Corporate education or business training is the solution adopted by companies to train their employees.
Currently, an increasing number of organizations take the initiative regarding the qualification of their professionals, resorting to online courses to make this process simpler and more economical.
Corporate Education and Online Teaching
Reflecting a generation more connected and comfortable with the virtual environment, entrepreneurs are realizing that using the internet to carry out corporate education is the best option for everyone.
In addition to representing significant savings in infrastructure, the employees themselves prefer to escape conventional training methods, opting to use the technology and flexibility it offers.
Factor that has accelerated the growth of online corporate education, Covid-19 pandemic has served as a “turning point” for many companies, as it has accelerated the trend of migrating from classroom to virtual learning environments.
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According to the survey “Training Panorama in Brazil: Indicators and Trends in Management and T&D 2020/2021”, carried out by Brazilian Association of Training and Development (ABTD), one of the consequences of the pandemic was a 21% drop in face-to-face training compared to 2019, representing 56% of the training hours applied in 2020.
On the other hand, corporate online courses accounted for 37% of the hours invested in training and development, with recorded increase of:
- 19% in online training, not live (self-training);
- 18% in online training, distance learning, with a live teacher (highest).
The other 7% of the training hours took place without the use of technology, through handouts and manuals, for example.
Another important piece of data from the survey, which interviewed 318 respondents, representatives of the industry, services, commerce and public administration sectors, is that companies invested 20% more in Training and Development (T&D), compared to the previous year.
Not even the economic crisis caused by the pandemic prevented an increase between 30% and 40% in the annual investment in training per employee.
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For Roberta Casare, a specialist in the Human Resources area at Compuware, distance learning, aimed at staff training, is beginning to be part of the work routine of many professionals.
“Lower costs, standardization of training and the end of geographic and time barriers are among the factors that make distance training an important qualification tool for companies today”, emphasizes Roberta.
Corporate University: What is it?
After the concept of corporate education popularized in the business world, a new subject has been gaining prominence within companies: the so-called Corporate University.
Many entrepreneurs and Human Resources professionals have already realized that to achieve better results it is necessary to generate greater engagement on the part of employees in relation to the company’s goals.
With this objective, corporate education presents itself as a valuable resource for valuing professionals and their intellectual capital. From this principle came the idea of the Corporate University.
In a simplified way, corporate university is a set of tools and methodologies that aim to develop the technical knowledge and skills of professionals.
Its goal is to provide all the necessary resources for employees to become more qualified to carry out their activities and prepare for the demands of the market.
For this, the Corporate University is an online environment that hosts courses, training, rich materials and specialized content.
Advantages of the Corporate University in business education
The Corporate University emerged as a way of contributing to the training and retention of professionals, where they develop, are educated and valued for that.
In addition to helping the employee to develop new skills and abilities, this corporate education tool helps to spread the corporate culture.
The idea is to make the entire team incorporate concepts such as mission, vision, values and corporate goals.
If there are still doubts about the usefulness and benefits of a Corporate University for your business, check out the advantages listed below:
Focused Training
The Corporate University unifies the objectives of managers and the company in a focused education, presenting better results when compared to the conventional training, since it organizes the content and centralizes the learning solutions according to the needs identified by the company.
Intellectual Development
Basically, Corporate Universities are distinguished from training courses by their analysis and strategic vision. More than training in the operational scope, its teaching stimulates the development of the intellect, which results in a team that is better prepared to solve problems and seek new solutions.
Flexible Teaching
The vast majority of courses and training offered at a Corporate University take place in a virtual environment, which allows employees to have control over their time and pace of learning and access the course from anywhere through computers and mobile devices.
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Apart from all that, we can still cite as advantages: it has a complete learning structure, focus on results management, skills development, corporate culture and learning paths.
Corporate University – Case of the company Azul
A model company when it comes to Corporate Education, in 2013, Azul created its own corporate university, the UniAzul.
A reference in teaching excellence in the sector, UniAzul provided around 72,000 training courses in 2020 and another 19,000 by March 2021.
The idea for creating this virtual learning environment arose from a problem identified by the company: the excessive time that its crew were away from their tasks and families because of the training carried out in São Paulo.
The way out was to resort to distance education. After adapting the training to the virtual environment, today UniAzul offers more than 400 course options, including for aircraft maintenance and cargo management (which require a good dose of practice), but also for sustainability and immersion in the company’s culture.
“With this methodology, the class material arrives at the locations in an agile, standardized way and with the same consistency as the training given in person”, says the vice president of clients Sami Foguel, responsible for the human resources area.
This is an example that makes clear the advantages that technology brings to Corporate Education, and why most companies should not delay adopting this training method.
How to create a Corporate University
With the appropriate assistance, any company can find strategic management, procedure and production solutions for the creation of a Corporate University.
Entrepreneurs must keep in mind that constituting a CU can produce a series of positive results if the process is carried out with good organization.
For this, it is important, first of all, to identify the problems of your company, clearly structuring which strategies should be used to solve such difficulties.
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Considered one of the main minds behind the future of work, Jeanne Meister outlined, in an article in The Knowledge Management Yearbook, the ten steps she considers essential to create a Corporate University. Check it out:
Form a governing system
The chances of success are greater when there is support from the top management. A governance system is essential to define roles and responsibilities, given that a CU is quite different from a training department – behind this, there are very different roles and return expectations between them.
Forge a vision
Visualizing a picture of the company’s future stage transforms the vision of where you want to go with the initiative. Ideally, the vision is the result of a collaborative effort that is both memorable and attainable.
Define a resource strategy
One cannot forget the resources that will support the Corporate University. In general, the direct allocation of resources by the company is usually the largest share of the capital that sustains a UC. But it is also possible to support it by offering courses for suppliers and other partners at modest costs, as well as selling training packages.
Determine the scope
A very common question: “does having a CU mean putting all training under the same umbrella?”. For reasons of efficiency and cost centralization, many training courses and courses must gain synergy; but there are others that don’t need to be under the same structure.
Identify target audiences and their needs
One of the differences between a Corporate University and traditional training is precisely the breadth of the audience they serve. In a UC, the target audience usually reaches a certain value chain, from suppliers and internal collaborators to, in some cases, external consumers. The essential thing is to define the needs of the business in relation to the knowledge aimed at these audiences.
Develop products and services
Once the company clearly knows what it needs in terms of skills, knowledge and competences from its employees, the next step is to develop a matrix of these solutions. This matrix should work as a template to be adapted, updated and rearranged according to the strategic needs of the business and individuals.
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Select learning partners
With the template, it will be possible to find learning partners. They can be groups of consultants, higher education institutions, the company’s own key suppliers and other schools. The secret, in this aspect, is to seek complementarity of knowledge and prestige, in addition to greater possibilities for innovation, fostered by the exchange with other mindsets.
Design a technology strategy
This step is not about deciding whether all content will be e-learning. The question to ask is: “how to train more people, more often, with cost savings and with measurement of results?” A mix of tools and technologies can be the way out. More important, however, is to be open to constant updating, as the speed with which technology advances is increasing.
Imagine a measurement system
The first and greatest objective of creating a Corporate University is to be able to measure the outputs, the results, of the knowledge applied in people’s daily lives. But measurement only appears as the ninth step because, before it, it is necessary to understand what is sought. This is the only way to select the key indicators to compare these lessons learned over time.
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Always communicate
Always share information, values, results and everything else that involves CU. This is important because it generates involvement on the part of the company’s employees, increasing interest and openness to such programs.
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