In many companies, due to the current situation, some employees had to be sent to short-time work or home office. To make good use of this time, experts recommend advancing training within one's own company. How this works, you will learn in the article.

Like many other companies, we are currently working from home. Unfortunately, some industries have been hit much harder, which is why many employees had to be sent to short-time work. Current forecasts indicate that there are over two million short-time workers in Germany, and 92% of companies are expecting a significant decline in revenue compared to the previous year.

Maybe there is currently less to do in your company as well, and you are wondering when your employees can finally return to their offices. Until then, you should make good use of this time for internal training.

Problem: In normal working life, HR developers rarely find time to enable comprehensive training for employees. According to the current report on continuing education behavior in Germany by the federal government, the participation rate in training measures is only 54%. This means that only half of all employees in companies participate in training. Often, this is due to internal organization: Many employers unfortunately offer little to no time for targeted training in everyday life – now this “extra time” is there by necessity, and it should definitely be used!

Conclusion: Those who invest in the training of their employees now are preparing them for the future and creating a competitive advantage through qualification!

Prepare your employees for the future and promote individual strengths.

Training not only enhances the individual skills of your employees, it is also an important tool for employee retention. This is especially important in the current situation, as daily interactions in the office have completely ceased in many companies. Moreover, you are using potential downtime in a particularly meaningful way. Of course, we are aware that some companies are facing many challenges in the current situation and may not be thinking directly about the development of their employees. Therefore, we want to give you this impulse to look positively towards the future.

But who pays for training during short-time work?

Of course, the cost factor is more relevant now than ever; after all, there is a reason for short-time work: reduced earnings due to the restrictions of the Corona crisis. However, we can reassure you: At the moment, there are many free training offers available from several providers, which you can find, for example, via the search function of the employment agency.

Your employees can also take the initiative themselves and request a state educational bonus. This bonus covers up to €500 of training costs.

Additionally, the federal government promotes relevant training for your employees. In some cases, costs are even fully covered! This way, you can also design individual training courses and make them available on an appropriate platform to effectively support your employees at home.

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Keep in mind that your courses do not have to be perfect. Use the content you might already have. Is there a PowerPoint you usually present to your employees? Then break it down into small sections and build your own little training course from it. To ensure your content meets your employees' needs, you should survey them beforehand. Are there problems or difficulties? Then try to address them purposefully.

Reading tip: Here you will find 5 quick ways to create learning content for online courses.

How can I implement training in the home office?

Currently, it is particularly important to act quickly – a lengthy preparation is often not possible. Since social distancing remains very important, you will have to refrain from in-person events and offer your training entirely digitally – for example, as blended or e-learning:

Blended Learning for Easy Entry

For an introduction to digital training, blended learning, the mix of online courses and in-person events, is ideal – this way, your employees feel well supported by you even at home. You can hold in-person courses digitally, for example via Zoom, thus hosting a live session in the digital space. Initial reports on blended learning with online presence show that this method allows for a good learning effect – with little effort for you, the trainers, and the participants.

Tip: If you want to know how to design the perfect blended learning, download our free guide “Blended Learning for Companies”.

Ready-made E-Learning Content for General Knowledge

There are already a variety of ready-made online courses (for example, from Google or digistore24) that you can use partially even for free. You can surely find some courses and exciting learning videos on essential content with which you can establish the basis of your training.

Tip: Think carefully about where your employees have weaknesses. For many programs like Excel, there are excellent online tutorials that explain tips and tricks to your employees in individual steps.

Individual Online Courses on Your Own Platform

For the individual needs of your employees, you should also create suitable learning content yourself. To make these as varied as possible, you should rely on various media – different types of content are best conveyed in different ways. Use texts, quizzes, or explanatory videos to ensure that your employees enjoy learning as well.

Tip: Filming videos is easier than you think. With our free “Video Guide”, you get a guide that supports you in this process.

Short-time work and home office therefore require creative and above all quick solutions. To motivate your employees during this time and prepare them well for the period after the crisis, you should immediately start conceptualizing your own small courses. Use the current time for yourself and your team and invest in the skills of your employees!

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