83 per cent of HR managers believe e-learning could improve training yet over half don’t use it

London, UK, 2 May 2007—Over three quarters of HR managers say that training in their company does not adequately equip employees with the skills to thrive in today’s business world, according to research* from web collaboration experts WebEx published today. This comes at a time when UK businesses are already being hit by a skills shortage, making it evermore important to retain the right employees and ensure they develop to the best of their potential.

Despite four out of five HR managers believing e-learning could improve training, over half don’t use it primarily because they can’t get to grips with the technology.
32 per cent of businesses that do not use e-learning are being held back by technophobia, whilst 28 per cent of those that do think they’d have to increase their technology capability before increasing their use of e-learning.

In reality many e-learning sessions are ‘hosted’ online by vendors and are as simple as logging in via a URL, omitting any complex installation processes.

Of those already using e-learning, 92 per cent have had a positive experience with almost a quarter rating it as excellent. Nevertheless, 38 per cent are not taking advantage of the Internet to create a fully interactive classroom online and using
e-learning to its full potential.

Bert van der Zwan, VP EMEA, WebEx commented, “UK companies are missing a huge opportunity when it comes to training. They’re failing to take advantage of
e-learning's time, productivity and efficiency benefits, all because technology is seen as a barrier to implementation. If you have a telephone and an Internet connection, you can deliver effective, interactive online classes - right from your desktop, right now. The UK labour market is highly competitive. If businesses want to retain and develop their employees to their full potential, it’s crucial that they get areas such as training right.”

The research has revealed the worst affected areas in training are management and communication skills, which fall short in 29 per cent of businesses. This is closely followed by training in computer skills, which is lacking in 28 per cent of businesses.

*About the Research
Dynamic Markets on behalf of WebEx carried out the survey online between 12th and 23rd March 2007, with a sample of 200 GB HR and training managers. 100 interviews are from large companies (with 251 or more employees) and 100 are from mid-sized companies with between 100 and 250 employees.

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