Good personnel development (PD) is a prerequisite for the survival of companies. PD measures such as change processes, onboarding measures, and product training are becoming "long-running favorites." Personnel development through e-learning is the way for companies to master the requirements of our time and secure long-term corporate success.

Only through effective change management, needs-oriented product training, and systematic onboarding can hurdles such as globalization, acceleration, demographic change, increasing product and process complexity, environmental regulations, and labor market changes be successfully overcome. HR professionals are the planners and managers of all these processes.

By using e-learning, you can achieve the following for your company:

• rapid adaptation to new conditions to secure competitive advantages!
• rapid adaptation to changing customer requirements to secure market shares!
• rapid adaptation and use of new technologies to secure profit margins!

Why personnel development?

PD is used, among other things, for:

• Vocational training
• Mentoring
• Further education/product launches
• Outsourcing
• Onboarding measures
• Company succession

Definition of personnel development:

"Personnel development (PD) encompasses the professional introductory, in-service, and workplace-related training and further education of employees tailored to the needs and requirements of the organization, as well as the derivation of suitable measures and strategies from corporate objectives aimed at qualifying human resources. Aspects of organizational development and the needs of the various stakeholders in the company (e.g., career starters, skilled workers, high-potentials) must be taken into account. PD is a sub-area of personnel management within business administration (...) with the goal of enabling people, teams, and organizations to successfully and efficiently master their tasks in operational work systems and to face new challenges with self-confidence and motivation." (See Wikipedia)

The economy, the working world, and society are changing at a rapid pace. These changes lead to the reorganization of work and organizational concepts. Work areas and tasks are increasingly placing interdisciplinary qualification requirements on employees. The skills and knowledge acquired in school, vocational training, or university are no longer sufficient to meet these requirements in the long term.

When hiring into a company and during employment, HR professionals are in the driver's seat. For them, it means: actively accompanying change processes and motivating process changes, conducting product training flexibly, and thoroughly onboarding new employees. Only through these measures can the increasing requirements for quality, safety, and environmental compatibility of products and services be mastered, and the national and international competitiveness of the company be secured.

Only e-learning can do this

Technological, economic, social, and political changes are taking place at shorter and shorter intervals. What companies need in these contexts is further education that keeps pace. People must be adapted to the changed conditions in the company, the industry, and the market through rapid, short-term adaptation of qualifications. Only e-learning can meet the complexity of these requirements:

As "just-in-time" training, e-learning replaces "learning for the future." It fulfills the demand for modern further education to "learn anywhere, at any time, and as needed."

In-person seminars would blow the time and cost budgets of companies given the large and complex training needs of the present and future. E-learning works differently: via e-training, even all employees can be quickly and simultaneously provided with the special knowledge they need for upcoming tasks. Learning happens

• online on a learning platform from the workplace (Web Based Training)
• offline with a learning program in the company's own intranet (Computer Based Training)
• online from a home computer (WBT)
• offline on a home computer with learning software (CBT)
• or on the go on your own smartphone or tablet (Mobile Learning)

This eliminates the travel, hotel, downtime, and trainer costs typical of in-person training, as well as the time lost commuting. The effect: further education becomes plannable, manageable, and affordable for companies. Also, take a look at learning management systems as useful auxiliary tools for training planning and implementation.

Of course, e-learning cannot completely replace in-person seminars in all areas. While some qualification measures can be carried out as pure e-training, for others, a combination of electronic learning and in-person instruction is the optimal learning solution.

Personnel development in small and medium-sized enterprises

"In the past, e-learning was reserved solely for large companies that could afford their own online academy or an elaborate intranet platform. Today, thanks to inter-company offers from e-learning providers, e-training is also feasible for small and medium-sized enterprises." (Norma Demuro, keeunit)

Especially the jump from a small to a medium-sized enterprise (from 30 to 50 employees) requires a lot of planning and potential development.

