Making learning a reality – that is the motto of Corporate Learning & Change GmbH. The Stuttgart-based company supports its customers and their employees in acquiring new skills with the help of the blink.it platform. The goal: Learn more focused and faster than competitors. In our interview, we asked L&D expert Thomas Possler: How does learning become a success factor?
Learning becomes an advantage over competitors – I have never heard it put that way before. Isn't it usually strategy, budget framework, and product quality that determine a company's success? The latest blink.it Use Case clearly shows: It is the quality of further education that helps position companies at the top.
Corporate Learning & Change GmbH (CLC for short) wants to pass this approach on to customers. That is why we asked the company itself and, in a short interview with Thomas Possler (Learning Consultant at CLC), found out how successful further training works and what requirements should ideally be met for this.
CLC: Learning means change
About the person: Thomas Possler has been a Learning Consultant at CLC for over 4 years. Together with the long-standing practical partner blink.it, the company implements projects for both internal knowledge transfer and external clients. The blink.it platform is used for both use cases – for internal knowledge management (e.g. with screencasts) as well as for client projects.
For instance, the company has online courses on the blink.it platform with up to 200 participants, in which employees are enabled to seize new opportunities. Through further education, the e-learning expert aims for change – with the result that participants transform this change into an innovative edge for their company.
Learning becomes a competitive advantage
Now the question arises: How can learning become a competitive advantage and what framework conditions should be created for this? To answer this question, Thomas Possler gave us insights into the philosophy at CLC. Based on these insights, we have summarized three key tips for you: This is how you create the ideal conditions for promising further training in your company!
1. Provide an e-learning platform
With the right e-learning platform, you make it easier for your employees to share knowledge – both formally and informally. This is because employees can capture new knowledge via the platform and make it available to the entire team.
“We always talk about mindset, skillset & toolset here. Of course, employees and the organization need certain tools and learning content to learn. But that's not all. Because the respective mindset and openness to new things play an equally important role.” – Thomas Possler
Therefore, additionally create a learning culture in a company that motivates employees to successfully complete further training!
2. Introduce the right learning culture in your company
The right learning culture exists in your company when you
… know the needs of your learners.
… enable learning when employees need the corresponding content.
… recognize that real cultural change extends from the individual employee to the management level.
3. Set fixed time blocks for e-learning
If you introduce fixed blocks in the calendar for e-learning, further training will become an established part of daily professional life!
“I very often experience that participants in projects or tasks don't really move forward because they don't have the active time, and if they do, it gets eaten up by day-to-day business. That's why we arrange certain times that you should block off to have time for your own development.” – Thomas Possler
You see: Learning can become a competitive advantage in your company too! To ensure that knowledge is also stored in the long term, your e-learning offer should not only contain theoretical basics but also establish connections to practice.
“Almost every one of our courses includes practical projects so that the participants can also implement the things and have something in hand later (e.g. a concept or guide). With typical digital learning formats, something like that is not possible. Therefore, we rely on blended learning, or a mixture of self-learning formats, practice, exchange, and informal offerings.” – Thomas Possler
With the online course “Voice-Up”, CLC enables other companies and individuals to use their voice more assertively in everyday situations. // Source: CLC
Find the right learning platform for your company!
You want to create a learning culture that contributes to business success – but you actually lack the time to deal with further training even more intensively?
The key advantage with blink.it: The platform is designed so simply and intuitively that you, as a course creator, can get started right away – without having to spend a lot of time figuring out how to use the platform.
“I worked with other learning platforms before, but realized back at university that many people didn't really use these systems. At least back then, they were very complicated and slow. The consequence was that many looked for their own ways to put their materials online. When blink.it came along, it met my needs professionally as well.” – Thomas Possler
The online course specifically for trainers teaches the basics of designing an online seminar // Source: CLC
But in particular, the simple operation of the platform is crucial for CLC Learning Consultant Thomas Possler: "The operation was immediately self-explanatory and intuitive for me as a user and administrator. My participants also get to grips with the operation quickly because the usability presents hardly any hurdles. Furthermore, we don't need an IT department to look after stability, etc. If I do have problems, Lisa from blink.it or other colleagues from the crew usually reply and help me as quickly as possible to solve the problems – even if I accidentally caused them myself.“
The Use Case clearly shows: With the right learning culture, practice-oriented content, and a simple learning platform, you design further training in your company sustainably and effectively. Employees can use this knowledge edge to drive innovation within the company. This is how further training can become a success factor in your company as well.
