Professional online networking is a good way for people to make introductions, referrals, recommendations and valuable business connections. And professional networking can’t get better than LinkedIn, a business-oriented social media site that can be quite a resourceful tool for professionals — employees and bosses alike.
Organizations’ management teams can use LinkedIn to build strong relationships with the employees and increase the company’s reach exponentially. Employees, on the other hand, can use LinkedIn to interact with other professionals, gain valuable insight and possibly further their careers. In September last year, the professional social networking site launched an online education portal, dubbed LinkedIn Learning, to help its users pick up new skills or pivot existing ones to boost their professions.
The online education portal is hosted by Lynda.com, an online education company which LinkedIn acquired in the spring of 2015 for $1.5 billion. According to Jeff Weiner, LinkedIn’s CEO, the company has set its sights on prioritizing learning and development. LinkedIn’s new eLearning portal will help individuals identify skills that require mastery and provide the necessary resources to help them do that. Employees will be able to choose courses that interest them and their bosses can recommend training in areas that need sharpening.
Shrinking Shelf Life of Professional Skills
In recent years, frequent corporate training has become more necessary. This trend is attributable to the shrinking of the shelf life of professional skills. The need for an engaging, data-driven and highly personalized learning experience is on the rise, and LinkedIn Learning is here to provide that. There are over 9,000 courses on LinkedIn learning, spread across different fields and individuals can take up to 25 courses a week – but only if they have a premium subscription. There is also a special business subscription that allows an organization to enroll its entire staff.
Employers can request access to LinkedIn’s analytics to monitor their employees’ activities on the eLearning portal vis-à-vis what they are studying and their progress. The combination of LinkedIn’s professional data and Lynda.com’s content provides a perfect way for employees to combat the evolution of skills, organizations, industries and professions.
How Can LinkedIn Learning Help Employees?
The primary idea behind LinkedIn learning is to help users boost their knowledge and enhance their professional profiles. Corporate training and education are crucial in boosting an employee’s job skills. Here are some ways LinkedIn Learning can help companies increase their employees’ productivity:
Send Alerts and News Feeds
Human Resource managers and employers can push feeds and alerts to their employees to widen their knowledge base. LinkedIn recently acquired Pulse, and employers can exploit the platform to share relevant content with their employees. The shared content can be in the form of supplemental links or news from influencers.
Add Online Job Placement Services
Companies can recommend suitable jobs for potential employees. HR managers can assess individual skills more effectively through the addition of online job placement services. Adding some form of training as part of the service would be beneficial.
Connect With Universities and Colleges
Another effective way to boost employee knowledge is building a working relationship with universities and colleges. This strategy can help organizations in onboarding employees early in their professional lives, by inviting graduates from these institutions to apply with the organization in the future.
Subscribe To Online Courses
Companies with a premium subscription can access 25 new courses every other week. LinkedIn is also expected to roll out an option for top tiers, that will allow them to purchase a subscription of an entire rank.
Making Smart, Right Connections
LinkedIn was and still is a place where the professional communities connect, interact, engage and refer. The addition of LinkedIn Learning into the process increases the likelihood of your employees making smart connections with people who they share similar interests with.
LinkedIn’s primary objective is to provide an avenue where job seekers can create, maintain and improve their professional profiles through corporate training and education. LinkedIn views education as a way of gaining new business, and the company is on a course to establish itself as the precursor in the industry.
Robert Cordray is a freelance writer and expert in business and finance. He has received many accolades for his work in teaching solid entrepreneur advice. Formerly a business consultant and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience and a wide variety of knowledge in multiple areas of the industry. He currently resides in the Southern California area and spends his time helping consumers and business owners alike try to be successful. When he’s not reading or writing, he’s most likely with his beautiful wife and three children.