The Reason I Never Pushed Online Learning On Operational Staff

"It is so convenient, you can do it at home, on the way to work or during the weekend sitting in your garden with a cup of coffee."

BOOM, that was when I suspected we were urged to complete corporate learning programs outside of working hours.

Managers picked up on this slogan quickly because it benefits them. They no longer have to manage training within working hours. I have witnessed many times them telling their staff, "You can do this at home or during your day off."

Job-related training, especially mandatory ones, must be completed within working hours, just like training on the job. There is no difference whatsoever. However, even when managers allow employees to complete online training during paid hours, the daily tasks are still left to be completed, often resulting in unpaid overtime.

This is a massive problem and one of the reasons people quickly flick through their online courses and aim for completion rather than learning.

Managers must change their mindset over the use of online courses and allocate dedicated learning time during working hours while arranging daily tasks so that it won't result in additional time.

Based on available data suggesting we actively work 50% of the total working hours, it is not a challenging task but rather the management of resources and the motivation to upskill and learn.

As an L&D professional, this is why I never pushed online learning on my staff (down the organisation) because I knew they would be asked to do them during their private time, and all we get out of it is a completion report. I am not interested in the completion report. I am interested in learning and fairness.

Knowing how the operation works on the ground changes how you operate at the corporate level. Unfortunately, the two are almost always disconnected.

Companies are quick to jump onto the work-life balance bandwagon whilst expecting their employees to train themselves during their private time. There is a little bit of a contradiction there, isn't it?

Some would argue, "Yes, if it is mandatory, it must be during working hours." But here is the thing, there are training courses that aren't mandatory but would allow employees to be better or more efficient in their jobs. Why would we not want that? Why would we not allow time for this?

Let's say you have a person in Finance who works with Excel. Wouldn't it make sense to allow that guy to learn how AI can help him with his Excel sheets or reports and generate them in 20 minutes instead of 5 hours?

I am just asking here the obvious, really.