A practical analysis of blended training efficacy on organizational outcomes

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature of blended learning by practically implementing best practices in employee training. Design/methodology/approach In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, an organization had modified its training procedures over the course of three years to improve employee and organizational outcomes. Employee candidates who were onboarded into sales positions during the years 2019–2021 were given the opportunity to learn the content in an online format and subsequently evaluated prior to their in-person training and final evaluation to provide them with a self-paced blended learning experience. Both evaluation scores, along with the length it took to complete the trainings, were used to determine the trainings effectiveness and efficiency respectively. Findings The findings for the study showed that the organization was successfully able to improve upon the efficiency of the training by reducing training length and the effectiveness by improving employee outcomes. Research limitations/implications The study’s design was limited to the probation process, which resulted in issues drawing conclusions for employee outcomes that were relevant to their long-term organizational success. This emphasizes the importance of comprehensive investigations for future practical studies. Practical implications The findings allow for the improvement of blended learning models within real-world organizational contexts that provide organizations with the opportunity to improve employee outcomes while reducing time costs. Originality/value This study provides data from applied blended learning procedures that were validated using empirical findings, which contributes to the practicality of blended learning in workplace training.

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Trainers’ Characteristics Affecting Online Training Effectiveness: A Pre-Experiment among Students in a Malaysian Secondary School

“…Hence, blended training combining the face-to-face or traditional classroom setting and online training can have better impact on training effectiveness among school students. Blended training refers to a hybrid learning approach that combines the use of multiple approaches in a face-toface setting and electronic learning technology including online learning [32,74]. Blended training has also been proven to be effective in training programs among employees and to be preferred by training organizers because of its capability to increase training performance and decrease training costs [32,74].…”

“…Blended training refers to a hybrid learning approach that combines the use of multiple approaches in a face-toface setting and electronic learning technology including online learning [32,74]. Blended training has also been proven to be effective in training programs among employees and to be preferred by training organizers because of its capability to increase training performance and decrease training costs [32,74]. For example, school students can attend blended training that requires them to perform physical activity using a face-to-face approach that also allowed the learning materials to be accessed online [57].…”