When your employees want to develop new skills or contemplate other opportunities within your organization, do they have the learning support they need? It’s important that learners know what’s available and where to easily connect with it. In a perfect world, your learners are proactively investigating programs that can help them boost their careers and job skills. So the secret sauce of any learning strategy is to ensure that you cover all your bases and that you are offering a diverse selection of highly relevant courses.
For example, the need to train in remote team management has become a priority in the post-COVID environment. Many people managers are eager to hone their skills to give their remote teams the highest chance for success. Unlike standard compliance courses, some learning programs are highly valued by new and existing employees and you have the golden opportunity to provide these resources on demand through a comprehensive learning library.
If you’re in the process of deciding how to develop your own learning library, you may have questions about whether to outsource content or develop it internally. In this post we give you some insight into how to build an effective learning library and bring it into production.
Should You Build Custom Content Internally?
From a budgetary perspective, building your own content can be a costly and time-consuming endeavor. There is a higher risk that programs may not be completed depending on the level of complexity and creativity you’re trying to achieve. However, if you need to retain complete control over your learning resources, leaning on your internal subject matter experts (SMEs) is the way to go. For example, if you have specific requirements for sales training that can only be built successfully through internal SMEs, there is no substitute.
You may also favor the option to outsource your custom content to a creative learning agency. Together, you can build an exceptional program, while leveraging your SMEs and unique organizational requirements. Taking this route, there is a higher guarantee that programs will be delivered on time and on budget and meet your learning strategy needs.
A Learning Library as a Product
The alternative to both of these ideas is to simply purchase learning library content. A learning library is a database of eLearning courses that are SCORM-compliant and designed to be easily accessible on both web and mobile devices. The advantage is that there are many options available in the marketplace and they can simply be purchased and slotted into your existing learning management system (LMS). You should assume the learning library is SCORM-compliant, but this is something to determine before you move forward with this strategy.
Purchasing a learning library is a quick and easy way to fill gaps in your existing training content and programs. While you may not get the luxury of customizing your content to your particular specifications, you are guaranteed to have access to high-impact, pedagogically sound content developed by expert instructional designers. This can save you a great deal of time and reduce the struggle to get courses deployed quickly, while ensuring multimodal platform support.
A learning library can allow you to easily get coverage for a vast number of topics to reach more learners. With a comprehensive list of available courses, you can ensure a higher level of engagement with your employees who may be actively searching for the learning they need.
Stay on Top of Learning Trends
As we’ve seen during the COVID years, learning needs have evolved to accommodate the hybrid workplace. One of the advantages of a learning library is that you can have access to courses that address the learning objectives most in demand at any time. Because you’re connected to a community of learning specialists, you can be more flexible in what you can offer your employees. Need to matriculate more associates into managerial or leadership roles? It’ll be there in the library. Need to upskill leaders to support cultural transformation efforts, and drive diversity, equity, and inclusion in a virtual environment? Your learning vendor will have you covered with the content at the ready.
Your learning library vendor should be on top of these trends and have a track record of continuously adding new, relevant courses to their library offering. This way, you can ensure a long-term relationship with your vendor that will yield results for years to come.
Finding a Learning Library Vendor
There are many options out there. But as you know, successful learning engagement depends on the quality, relevance, and accessibility of content. Ideally, you want your learners to find real value in what they’re learning and even recommend courses to their peers. So when procuring a learning library vendor, it’s important to see examples of their course overviews and objectives to judge for yourself if the content is concise, clear, simple, and practical for your learning audience. It doesn’t take long to quickly assess a number of learning library vendors to understand if they can provide you with the specific content you need. You can find some key tips for learning what to ask in our helpful guide, “Choosing a Virtual Learning Library.” Consider this your cheat sheet for understanding the top 5 questions you need to ask your learning library vendor before purchasing.
Contact us to learn more about how CoreAxis can help you build your learning library and discover the breadth and depth of our course offerings. All courses have been developed by expert instructional designers to provide engaging and accessible eLearning experiences. As a creative content agency, we are continuously updating our course offerings to provide the latest, most relevant learning content your employees are looking for. Let’s get started!
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