The employee training process has been significantly impacted by the evolution of technologies designed to streamline, automate and improve access to valuable resources for all organizations.

Unsurprisingly, there are still courses which are predominantly led by human instructors, and so for some companies there will be a crucial choice to make; do you pick a tech-focused path forward, or stick with more traditional training methods?

To help you come to a decision, here’s an overview of the main talking points, positive and negative, for both paths.

Customization and adaptability

Plenty of businesses require entirely bespoke training solutions to be put together so that team members can gain valuable insights and instructions on how to fulfill their specific role effectively.

You might assume that in this context, an instructor-led approach would be most flexible and adaptable. While it is certainly true that human training specialists can meet expectations in this regard, modern sales training software is at least as capable, if not more so.

For example, you might find it easiest to create video content to share with team members as part of training, rather than requiring an instructor to be physically present each time. In this case, cutting edge software can be used to quickly implement this type of content, and even include interactive elements, without leaving you with steep costs to encompass.

Portability

One of the biggest advantages of a technology-based training method is that it doesn’t have to be limited to a single location. In fact, ideally, it will be completely portable, so that team members can leverage it whether they are on-site, on the move, out in the field or even working remotely.

Hand in hand with this portability goes the process of making training content snackable. Rather than requiring employees to sit through seminars that last hours on end, software opens up access to exactly the right type of resources on the fly. So for speedy instructions on how to address specific challenges, this is clearly in the lead.

Analytics & reporting

Training employees is half the battle, as you will then need to follow up and make sure that the lessons presented to them as part of this process are being applied and followed in real working scenarios, and in turn delivering the results you expected.

Instructor-led sessions have the undeniable ability to allow for feedback on individual employee performance after the training has been completed. However, it is not possible for practitioners in this area to deliver the same after-action reporting once a team member is actually back at their desks.

Training tech goes some way to addressing this by integration reporting and analytics that feeds performance data back in and lets you tally training results with what comes after. Thus there is less ambiguity over the effectiveness of the training, or indeed the ability of the individual to absorb it when real-world encounters are on the cards.

Engagement

This is one of the trickier aspects to assess, because people learn and absorb information in different ways. Some people will be more engaged by training sessions which use a human instructor. Others will be better equipped to thrive in a tech-based environment.

There’s also the fact that there are certain types of training that simply cannot be completed using technology alone, because physical interactions with a flesh and blood human being are part of the process.

More often than not a hybrid approach works best, so combining instructors and training software is advisable, rather than going all in on just one type of solution.

Michael Dunlop is the Chief Operating Officer of Paradigm Digital Ltd and has extensive experience in business consultancy services.

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