Web delivered skills - 05/2001

New research indicates that companies are already embracing e-Iearning as a method of delivering training in critical management, business and professional skills.

The research was undertaken by Taylor Nelson Sofres on behalf of SkillSoft International -the leading e-Iearning global provider of critical business skills -and Saba -the leading global provider of learning and performance solutions. Respondents were HR directors and senior managers from 200 leading UK organisations across all private and public sectors.

A staggering 94% of respondents were aware of e-Iearning. Of this group, almost half (45%) have already implemented it, with an additional 39.5% planning to implement it by 2002.

The findings showed that respondents have already implemented e-Iearning in more than 20 critical skill areas, the most regularly cited being customer service (26%), operations (24%), quality management (23%), general management (22%) and leadership (20%). The only area ranked higher than customer service for e-Iearning implementation was IT (56%).

Of those organisations that have implemented e-Iearning, each one indicated that they have realised all the benefits they expected. In fact, almost without exception, organisations gained benefits over and above their original criteria. The top three realised benefits were -cost efficiency (62%); the ability to take learning to staff, regardless of location (49%) and a more effective approach to training (46%).

When asked whether they would use e-Iearning for specific soft skills training in the future, within every area more than half of the early adopters said yes. In some skills areas, such as operations, general management, IT and quality management, this rose to more than three-quarters.

www.skillsoft.com