Choosing the Right Fit: Pre-built vs. Custom eLearning Solutions

The digital age offers unprecedented opportunities for tailored learning solutions that can address specific organizational challenges. Whether it's accommodating diverse learning styles, incorporating up-to-date technology, or aligning training with strategic business goals, eLearning can offer significant advantages over traditional training methods, including accessibility, scalability, and cost-effectiveness, particularly important in a globalized business environment.

When developing employee training programs that incorporate eLearning, organizations face a decision: selecting between pre-built and custom eLearning solutions. This decision is crucial, since the right choice can not only enhance learning outcomes but also align closely with an organization's strategic goals, ensuring a skilled, motivated, and adaptable workforce. This choice can feel overwhelming,  but understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each approach can help you find the optimal solution for your needs.

A Map Analogy

Let’s draw a parallel to better illustrate this point. Imagine planning a hike with two different navigational aids...

Approach 1 – Generic Map:

You grab a generic hiking map at a gas station. It shows all the trails in the national park you're visiting, but it doesn't account for your experience level, the specific sights you want to see, or the weather conditions. Sure, it'll get you there eventually, but you might end up on a challenging trail meant for experienced hikers, miss hidden waterfalls because they're not marked, or get caught in a downpour on an exposed ridge.

Approach 2 - Customized Hiking App:

You download a hiking app and personalize your experience.  You input your fitness level, desired distance, and specific interests (waterfalls, scenic views). The app recommends trails that match your criteria, provides elevation profiles to gauge difficulty,  and even alerts you to real-time weather updates. You end up on a perfect hike that challenges you appropriately, takes you to the sights you want, and keeps you safe from the elements.

The key takeaway from this analogy is that both generic maps and customized hiking apps have their place. Just like choosing the right trail, selecting the most effective eLearning solution depends on your specific goals.

This article aims to demystify the process of selecting the most appropriate eLearning approach for your organization by exploring the strengths and weaknesses of both off-the-shelf and customized courses. Through a simple breakdown of each option's benefits and limitations, you will be better equipped to decide which is the best path for your next eLearning adventure.

Understanding Pre-built and Custom eLearning Solutions

First, let’s clarify what we mean by pre-built vs custom eLearning solutions. When it comes to eLearning, organizations are typically presented with two main types of solutions: pre-built and custom. Each type serves different needs and setups within a corporate learning environment.

Pre-built eLearning Solutions

Pre-built eLearning solutions, also known as off-the-shelf courses, are standardized training modules created for mass distribution. These courses are designed to be universally applicable across a broad range of industries and organizations. They cover common topics such as communication skills, compliance training, or basic leadership principles that are essential in various business contexts.

Custom eLearning Solutions

In contrast, custom eLearning solutions are tailor-made to address the specific needs of an organization. Existing courses may be tailored, or new courses may be developed from scratch, based on a detailed analysis of an organization's unique requirements, desired outcomes, and specific learner profiles.

With these definitions in mind, let’s explore the pros and cons of pre-built and custom eLearning solutions. This analysis will help you assess which approach might best suit your organization's specific training needs, budget constraints, and strategic objectives, enabling you to make an informed decision about your eLearning strategy.

Pre-built eLearning: The Efficient Choice

Pre-built eLearning courses are a streamlined and cost-effective approach to delivering training across diverse organizational landscapes. These courses are developed to cover a wide range of topics and are designed to meet general industry standards, which allows for rapid deployment across any organization. This means that businesses can quickly equip their workforce with essential skills and knowledge without the extended development time and higher costs associated with custom-tailored content.

Pros:

• Consistency: Standardized content guarantees a uniform learning experience for all participants.
• Efficiency: Pre-built courses require less time and resources to implement compared to custom development.
• Quality Control: With a single source, maintaining accurate and relevant content becomes easier.
• Scalability: These courses are ideal for large-scale training initiatives due to their quick deployment capabilities.

Cons:

• Limited Customization: Pre-built courses may not cater to the specific needs and learning styles of all your employees.
• Engagement Challenges: Generic content might struggle to capture learner interest and participation.
• Relevance Considerations: Certain topics may not be directly applicable to some roles, leading to disengagement.

Custom eLearning: A Tailored Approach

Custom eLearning solutions are crafted to provide a learning experience uniquely tailored to the specific needs and goals of your organization. These bespoke programs are designed from the ground up to integrate seamlessly with your company's branding, culture, and strategic objectives. By developing courses that reflect the unique identity and priorities of your company, custom eLearning acts much like a tailor-made suit, fitting perfectly to the contours of your organization's requirements and aspirations.

