Further training in the home office: what advantages and opportunities it offers companies and employees

Why further training in the home office is so important

Employees appreciate the flexible working hours and the newly gained freedom in the home office. Many of them – representative studies assume around 10 million employees – even work exclusively within their own four walls. Nevertheless, a number of employees complain that they are working from home receiving no or insufficient support from the supervisor.

This includes in-house training courses for which there is often either no financial means or the technical know-how. But especially in times of digital change, industry-specific training is the key to success. Digital knowledge and foreign language skills are becoming increasingly important, which is why employers are already using relevant training opportunities counteract the internal shortage of skilled workers. For companies, this means actively supporting their employees so that they learn independently and effectively in the home office. Even small changes such as learning tandems are a first step in motivating employees who work from home to undertake further training.

Diverse offers for home office training

Generally it is Wide range of digital training opportunities. For example, the database of the central office for distance learning (ZFU) lists more than 3,700 study and training courses. Inexpensive digital courses that employees can access without much effort are of particular interest to employers. In this regard, they stand the test location- and time-independent online courses as well as video-based online seminarsthat take place at fixed times. E-books, learning videos, podcasts and expert talks on innovative topics are increasingly establishing themselves as supporting options. Furthermore, free e-learning courses for employees and applicants are becoming increasingly important. In addition to industry-specific knowledge, these also impart relevant soft skills. Topics that are in high demand are, for example, stress management or the correct use of digital online tools.

Benefits for employers and employees

Regardless of the industry, companies benefit when they invest in further training for their employees. The educational offers, which impart new knowledge independently, bring the following advantages:

Despite the physical distance, further training is offered in the home office the opportunity for social exchange. During the courses, employees are in contact with colleagues, trainers and supervisors. On the one hand, this increases the learning effect, on the other hand, the social contacts increase the motivation of the individual.
A major advantage of the online courses in the home office is the flexibility in terms of time and location. In principle, employees can learn anywhere to acquire new skills.
Webinars enable sustainable learning in which a lot of content can be conveyed within a very short time. There are also recordings of many courses that can be viewed again in the company if required.
Uniform training opportunities ensure that all employees are on the same level despite physical separation. If the team learns in a motivated and disciplined manner, success measurements are comprehensible.
Another important benefit is reduced cost. While the classic frontal teaching requires organizational effort, are Further training in the home office can be planned and carried out decentrally. This reduces the planning time for companies.

In order for further training to be successful, companies should also take the wishes of their employees into account. For example, surveys help to find out in which areas the individual specialists need or want to expand their skills.

Find suitable offers for further training in the home office

Companies should be on the lookout for serious offers in order to enable their own employees to undertake lifelong learning on the job. Consequently, employers should carefully review offers from external providers. If the information about the course schedule is not sufficient, supervisors should actively ask about their structure beforehand. Of course, it is also important not to ignore the teachers. In order to guarantee operational success, external teachers should be appropriately qualified. Further training with verifiable learning success and certificates of completion are often the most promising option for companies.

However, before employers accept a training offer, they should read the fine print. Because every contract contains different conditions relevant to companies and their employees are. An important point here are the cancellation and withdrawal conditions as well as the payment modalities. For supervisors, in addition to the usual course costs, other ancillary costs such as registration or examination fees must be taken into account.

How employees achieve their personal learning goals in the home office

For employees, too, further training in the home office is anything but a sure-fire success. With a lot of distractions waiting between the workplace and the couch, it’s important not to lose your focus. In order to achieve personal learning goals within your own four walls, it is important to keep your own goals in mind:

Professional training in the home office only progresses with appropriate learning goals. To that end, it is important that to record the resolutions that you have set yourself in writing and in a clearly visible manner.
“Established routines” from the office should definitely be maintained at home. If employees use a time slot for further training before the lunch break or before the end of the day, for example, they should continue to plan for this.
In the case of further training in the home office, short-term agreements, changes or updates are inevitable. Nevertheless, employees should, especially with flexible online courses enough time to study undisturbed. It is advisable to set fixed times within the team when everyone can be easily reached. Outside of these time windows, it should be allowed to complete the training in a calm and concentrated manner without distraction.
A nice working environment with a “feel good factor” contributes significantly to learning success. It also makes sense to spatially separate the workplace for learning from the “leisure area”.
Learning together with teammates motivates and helps to stay on the ball. Common learning goals are an enormous incentive, as is the shared joy about the successes that have already been achieved.
In order to stay up to date, employees should also use mobile courses. As far as possible, online communities or short videos help with interactive training.

Companies should document how successful the training in the home office is. In this way, the workflow can be improved. As soon as it is clear which content the employees can put into practice in a meaningful way, it can be assessed whether the qualification measure was effective.