Be it for onboarding, upskilling or reskilling, employees need guidance to grow, stay informed on the latest trends, and feel a sense of growth and belonging in a company. In fact, 55% of workers have reported they need more training to perform better in their roles.

To improve their learning and development (L&D) initiatives, employers must move past traditional methods like endless PDFs and unamusing videos that fail to engage employees and tarnish their learning experience.

There are several advantages to investing in better L&D programs, like increasing employee retention and productivity. Supporting workers with innovative approaches pays dividends to companies who take the leap.

To solve this issue, Training-as-a-Service has emerged in recent years as a subscription-based platform for companies to upload their own training material, like a streaming service available on-demand. While such service helps companies store and host training materials for their employees to access at any time, this is only the tip of the iceberg for better training.

Streaming-as-a-Service through a proprietary platform gives employers full control and autonomy of the content they upload, as if having their personalized Netflix-like platform solely for employee development. As a result, they can freely and safely share trade secrets and train employees via videos, podcasts and even audiobooks.

Let’s explore the advantages of adopting a corporate Streaming-as-a-Service platform to enhance L&D initiatives.

In-House and Proprietary Content

A Forbes article cites a claim that 75% of companies say they will implement customized employee learning programs. However, this valiant effort can become tricky if they’re forfeiting all content rights to their subscription-based training platform, especially if they contain sensitive information.

Streaming-as-a-Service platforms for corporate needs have a strong competitive advantage: implementing privacy. Companies developing this service craft a proprietary streaming platform for each enterprise, allowing them to host their training and communications in one seamless place and giving them full autonomy of their in-house content.

Developers make these streaming services to fit the company’s needs, where employers can assign their own admins and content curators — no need for intervention from the hosting company unless there are bug fixes or platform improvements.

Thus, enterprises can personalize their training and get as specific as possible without worrying about the privacy of their information, especially when it comes to sharing trade secrets during upskilling or onboarding sessions.

The platforms can be web or mobile app based, so employees have access to training material from a laptop or smartphone on the go. So, it’s like scrolling through a streaming app and looking for the desired content.

Attractive Material With Engagement Metrics

A corporate Streaming-as-a-Service platform can offer formats such as podcasts, video, and audiobooks. For example, instead of sharing a PDF for onboarding, newcomers can listen to an audiobook or engage the subject via a podcast hosted by co-workers.

Despite many employees preferring videos for training, podcasting is a booming format that is growing at an annual rate of 28% — and 74% of listeners say they tune in to learn new things. Podcasts have captured people’s attention as it encompasses any genre and allows people to listen while multitasking. This makes it a great format to explore new subjects, listen to stories, and hear the news during the day.

Podcasting can be a double whammy for employees: They can take a break to have fun creating the training material, and trainees will enjoy and engage with it in their free time or during working hours.

But how can employers ascertain content engagement rates? Streaming-as-a-Service providers usually develop audio and video players, which capture data to track listenership and other metrics.

Obtaining such data lets employers know the rates of engaged listeners/viewers, time listened/viewed, and content someone is pending to check out. As a result, companies can evaluate which training materials perform better than others and work on new ways to engage employees.

Higher Employee Retention Thanks to Skill Building

An Adecco report revealed that 50% of employees don’t feel like companies invest in their skills, which affects their retention in the long run. A Streaming-as-a-Service platform that feels like a regular mobile app can make learning easier and lets workers know that leaders are willing to invest in their employees’ development with a dedicated training service.

Moreover, offering employees a proprietary app that allows them to hone their talents in a fun and modern way motivates them to give their best at work; they’re part of a company that helps them fulfill their professional needs.

Moving away from Training-as-a-Service subscription programs and hosting a proprietary Streaming-as-a-Service platform gives companies a safe place to train their employees however they choose. It also broadens their format options, making L&D initiatives more engaging. Just like the future of entertainment lies in streaming platforms, employee training should go the same route to deliver worthwhile upskilling, reskilling and onboarding content.