This approach allows for the creation of training materials that are directly relevant to the specific roles, challenges, and industry nuances your employees face. By focusing on the particular needs of your workforce, custom eLearning engages learners on a deeper level, encouraging active participation and fostering a higher degree of knowledge retention.

Pros:

• Alignment with Business Goals: Custom courses integrate your organization's specific goals and objectives directly into the curriculum. Every lesson and activity strategically contributes to your overall business success.
• Enhanced Relevance: Tailored content resonates with employees as it directly addresses their roles, challenges, and industry landscape. This relevance fosters active participation and engagement.
• Branding Consistency: Customized courses reinforce your organization's brand identity and culture, similar to how a successful franchise maintains consistent branding across all locations.
• Targeted Learning: Customization allows you to focus on specific skills, knowledge, and scenarios most relevant to your industry and workforce. This targeted approach ensures practical application of the learned material.

Cons:

• Resource Intensity: Developing custom courses requires significant investments in time, effort, and often, financial resources. Balancing these investments with the benefits is crucial.
• Maintenance Complexity: Keeping multiple customized courses updated with changing business environments, industry trends, or regulations can be time-consuming and challenging.
• Consistency Challenges: Striking a balance between customization and ensuring consistent content delivery across different courses can be difficult, especially when multiple teams or departments are involved.
• Scalability Considerations: While customization offers tailored experiences, scaling them to a larger audience requires careful planning to avoid compromising quality or cohesion.

Finding the Perfect Blend

Choosing the right eLearning solution often involves a nuanced balance that takes into account your organization's resources, strategic goals, and the specific learning outcomes you aim to achieve. To navigate this complex decision-making landscape effectively, consider the following strategic framework:

1. Identify Required Objectives - Begin by clarifying the specific skills, knowledge, or behaviors that need to be developed through your eLearning program. Understanding these objectives in detail will guide the content and structure of your training, ensuring that it is directly aligned with the competencies your organization needs to cultivate for its growth and success.
2. Audience analysis - Start by thoroughly analyzing your target audience’s demographics, job roles, learning needs, and preferences. This foundational understanding is critical to determining the degree of customization that will be most effective in engaging your employees and meeting their learning needs.
3. Context Analysis: Assess the work environment, including the resources available and any potential constraints like time, budget, and technological infrastructure. This analysis will help determine the feasibility of different eLearning options and identify potential challenges in implementation. Understanding these elements upfront ensures that the chosen solution is practical and sustainable within your organization’s operational framework.
4. Define Learning Outcomes - Establish clear, measurable learning outcomes that are directly linked to your organization's overall business strategy and objectives. These outcomes should serve as benchmarks for evaluating the effectiveness of the eLearning program and should be aligned with the identified training objectives to ensure coherence and relevance.
5. Aligning Ambition with Practicality: It is important to balance the desire for a highly customized eLearning program with the practical aspects of your organization's capacity. Consider the resources, time, and budget available for eLearning development and maintenance, and ensure that your ambitions do not exceed these constraints.

By incorporating these strategic points into your decision-making process, you can more effectively select an approach that only meets immediate training needs but also supports long-term organizational goals.

The choice between pre-built and custom eLearning solutions boils down to finding the right blend that aligns with your organization's specific needs.  Both approaches have their place, and the most effective strategy involves adapting and blending them to deliver impactful and engaging learning experiences for your employees.

Just as selecting the right trail for your hike requires understanding the terrain, your fitness level, and the weather conditions, so too does crafting a successful training strategy require a nuanced understanding of your organization's needs and resources. Carefully assess these factors to choose or develop the eLearning solution that navigates your organization towards its goals, ensuring that every step in the learning process is strategically aligned with your ultimate objectives.

Take the guesswork out of eLearning

Choosing the right eLearning solution can feel like navigating uncharted territory. But you don't have to go it alone! Our team of experienced learning professionals can help you assess your needs, explore your options, and develop a customized strategy that delivers impactful results.  We understand that every organization is unique, and we're passionate about creating eLearning solutions that empower your workforce and drive business success.

Contact us today for a free consultation!  We'll work with you to identify your training goals, analyze your learner demographics, and recommend a blend of pre-built and custom eLearning elements that perfectly aligns with your budget and resources.  Let's build a learning experience that gets your team excited and equipped to achieve their full potential.