The pandemic is changing continuing education worldwide. Companies of all sizes are switching their training offerings to online formats. But what happens after Corona? A study by the Training Institute TLM shows current trends. Our spoiler in advance: both online and in-person offerings will be important for employee education in the future.
Background of the TLM Study
Perhaps you are already familiar with the training institute "Team Lösungsmanagement" (TLM) from this interview: Successfully navigating through the crisis with 100 online courses. Now, TLM has conducted a survey among its customers to investigate the effects of Corona on employee education. And the results are exciting for trainers, coaches, and HR developers!
More than 100 companies were surveyed: all are TLM customers, ranging from international and German corporations to SMEs. We have summarized the results of the survey for you in this article. One focus is on education during the pandemic, and another focus is on the future of continuing education. The central question is: What happens for companies after Corona?
Empty offices: Continuing education is often conducted online during the pandemic.
Results: Education During Corona
What does continuing education look like in the surveyed companies during the pandemic? In the TLM study, we see both the effects on the education itself and the effects on the mood in the company:
Effects on Education in Companies
Training offerings need to be reduced (45% agreement)
Training is conducted exclusively online (80% agreement)
Training is currently perceived as particularly valuable (70% agreement)
Effects on the Mood in Companies
Cultural changes are noticeable (44% agreement)
The group feeling has worsened (27% agreement)
Stressed in the home office: Corona negatively affects the mood.
New Topics: Content-related Corona Effects on Continuing Education
The demand for training is also changing content-wise during the pandemic. Popular training offerings among companies currently relate to working from home or applying soft skills online:
Leading from the home office (70% agreement)
Efficient collaboration in the home office (70% agreement)
Confident moderation of online meetings (70% agreement)
Conducting employee conversations online (50% agreement)
Time and self-management (32% agreement)
Train the Trainer (29% agreement)
Results: Continuing Education After Corona
The pandemic will not last forever; processes will normalize – whatever that means! Because it is foreseeable that continuing education will change in the long term due to the significant cuts. But don't worry: change does not automatically mean a negative change. The results of the study are hopeful – most companies are increasingly seeing the benefits of online formats and want to combine online and in-person in the future.
This combination of in-person + online is called blended learning. Since TLM also considers blended learning to be an important form of learning, we explicitly find a question in the study regarding: What is the stance of companies towards blended learning?
58% of the surveyed companies are already implementing blended learning. 41% are not yet training in the form of blended learning but find the concept interesting. Only one surveyed company stated that it could not imagine using blended learning.
This trend towards blended learning is already shown by other studies, such as the Trendmonitor 2021 or a survey by seminarmarkt. Thus, the results from TLM are not surprising and underscore our credo: The future of continuing education is blended learning!
Blended learning from A to Z: Practical examples, applications, and much more can be found on our comprehensive information page about blended learning!
Conclusion: How the Pandemic Changes Continuing Education
The small study by TLM has shown that the pandemic changes employee education both in the short term and long term. The mood is often worse in many companies than before. At the same time, positive trends for the future are noticeable. The key results of the survey are summarized here once again:
Some training offerings have been reduced due to the pandemic.
The vast majority of surveyed companies are currently conducting training online.
Content-wise, many companies currently desire training focused on soft skills for remote work.
In the long term, both online and in-person formats will be important.
What is your strategy for continuing education during – and after – Corona? Our recommendation continues to be: blended learning – combine the best of both worlds!
Free Guide
Blended Learning for Companies
Discover now in the free guide how to develop a process for blended learning for your company! With many expert tips from practice.
To the company guide for blended learning
Do you have questions about blink.it or this article?
Please feel free to write to us if you have questions about the product or specifically about this article. Our marketing team is available via email or will forward your request to a suitable Blinkie 😊
