Companies and organizations of all sizes have realized by now they need their employees to constantly develop their skills and be up-to-date with the latest industry trends. For that purpose, they need to provide their staff with training materials that are bound to keep them engaged.
Furthermore, those learning materials need to be created in a way to help everyone meet their goals and increase their overall productivity. This becomes even more important in light of the fact that employees often feel like they are underqualified for their job, which in turn affects overall levels of happiness in the workplace, according to a study released by Docebo, a global learning platform.
That said, the companies need to work on continuing education of their workforce, and are usually left with one of these two choices:
– They can create and develop online learning content in-house, or
– They can opt to hire one of the expert e-learning development companies.
The latter is usually preferred over the former due to a variety of reasons, most important being cost-effectiveness and the vendor’s ability to meet strict deadlines.
However, we’ve decided to go more in-depth and list all the reasons that go in favor of outsourcing e-learning development services.
Expertise
Companies and organizations that decide to outsource to e-learning vendors get access to teams consisting of highly-skilled professionals that are well-versed in Instructional Design and have substantial experience with e-Learning development software. Consequently, these e-learning experts are capable of providing cutting-edge online learning solutions that are both interactive and impactful.
Expert vendors are more likely to meet deadlines
E-learning pros are usually skilled and informed to such a degree that it’s more likely that they will get the job done in time. What is more, e-learning development vendors are used to working under pressure but not at the expense of quality. Last but not least, e- learning development companies are using smart and rapid authoring tools, which allows them to develop exceptional learning modules swiftly.
Content Quality
Despite the fact that vendors are often working under tight deadlines, they still manage to develop high-quality content that promises higher retention rates. This is paramount, especially considering the fact that attention spans are getting shorter and that learners have become more selective when it comes to types of content they’re willing to adopt.
Scalability
Compared to in-house e-learning development where companies can’t exactly scale the development the way they’d want it, outsourcing to a chosen vendor provides them with a chance to come up with flexible and scalable solutions. Moreover, in this scenario, companies and organizations dictate the speed at which they want to outsource online learning and then make arrangements with the vendor accordingly.
Despite everything that’s been mentioned, some business consultants will still argue for hiring an entire e-learning in-house department. However, it can be a double-edged sword because that hypothetical team may take years to get skilled in some aspects of e-learning that are particularly challenging, such as Instructional Design, for example.
Engagement and Productivity Increase
We’ve already mentioned that temporary e-courses are expected to be interactive and rely on the heavy use of multimedia. Opting for a reliable e-learning development provider can increase a company’s chance of obtaining e-learning solutions that will live up to these expectations. The years of working in the field guarantee that professional vendors will yield the learning materials that will resonate with learners. As a result, engagement and productivity rates will go through the ceiling.
Cost-Effectiveness
An organization or company can easily reduce their costs if they decide to hire an e-learning vendor because they won’t have recurring development expenses. Additionally, they can save a considerable amount of money on rather expensive authoring tools and licenses because these are already provided by the vendor.
Finally, outsourcing is far more affordable compared to hiring an entire in-house e-learning team where the company has to be ready to provide continual compensations and bonuses. In short, outsourcing e-learning development makes sure that companies get value for their money which also leads to higher ROI.
Working Across Different Time Zones Can Actually be a Plus
A vendor working in a different time zone can actually be beneficial. For instance, a company representative can send feedback to an e-learning engineer at the end of their workday. Chances are these suggestions will get implemented by the time they come back to work the next day.
Let’s face it – starting a new department in the company also means more tasks, obligations, and challenges, especially for an already busy HR division. Choosing an e-learning outsourcing company, on the other hand, will keep both the headcount and internal workload in the company lower.
All in all, outsourcing has proven to have multiple benefits for all sorts of companies because it allows them to provide first-rate solutions to their employees/learners. At the same time, e-learning providers are more likely to deliver high-quality yet cost-efficient modules in a timely manner that will positively affect learners’ engagement and efficiency.