Using Online Resources to Help Train Staff
Because so many activities are provided via the net these days, it makes sense that staff training (or components of it) also be delivered in this way. A variety of organisations are realising that online induction can be a cost-effective way to orientate new employees and facilitate training and professional development.
What are the options of online resources that can be used to help train staff?
Businesses of different types, sizes and purposes that effectively use online training options do so using some of the following approaches:
Content marketing
Effective content marketing relies on a fresh and innovative approach to take advantage of a constantly changing business environment. Content marketing is most successful when directed specifically to a prospect’s particular needs and way of absorbing information – whether this is through traditional methods such as a direct mail out, or through social media channels such as blogs or Twitter. You can use this content to build the content of your web site.
Take advantage of the fact that consumer behaviour is evolving as we all adapt to new technologies and modes of communication. Your business’ ability to take advantage of new technologies allows you to target specifically tailored information directly to businesses likely to be interested in what you have to offer. A strategically planned campaign is more efficient, and ultimately more effective, than one which is generalised. An effective mechanism to distribute information is crucial – good quality information still needs help to find its way to the target audience. Over time, particularly with the rise of social media, you will be able to build up a solid network where not only is information channelled from your business to prospective clients, it is distributed continuously within multiple professional networks. Hence, your pool of potential customers continues to grow without the expense of a traditional ongoing marketing campaign. Moreover, people are often more likely to approach a company that has been professionally recommended by a friend or colleague, and social media is an effective (and cost-effective) way of promoting this. Whichever communication channel you use, consistently good quality, relevant content is the key and, once you build a reputation as a reliable, trustworthy source of valuable information, your job is more than half done.
What is Web 2.0?
The term ‘Web 2.0’ is increasingly used yet, while many of us gather that this has something to do with advances in technology and increased sophistication, the majority of us probably don’t have a thorough understanding of what it actually means. Here we provide an overview of what Web 2.0 is and how it will change and affect the ways that we use technological systems.
Web 2.0 defined
Web 2.0 generally refers to the intersection of web application features that increase participation in information sharing, interoperability, user-focused design and collaboration using the web.
Increasing Business Efficiency Through Technology
As businesses try to increase efficiency and improve profit,better technology is often an invaluable tool. Although most businesses use information systems and automation to varying extents, almost all enterprises benefit from capitalising on the possibilities of technology and its ability to maximise efficiency in their work environment.
Why computers?
Few people will be surprised to learn that technology can significantly increase efficiency. The speed at which computers function, and their ability to provide up-to-date information and hold data in a convenient and mutually accessible place, all make them invaluable and heavily relied upon in many work contexts.
6 Business Software Acronyms and What They Mean
In the modern business world there is a bevy of software available that ultimately aim to help your organisation minimise costs, improve sales and increase profits. However, associated with these pieces of software are a range of often-confusing acronyms — BI, ERP, ECM, SCM, BPM, CRM. What on earth does it all mean? To make matters worse, much of the information online relating to these relatively new concepts falls into the category of benefit-driven sales copy, so even a trusty Google search is probably only going to compound your confusion instead of alleviating it. From business intelligence to enterprise content management, this article will help you wade through the swamp.
1. BI (Business Intelligence)
7 Steps to a Successful Business Model
At the heart of every successful business is a sound business model. But what exactly does a business model entail? Essentially, when somebody asks you about your business model, they’re asking how you plan to make money. In this article, we’ll take a look at seven questions you should ask yourself when designing a business model, from who comprises your target market to the need to utilise learning management software. But before we get into that, let’s take a brief look at what not to do…
The case of the missing underpants
There’s a famous episode of animated TV show South Park entitled ‘Gnomes’. In the episode, a group of tiny, rogue gnomes sneak around town, breaking into residents’ houses and stealing the underpants from their drawers. When the South Park boys finally encounter the gnomes and ask them why they’re stealing everyone’s underpants, the gnomes reveal a whiteboard with their three-step business model. It reads:
8 Pros and Cons of Cloud Computing
These days, in the business world, a lot is being made of “the cloud” — that is, the delivery of computing as a service, rather than a product. In the cloud, your organisation’s data, resources and software do not reside on servers hosted on your own premises; instead, they are hosted remotely on servers that are shared by many other organisations. But is this necessarily a good thing? In this article, we’ll compare the pros and cons of hosting your enterprise content management system in the cloud.
Pro: There is no upfront capital investment
When it comes to implementing an on-premises software system, you’ll need to expend a significant amount of money upfront. With cloud-based services, however, you simply pay a subscription fee to access the service, with no up-front capital investment beyond ensuring that employees have a PC with which to access the service.
Con: It may cost more over time
5 Ways to Take the Headaches Out of Hiring
Whether your company is large or small, the step of hiring new employees is always a hefty one. The hiring process inevitably costs time and money — and that’s in the best case scenario where you find the perfect employee straight away. Often, the employee turns out to be unfit for the job, or moves on when offered another opportunity, or simply chooses not to take the job in the first place despite hours of interview time. In this article, we’ll offer a few tips for taking the headaches out of the hiring process, from offering a competitive salary to utilising induction software.
1. Offer a competitive salary
There’s no getting away from this one. The price needs to be right if you want to attract the best candidates – employees are unlikely to accept a job that doesn’t meet their financial needs and expectations. If you’re not 100 per cent sure about a competitive salary for a position, try searching your competitors’ job listings. Alternatively, you can check out websites such as mycareer.com.au or payscale.com to get a more accurate idea. And if you’re not in a position to offer a top-tier salary, then think about what else you can offer the employee in terms of work culture, perks, and benefits — things to make your organisation stand out from the rest.
9 Elements All Great Websites Should Possess
Whether you’re running a web site for your business or yourself, there are certain elements that all web sites should possess if they are to succeed. In this article, we look at nine of the most important, from excellent visual design to personal or enterprise content management.
1. Excellent visual design
Ever been through a town and found yourself attracted to the clean, well-presented cafe instead of a run-down takeaway? Well, the same principle applies to web design. Great visual design on your web site establishes professionalism and trust from the moment the user arrives.
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6 Ways to Attract the Best Candidates
Every business owner knows that getting the most out of their organisation’s human resources is one of the keys to overall success. And in order to achieve that, it’s important to attract the highest quality employees to your business in the first place. In this article, we’ll take a look at seven ways to attract the best employees, from putting out the right advertisement to utilising a learning management system.
1. Use an online recruitment process
A great way to attract strong candidates is to have a well-structured online recruitment process. This provides your business with the ability to respond to candidates quickly and with quality feedback. This is particularly beneficial for larger organisations with ongoing recruitment needs, as the resumes of clients who may not be suitable for the current role but who still show a great deal of promise can be kept on file for when a more appropriate role emerges.
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