How people work is constantly changing, thanks largely to technology, for better or worse. Anyone who has ever worked at an office knows that even the least techie job requires many technical skills.
Every business’s success lies in its employees’ abilities to execute their jobs effectively. That includes effectively using corporate technology confidently and with the proper knowledge rather than always fumbling around.
It’s essential to level up employees so they know how to use corporate technology. With the proper guidance and training, employees can level up how they do their jobs. Imagine the transformation as employees embrace effective training for company technology instead of user guides (user guides are horrible for IT training) and boring training sessions where technical trainers talk at you for an hour.
A corporate IT training provider must provide a tailored learning experience to bridge the gap between technical jargon and practical application for non-techie employees.
Finding the ideal corporate IT training provider for your next technology project isn’t easy. However, finding the best provider will help guide your organization toward excellence.
Employees won’t use company technology effectively without proper training.
As we meander through your options for selecting a partner that resonates with your vision, values, and aspirations, the significance of choosing the best corporate IT training provider becomes glaringly apparent.
You need to know a few things to choose the best option. It’s not just about the number of years of experience or even satisfied customers. The satisfied customers are often not the ones who matter the most (the business partners) but the employees who need to learn and do with training rather than simply know something new.
When choosing the best provider for your next corporate IT training project, you should analyze these things.
The Importance of Corporate IT Training
Before considering what to look for when choosing the best corporate IT training provider, it’s helpful to understand why training is essential in the first place. Can’t employees simply pick up the user guide and work out their questions on their own? Or better yet, can’t the knowledge just organically spread from employee to employee?
Good luck with all that. You’ll end up with ill-prepared employees who either do the wrong thing or revert to nontechnical methods that create inefficiencies because they don’t know what to do. Many bad things can happen if employees aren’t properly trained on corporate technology.
By investing in corporate IT training, organizations can empower their teams to embrace innovation, improve productivity, and drive business growth. Isn’t that why IT deploys new technology in the first place?
Without training, IT can throw as much technology as they want at employees, which will continue to be ineffective and waste more money. Without proper and effective training, IT projects are a waste of time.
Company innovations by the IT department will fall flat without proper training for employees.
Corporate IT training goes beyond simply teaching employees how to use specific software or tools. It provides them with the skills and processes that help them apply the technology to their jobs. In other words, they’ll see how to use it in their work with scenario-based learning and realistic software simulations.
Corporate IT training is essential for helping employees understand how to properly use the innovations from the IT department and fulfill the goal of improving business. The goal of IT is to serve the company and help it make more money, which can’t be done without quality training.
Now, for the important stuff: Here’s what to look for when choosing the best corporate IT training provider for your project. Not all providers are created equally; your needs will determine your best option.
So read on!
What To Look for When Choosing the Best Corporate IT Training Provider
The best corporate IT training provider isn’t the best for everyone, nor is it an actual thing. There’s the right option for you, but not the right option for everyone across the board. You’ll have to decide what provider will work well with your team. Sometimes, that comes down to a cultural fit only, while other times, more is needed.
These are some of the things you should look for. Employees will always play a big part in deciding the answer, so let’s start with what they need.
Evaluate Your Employee’s Training Needs
What your employees need is a great place to start. Before embarking on the journey of selecting a corporate IT training provider, evaluate your team’s training needs. Sometimes, this might involve determining if it’s even a training issue.
Believe it or not, training isn’t the solution for everything and won’t resolve all issues. Training is likely needed for new employees, but there’s a good chance it’s not for other problems. Training won’t solve a poorly created system that doesn’t do what employees need. It also won’t help a lack of motivation because the process is too complex in the time employees are given.
What employees need to do and what they’re receptive to will determine what type of training is needed.
You can likely hire an instructional design consultant to help you decide if training is the best solution. There’s a needs analysis for when training is the solution, but there’s also a project needs analysis. Is training needed?
Conducting a thorough assessment will help you tailor your training program to address these specific needs effectively. Job roles, current skill levels, and future business objectives are good things to consider.
This will ensure that you choose a corporate IT training provider who can deliver customized programs that meet your organization’s unique needs. Ensuring employees know proper technology security protocols will require something very different from learning the new company CRM.
What Will Employees Be Receptive To?
Not everyone loves online training. I know, weird, right?
While we specialize in digital training solutions, we’re realistic in knowing that they won’t fulfill the needs of all companies. Some simply aren’t set up to train employees online, and some companies don’t have the culture to embrace online training.
