
Digital learning platforms have become one of the most popular ways for companies, big and small, to educate their employees, customers and clients. But creating these platforms doesn’t come easily, with the right digital learning experts having to be hired to create such comprehensive courses. This hiring process is rarely straightforward, either, presenting several challenges for hiring teams.
This is where Instinct Resourcing come in. A learning and development recruitment agency with the network and reach to find whatever digital learning expert you need, we have years of experience pairing businesses with the very best up-and-coming talent. Assisting a range of sectors, from education to central government organisations, we can help you get the candidates you need with pace and efficiency.
So, what are the biggest challenges facing your mission to hire digital learning experts, and how can Instinct help you thrive? Let’s get started…
Why hiring the right digital experts matters
By hiring the right eLearning specialist, you can meet the growing demand for online training courses, making sure your company is staying ahead of the competition in the process. According to a report from Research and Markets, the value of the global eLearning market is projected to reach $490.20 billion by 2029, intensifying the need for your business to invest in eLearning and hire the right professionals to carry out your creative vision.
The quality of this course will depend entirely on the experts who are behind its delivery, with the right specialist having the experience and work ethic to create something engaging and also be effective at delivering a course that successfully improves knowledge retention and overall performance.
Ultimately, getting the right digital expert helps you to maximise your investment, enhancing the learning experience of your courses as quickly as possible. It’s also worth considering the cost of a bad hire, with an inefficient worker causing a range of internal issues, such as missed deliverables, increased stress levels among your workforce and the loss of general productivity.
The five biggest challenges for hiring digital learning experts
Recruiting for your company can be difficult when hiring for traditional roles, so employing digital learning experts with niche skills can sometimes feel like an impossible challenge. This is why so many employers choose Instinct Resourcing when trying to find elearning job roles, with our service offering contracted and permanent solutions to suit whatever kind of hire you need.
Limited talent pool of professionals
Specialists in the field of eLearning, from development experts to management, can be very difficult to find thanks to their niche set of skills. This has created a limited talent pool of professionals who are available to you, with the rapid growth of the industry outpacing the experienced professionals who are available. To find the individuals with the necessary niche skill sets, most businesses set out on an arduous hiring process where they compete with other companies doing the same thing.
Evolving skill requirements
The modern world moves at an extremely fast rate, with constant technological innovations changing how industries operate. The eLearning industry is no different, with advancements like AI, virtual reality (VR), mobile learning and blockchain technology changing how courses are put together, designed and delivered. While there is pressure for businesses to be using these tech innovations, the constantly evolving skill requirements mean that specialist eLearning professionals are required.
Not only do these individuals need an excellent base knowledge of cutting-edge technological innovations, but they also need to be able to adapt to the emergence of new tools that will need to be incorporated into future projects.
Competition from other businesses
The eLearning industry is a very competitive space, largely thanks to the two aforementioned points. This means that your business is in constant competition with other organisations from various industries for the same talent. Indeed, where a training course is needed, an eLearning solution can be implemented, which means there is no end to the sectors that are after digital learning experts, from the medical industry to education institutions.
Verifying eLearning skills
Since the digital learning industry is complex and ever-evolving, actually verifying the skills that an eLearning expert claims to have can prove very difficult, particularly with the abundance of freelancers and contractors in the industry. This becomes especially tricky when it comes to validating a candidate’s experience with advanced tools like VR. In these instances, in-depth portfolios should be created by the candidate and extensively reviewed by the hiring team, which can take a considerable amount of time.
Hiring scope
The challenges of finding eLearning experts will be amplified if you’re looking to form a whole team of experts. Specialists in this industry are expensive, and creating a whole course can take upwards of 400 hours in total, depending on the scope of your desired programme. This can make for a lengthy hiring process that drains money and resources, so ensuring that you can practically implement the scope of your project is essential before starting.