But what does personnel development look like in small and medium-sized enterprises?

Do they have enough personnel resources for the planning and implementation of further education and the integration of new employees?

Since companies of this size usually cannot provide staff solely for planning, personnel recruiting, and further education, they declare personnel development a "boss's job." Growing medium-sized companies struggle with similar problems in their organizational structure.

Personnel development made easier: E-learning experts and e-recruiters from keeunit in Mainz can move companies of any size forward. Together with you, they will plan the right e-learning or the ideal e-learning mix and open up new recruiting paths to suitable specialists for you.

Expectations for successful personnel development

The task of personnel development is to create a social environment that strengthens motivation and responsibility. By providing development opportunities and creating a learning-friendly work climate, the willingness for further development is awakened. Attainable and attractive goals and effects of PD, such as improved career opportunities, are highly valued by participants. For employees, managers, and the executive board, different and partially overlapping expectations arise from personnel development:

Expectations of personnel development

• Employees: Maintaining and improving their employability
• Managers: Increased performance and new motivation among employees
• Company management: Increasing the company's competitiveness

Successful personnel development is reflected in the work result, not merely in the acquisition of qualifications.

Accompanying change processes

Even in times when change management has already been successfully implemented in numerous companies, change processes are still perceived by many more as a threat than an opportunity. The ComTeam study "Changeability" (2015) provides an overview of the willingness to change in companies. 462 people were surveyed, including employees, specialist managers, group/team leaders, middle management, and board members/management. The participants come from a colorful mix of industries such as financial services, consulting, academies, education and training, chemicals, municipalities, public service, etc.

When asked about associations they connect with the term "change processes," participants rated the strength of their worries and fears in connection with changes on a scale of 1 to 7 with 4.25.

The good news, however, is that most study participants associated change with positive aspects, such as "becoming fit for the future" – here the value on the scale was 5.94.

As the top 3 reasons for change processes, survey participants cited, among other things, preparation for the future (55%), increased efficiency (31%), and cost reduction (24%).

Product launch

Especially when the challenge in the context of a product launch is to "inspire sales and customers for new products," personnel developers are increasingly required to have high innovative power in the planning of further education.

E-learning for sales should:

• not only be feasible from a fixed workplace but also on one's own mobile device (mobile learning)
• convey knowledge that is immediately (just-in-time) applicable
• systematically accompany change processes, project teams/employees during changes in the company
• motivate process changes
• lead employees to a uniform level of knowledge
• ensure sustainable learning success
• guarantee optimal learning success even with small budgets

Onboarding measures: integrating new employees into the company

Good onboarding is important so that new employees settle into the company and work productively as quickly as possible. Both are prerequisites for the future viability of the cooperation. For HR professionals, this means: stay active even after the contract is signed! The onboarding process includes professional, social, and administrative components. The on-board rate measures the retention of new hires. Onboarding with e-learning accelerates the integration of employees.

Have e-training created by the e-learning expert

Further education must be modern and future-oriented. As your e-learning expert for Mainz and the Rhine-Main area, keeunit will design a precise and finely tuned e-learning for your purposes – be it change processes, product training, or onboarding measures.

By considering your target groups, learning objectives, and success criteria, we will find the suitable form of learning with you and choose the appropriate technology for it. When developing e-learning courses or e-training for blended learning, we combine your expertise with didactic competence. The result is a form of further education with which you can effectively promote and accompany learning and development processes.

Keeunit: Your contact for modern personnel development!

We strengthen your personnel development with our services. Talk to us about your goals and requirements in terms of further education! We would also be happy to realize an e-recruiting strategy for you that attracts exactly the specialists you are looking for!

Let keeunit convince you:

• Click here for our references.
• Here you can request a free demo.
• Or give us a call without obligation at: 06131/930 6003

Also, use our chat function or send us an e-mail at mainz@keeunit.de if you need further information.

We look forward to hearing from you!