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Australian PC World, July 1, 2002 Online learning has graduated from providing IT skills courses to adding libraries of personal development and business courses, which are commonly termed 'soft skills'. This informal term covers non-IT related business skills such as leadership, listening, negotiation and conflict management. IT analysts IDC predicts that spending on online soft skills training will surpass online IT education by next year. In the workplace, business skills are more transferable from one job to the next, whereas technical skills are more specialised and may not apply to future positions. According to Roy Sunley, vice president and general manager of NetG, as management structures flatten out many IT staff are expected to have other skills as well. For example, they must be able to make presentations and chair a meeting. NetG has 300 soft skill courses, which cover the skills needed to work in an office. "Training must fit the business needs of an organisation, the effectiveness must be measurable and return on investment is essential," said Sunley. Companies should do full annual appraisals with their staff and set training objectives, which should then be reviewed quarterly to see if they are being met. ExecuTrain has extensive soft skill libraries of online courses. Anne Kirby, general manager of ExecuTrain Australia and New Zealand, says IT training is still the mainstay of its business but, increasingly, companies are asking for skills courses that are complementary. Soft skill roll-out Insurance company QBE purchased a suite of NetG courseware in October that included 15 soft skill courses on topics covering personal development management and fundamentals of management. As a global company with 6500 employees, QBE has given access to the courseware in English to 3000 employees over the Internet. It uses NetG's skills vantage manager to track usage. Some 2500 employees have accessed the courseware so far, clocking up 1700 hours of use--1000 hours on desktop training and the remainder on soft skills. "The training has been well received despite it being a culture change for employees to learn online," said Peter Mutch, Learning Project Manager, QBE. Other customers of soft skill courses include the ANZ, Austrade, Brisbane Airport Corporation and the Australian Tax Office. Mode of delivery Organisations commonly buy a licence to a suite of courses and make them available over the company's intranet or provide access to the courses on the Internet through a browser by way of an Application Service Provider (ASP). Individual students and other organisations deploy the courseware using a CD. Most soft skill courses can be ordered and paid for online and range in price from $ 350 upwards for a single topic. Many online course vendors provide demoware so you can try a course and see if it is suitable. Of course, this learning style may not suit all clients, nor provide a comprehensive training solution for your company. Rob Gage, manager of National Education and Training Services, is interested in the instructional design of these courses. "I cannot see, for example, how learning team leadership online can be as effective as classroom training. It is crucial the instructional design of the course is right for students to learn," he said. COURSE PROVIDERS Educational Media Australia ExecuTrain Global Knowledge IBM Learn2 NetG Skillgate Skillmaster SkillSoft SmartForce University of New England Zenith Infotech
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Copyright © 2002 Macquarie Institute, Australia
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