent out reminding them to do so.  Reports were also sent to the different line managers to keep them informed of the progress of staff.

The new e-learning system elicited a wide range of responses from staff:

• Some were very excited and did the courses that were allocated to them and more
• Some did only the minimum that was required of them
• Some did the courses but not the tests
• Some said that they were too busy and were not able to do any of the courses

Some ideas for encouraging staff to embrace elearning were:

• Aligning courses to job descriptions
• Linking courses to KPAs
• Holding monthly workshops for staff to discuss experiences and give feedback
• Selecting a staff member with expertise in a field to mentor staff
• Acknowledging efforts of staff by presenting certificates and announcing their success on the intranet 
• Emailing regular updates, reminders, and anything of interest relating to the e-learning courses

In conclusion, elearning can and does work. But introducing it needs to be part of a change management programme. The above are some of the ideas you can use – there are many more. Laragh Skills works with their clients to workshop the Factors for Success, and then help to tailor a Change management and marketing programme to suit the organization.