The last couple of years have seen individuals and businesses alike adapt to an increasingly online world. During the pandemic, everything from work meetings to hen parties took place in the virtual world. It was a global survival strategy, and had many benefits. However, while the world has returned to the new normal, not everything has transferred back from online to in-person. Online professional training has become increasingly popular, with mixed outcomes for both participants and employers.
At ASM Group, we are independent health and safety consultants offering a broad range of services, including professional training. Now that in-person training is once again possible, we are back to providing gold standard health and safety expertise, teaching your colleagues to maintain a high level of health and safety in the workplace. We believe that training is best delivered in-person, for a whole host of reasons. Here is our guide to the benefits of in-person training.
What is in-person training?
In-person training refers to learning environments where course participants are in the same room as the instructor. Students, teachers, and the learning content all meet in one time and one place.
What is online training?
Online training refers to learning that takes place via the internet. This can mean courses taking place in real time via video conferencing software such as Zoom, or it can mean video courses that are pre-recorded and participants watch back in their own time.
What are the benefits of in-person training?
- Most people prefer in-person interaction
While online training becomes ever-more common, employers are often overlooking the preferences of their employees. But most people who are undertaking training much prefer to do so in person. They say they find it easier to learn, to concentrate, and to feel confident in their new knowledge, when it has been earned through a real interaction rather than a screen.
- In-person training is bespoke, every time
In person training will be tailored on the spot to each participant, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach online. Pre-recorded online sessions can’t compete with in-person learning, where a qualified instructor can answer specific questions as they come up. Participants in an in-person session can ask questions as they occur, pool knowledge with other course attendees, and try out their skills in demonstrations. It simply works better than waiting for a reply to an email.
- In-person training builds a team
Social interaction with your colleagues and peers can make in person training valuable as a team exercise as well as a learning experience. The knowledge and experience in the room will be shared, while your relationships with your colleagues will be strengthened through learning together. This networking can be really useful for participants with an eye on their careers, enlarging their group of contacts that might just help them in their next job move.
- Hands-on skills need to be taught in person
Hands-on learning, which much of ASM training is, is a lot easier in person. ASM offers courses that cover many physical aspects of health and safety in the workplace – from learning to give CPR, to the safe use of Personal Protective Equipment, specific operational skills for machines and equipment, and manual handling and lifting techniques. Learning any of these skills properly through a screen makes the task much harder, as they all by their very nature require physical demonstrations and practice. Course attendees need to be in a room with their instructor, in order to observe the physical procedures from all angles, and then try them out themselves, with corrections and help from the instructor. This kind of hands-on experience cannot be replaced by online learning.
- In-person courses give better learning outcomes
Most people find it easier to focus properly on in-person training, so it’s likely to have better learning outcomes. Those using on-screen training are liable to be distracted, to pause the video or to check their phone off-screen. There are therefore better retention and course completion rates for those receiving in-person training.
- Technology can’t let you down when you’re in-person
Ever tried to have an online meeting where you can’t see or hear the other people properly? Faulty internet connections, low bandwidth, tired computers – there is an endless list of potential problems that can seriously interfere with your online learning. An in-person course avoids all of these worries, allowing you to get on with your learning.
- Learn with all five senses
Learning, especially physical learning concerning health and safety subjects, should be a tactile experience. A screen cannot replace the sensations of physical presence, interaction, direct seeing, hearing, and experiencing. In-person lets you grab hold of new concepts and ideas, and inspires a sense of mastery in your ability to grow.
- Combine many types of learning
When you are learning in-person, you automatically combine many different ways of learning, giving you the best possible learning results. So you might absorb information by listening to the teacher’s words whilst also watching their gestures, hearing a fellow student’s question, and then taking part in a demonstration of the technique being discussed. Rather than the linear approach of online learning, you are using several different methods simultaneously to learn. This should give a better depth of knowledge and better knowledge retention in the long term – you are much more likely to remember interaction with your class mates and your part in a situational roleplay than you are likely to remember the content of a video.
- In-person training is more efficient
We are so much better at learning face-to-face. This makes in-person training a much more efficient way to educate your team – they will learn faster and retain information better at an in-person training session, meaning less time out of their jobs, and less need for top-up trainings in the future. This makes in-person training make more financial sense too.
Whether you are an employer needing to obtain training for your staff, or you are an employee hoping to improve your qualifications and career prospects, in-person training provides the gold standard in the world of health and safety. Online training might seem like a simpler option, but with much lower completion and achievement levels, it doesn’t compare well with the in-person alternative – especially when the health and safety of your colleagues and workplace is in question.
If you are in need of comprehensive certified health and safety training delivered in-person by expert professionals in Ireland, get in touch with ASM Group. As one of the leading health and safety training providers in Ireland, we know what it takes to inspire your team and make your workplace a healthier, happier environment. With a broad range of health and safety courses across all sectors, if you have a specific training requirement or simply need to comply with regulations, we can help. Our training courses are delivered in the classroom in ASM training venues as well as on our client sites. Our consultants deliver their expertise in national safety regulations compliance, risk assessment, and occupational safety at our training centres, as well as directly in the workplace.
As well as our own suite of accredited training courses, ASM Group also provides IOSH and PHECC approved courses. ASM Group has a dedicated pool of experienced instructors who are passionate about training delivery and are skilled in engaging our participants to ensure they attain the best possible benefits from the training they have received. If ASM Safety Training Courses sound like the health and safety solution for your workforce, call us today. Our friendly team will be able to advise on which of our training services will best suit your company.