How to overcome these digital learning hiring challenges
Understanding the challenges of hiring in the digital learning industry is useful, but only if you also interpret the solutions that can help you to overcome these challenges. Indeed, none of the aforementioned challenges are insurmountable, even if it means altering your company’s recruitment strategy or increasing the budget that’s allocated towards the hiring team. Despite the initial blockades to solving these challenges, finding appropriate solutions could mean the difference between your company thriving or failing.
- Broaden your horizons: Look beyond your traditional recruitment methods by leveraging other platforms like social media sites, message boards and company websites. Live events and conferences are also a great way to build relationships and find new candidates who could fulfil your eLearning requirements.
- Utilise your internal network: If you already have eLearning experts in your company, it’s likely that they’ll have a network of fellow professionals. Why not put a referral programme together?
- Create a practical interview process: Make use of practical task-based assessments during interviews to get a better understanding of what candidates can and can’t do. Since it’s tricky to verify skills in an ever-changing industry, this is one of the best ways to get a feel for how they work.
- Prioritise upskilling: By prioritising internal upskilling, you can not only address talent gaps, encouraging current employees to fulfil vacant roles, but the improved training and development structure of your company will be more enticing for active applicants. Why not consider preparing for the future by prioritising L&D in the age of AI and helping your team evolve?
- Leverage a specialist agency: Allow a specialist digital learning recruitment agency like Instinct Resourcing to take on your onboarding responsibilities for you. Able to utilise our extensive network to pinpoint the exact eLearning specialists that you need, at Instinct, we can help to elevate your operations.
The best ways to retain your existing eLearning experts
One of the very best ways to avoid the challenges of digital learning talent acquisition is to reduce the amount of recruitment you actually have to do. By retaining your existing eLearning experts, you can reduce your recruitment costs, increase general productivity and create a workforce that’s knowledgeable and high in morale. But, while you cannot control the will of an individual to leave your company, you can create an organisation that nurtures your employees and provides incentives for staying.
- Employ the right kind of people: The best way to retain your eLearning experts is to hire the right kind of person first As well as targeting skilled individuals, you should also favour those who you believe reflect your core company values. Opt for specialist companies to do your hiring if you’re in a niche industry. Looking for an NHS recruitment agency? We can help.
- Competitive salaries: Offer fair, competitive salaries based on employee experience, with opportunities for increases based on strong performance.
- Robust onboarding: An efficient onboarding process, including a robust induction programme, will make sure that new employees are well aligned with the core business values and help them to quickly gel with their new team.
- Company benefits: Perks and benefits packages that entice employees to join your company and help them to stay.
- Hybrid and remote working options: In a post-COVID-19 world, remote and hybrid working have become the norm for many companies. As a result, employees have come to expect this as standard from their workplace. Putting a hybrid or remote working process in place will help give your employees flexibility and will also allow you to easily expand your network across borders.
- Work culture: The enjoyment and satisfaction of your employees should be paramount to your company, as a happy work environment is a more productive one. It’s therefore essential to construct a positive work culture with a diverse workforce, a comprehensive HR policy and social events that allow people to feel part of something bigger!
How Instinct can help you overcome hiring challenges
One of the most practical and effective ways to overcome many of the challenges of eLearning recruitment is to partner with a specialist digital recruitment agency like Instinct Resourcing. Taking on your onboarding tasks, we can manage the entire recruitment process, scouring our own curated professional networks, while you get on with the work that matters most to you. No matter if you’re wishing to fulfil instructional design jobs, LMS jobs or beyond, we can find you the experts who can make a difference.
- We take care of the whole recruitment process, screening candidates for the necessary qualifications and skills, before moving the best candidates to the interview stage. Once your new hire is in place, we even offer an aftercare service that lets you track the progress of your new hire with our timesheet portal.
- Pace and efficiency are two of our key principles, and it is thanks to the unrivalled size and strength of our network that we can work so quickly. We even offer a 24-hour turnaround time when finding you new contracts.
Work with Instinct and let us help you pierce through the crowded, competitive eLearning market, elevating your operations one recruitment a t a time!