Benefits of the Cloud for Employee Training

Last week, we published an article that discussed the positive impacts cloud computing has had on the field of education in an article titled Learning in the Clouds.  This article was specific to K-12 learning, but did you know that cloud computing also provides benefits for educators and trainers beyond the elementary and secondary levels?

Many organizations have a staff member or even entire department that is dedicated to employee education and training.  Newly hired employees almost always need some level of training – be it a simple company orientation or an entire training program designed for a specific role within the company – while veteran employees often require periodic courses to update or add to their current skill set.  So it is easy to see how managing employee training can be quite a task.  Thankfully, leveraging cloud technology can take a lot of burden off of the shoulders of employee training managers.

Security is one thing that is often talked about when the topic of cloud computing comes up.  In regards to employee training, cloud technology has advantages when it comes to security concerns.  Jason Silberman of Cloud Times sums up the security benefits of the cloud nicely: The problem with digital learning systems of the past was, they were too limited, because security demanded levels of access like any other network. The cloud however changes this. With the cloud, all data is remotely stored, processed and returned, and through this process, only information pertinent to a specific account (an account created with the as much ease as a Twitter or email account), so that everyone has the permissions they need, without the worry of these permissions making it easy to make damaging mistakes.

Flexibility is another huge advantage cloud technology provides employee trainers.  Arranging training for multiple employees can be a logistical nightmare.  Many organizations have multiple branches that may present various geographical challenges.  Add busy schedules and time zone variances to the mix and you can easily see how organizing group training sessions can be all but impossible.  Again, cloud technology steps in to save the day with its remote access features – gathering a group of trainees together from different states or continents, in different time zones has become as easy as opening a Web browser.  And as an added bonus, costs related to travel that might have otherwise been incurred are completely eliminated.

Engagement is the final benefit we find with training via cloud technology.   With cloud technology, gone are the days of the uninspiring PowerPoint presentation style training seminar.  Cloud computing gives us access to engaging and interactive training tools that encourage trainee involvement and collaboration.  With cloud technology, it is much easier to present employees with real world simulations and also track their level of understanding.  This allows for a much more effective “learning by doing” model as opposed to the archaic “learning by listening” model.

So if you are in charge of training employees, we encourage you to take a look at cloud computing and the benefits it can bring to your role as a trainer.  And if you enjoy learning about various cloud computing topics, we invited you to like The Vested Group’s Facebook page and follow The Vested Group on Twitter at @TheVestedGroup.  As always, we are here to serve all of your cloud computing needs with offices in Dallas, TX and Tampa, FL, so do not hesitate to contact us!