That’s when instructor-led or virtual instructor-led training may be the only option. While we don’t offer either of those for technical training, they can sometimes be the only option. We can help point you in the right direction either way.
If employees don’t like it then they’ll avoid it at all costs.
It’s vital to consider what type of learning experience will resonate with your employees. Creating a little bit of everything because of “learning styles” also isn’t a real or efficient solution. A little bit of everything isn’t a good solution; it’s just throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what will stick.
Understanding your employees’ preferences will help you select a provider that offers the most suitable delivery options for your employees and your project. The content will dictate the delivery method and content needs.
Sometimes, performance support will do; other times, a thorough custom eLearning course is best. And we can’t entirely discount the need for instructor-led sessions. Sometimes, those are useful for certain types of IT training, just not software.
On-site vs. Online
If all your employees are centrally located, on-site training might be an option. Otherwise, asynchronous or synchronous online training is almost a must. On-site training allows for face-to-face interaction with instructors and an excellent social environment.
Conversely, online training offers flexibility and convenience, allowing employees to learn at their own pace and from any location. It’s also significantly more affordable if the audience is large enough.
Both options have advantages, so it’s essential to consider your team’s specific needs and preferences. Depending on the nature of the skills being taught, some organizations may benefit from both on-site and online training.
Customized Or Off-The-Shelf Learning Solutions
Your project will determine what type of training is needed (or if it’s needed) in several different ways. It’s not just down to online vs. classroom vs. instructor-led. If your project doesn’t require a custom solution, then you’ll be looking for a corporate IT training provider that is very different from the one you need.
You likely don’t need a custom provider and can purchase something already made. But, more often than not, a blend of custom and off-the-shelf solutions would be needed. For instance, Microsoft Office likely doesn’t require completely custom training. However, some processes with MS Office are custom to your organization and would benefit from a custom training solution.
It’s not always necessary to build custom training, sometimes off-the-shelf training is sufficient.
You wouldn’t want a company that specializes in off-the-shelf IT training to try to create something custom. Those two types of training are very different, and that company likely won’t create the best solution.
Off-the-shelf training programs may not effectively address your organization’s specific needs. That’s why it’s important to determine this before choosing a good corporate IT training provider.
A reputable custom provider will work closely with you to understand your business objectives and design a program that aligns with them, while an off-the-shelf provider will not.
Review Success Stories and Case Studies
Has the company done the work you need before, or are they trying to get your business? Not all corporate IT training providers specialize in performance-based custom solutions.
It’s nice to understand the types of projects the provider has completed and ensure they align with your needs. Case studies are a helpful way to understand the types of projects they’ve worked on. Success stories are also nice, but take those with a grain of salt because you know you’re seeing cleverly picked success stories that don’t tell the whole story.
Gather all the insights you can into their expertise, specialty, corporate experience, and ability to deliver results. It’s always best to look for a performance-driven company that wants to help provide the best solution to help your employees perform the best.
Cost-Effectiveness and ROI
Any corporate IT training provider that’s not solely focused on performance and business goals will not deliver the right results. So, look for that focus because learning isn’t enough. Learning to perform a job better is the only thing that matters.
Cost shouldn’t be the sole determining factor when choosing a corporate IT training provider, but it has to be considered. Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of different providers by comparing their pricing structures against the value they offer.
Any costs based on hours should raise a red flag. You want results, not an arbitrary number such as the hours it takes. It’s easy to create garbage in 10 hours and charge very little (even while looking good to the customer), whereas doing quality work can take hundreds of hours. The cost for all types of training should be based on results/goals, not hours.
Wrap Up
Choosing the best corporate IT training provider is a critical decision that can significantly impact your IT department and organization’s success. Digital transformation can’t succeed without quality training.
You can make an informed choice by understanding the importance of corporate IT training, evaluating your project’s training needs, considering delivery options, exploring customization opportunities, reviewing success stories, and examining cost-effectiveness.
Empower your employees with the right IT training partner, and watch as their full potential is unlocked. Quality training that fits your project’s needs will drive your organization and employees toward excellence in the digital age.
Investing in the right corporate IT training provider is critical to IT project success. Schedule a free consultation if you’re looking for a specialist in custom corporate IT digital training solutions. We’ll work with you to create a performance-driven training program that helps employees use company technology more effectively.