The coronavirus has greatly impacted businesses around the world, leaving them reeling in the face of shifting markets and working environments. According to one recent study, 29% of respondents reported that sales for their businesses were down across the board due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A further 25% of respondents said that they were experiencing issues with their supply chains, and another 16% said that they were already dealing with staff shortages due to illness, thus harming overall productivity.
As can be seen, the impact that the coronavirus is having on nearly every industry is enormous. The number of people working remotely prior to the outbreak had already been steadily rising for years, but with large swathes of the global workforce currently on lockdown (including roughly 85% of the American population), nearly everything has shifted to "work from home" in a matter of weeks.
With no confirmed end to the ongoing situation in sight, the rule book has to essentially be rewritten for a lot of organizations operating in this space, and the effects of this are being felt worldwide. So how can organizations effectively respond to the situation while maintaining some semblance of normality in day-to-day operations? The answer many are now turning to is onboarding and training.
Why fresh onboarding and training is essential: Breaking things down
Large organizations are not in a position to "wing it" when it comes to the coronavirus. To right the proverbial ship, standard operating procedures need to be adjusted and, in some cases, completely rewritten. All key information and new company directives need to be disseminated quickly and efficiently across the entire workforce so that everyone is on the same page and moving forward.
Many are struggling to adjust, but as can be seen with certain companies today, the situation is not unmanageable. Onboarding and training your employees ensures that they are informed about the latest changes and operating procedures. Revamping and rolling out new training courses in response to global events has been proven to negate the majority of negative impacts businesses suffer from them, and our current situation falls right in line.
You may be wondering how trainings can be conducted right now when social distancing is so crucial. Well while some may have relied on one-on-one training and more direct methods in the past, these have quickly become outdated processes when facing a global workforce that needs to be brought rapidly up to speed. In addition, employees may be located all over the world and in some cases, especially now, may be unable to gather. This issue is completely negated by converting your training and onboarding into eLearning materials. By making them into a digital format, it no longer matters how far apart a team is. As long as they have access to a device that can present the materials clearly, there should be no issues with getting a workforce up to date.
Ultimately, with a prepared and well-informed workforce, any organization can quickly establish responses, announcements and actions that can keep it operating at maximum efficiency; keeping both employees and the business as a whole both productive and secure.
.jpg?width=740&name=Thinking%20employee%20(820%20x%20312).jpg)
Localizing your eLearning content
So we've established that eLearning is the best response for businesses to navigate difficult times ahead, but there is one final hurdle that prevents this method from being completely infallible, and that is the language barrier.
Learning materials are far more effective when presented in the native language of the learner. So while the eLearning materials you've prepared may be perfectly constructed to give your workforce the best route forward, that only goes as far as the language the materials are originally written in. To really make them as effective as possible, they must also be available in every language your company operates in. Localizing your training courses should therefore be high on your priorities if you are to maintain a consistent quality and output.
However, it's important to keep in mind that bringing eLearning into other countries and languages can have its fair share of problems. There are nuances of language and culture that can potentially result in the effectiveness of your materials getting lost in translation. Choosing an expert eLearning localization provider should therefore be a high priority when bringing your modules worldwide.
.jpg?width=740&name=eLearning%20map%20(820%20x%20312).jpg)
The Andovar solution
As a leading provider of localization for eLearning, we take great pride in our ability to offer translation and localization services that are culturally sensitive, accurately relay your messaging and are tailored to the learning needs of your organization, no matter the location or language. We offer a full suite of localization services, including language translation, culturalization and transcreation, and voiceover and subtitle implementation.
The Andovar offices are open and functioning well during this time. We have taken the precautions necessary to keep our organization operating so that we can offer our services to help others weather the current storm.
If you're ready to take the next step then we can help you get started. If you'd like to find out more information about why it's so important to have fresh onboarding and training for your employees during coronavirus, or if you just have any additional questions you'd like to discuss with someone in a bit more detail, please don't delay - contact Andovar today.
