Volume Two - Academic Conferences

5. Conclusion and discussion
Andrée Roy
The study shows that SMEs in Atlantic Canada use a variety of training methods, as larger
businesses and organizations, in order to provide adequate training to their employees and ensure
that all employees possess current and up-to-date knowledge and skills. They select training methods
according to their training needs and sometimes depending on the offer of training that is accessible
to them, especially for SMEs located in remote areas.
The training methods used include mainly lectures, learning by doing as well as conferences,
exercises and tutorials, formal presentation, computer-based training (CBT), and eLearning. SMEs
offer training to their employees in order to increase their productivity as well as their economic
performance.
In general, SMEs have a very good knowledge of how eLearning can help their business to solve
some of the training problems they encounter and at the same time help them to become more
productive and competitive than traditional training. They are aware that the reduction in total training
costs and time related to eLearning, along with its flexibility and accessibility (24 / 7), allow an
organization to solve some training problems and at the same time be more productive and
competitive. The modularity of the courses, the possibility for the employee to learn at his or her own
pace, a faster upgrade and distribution of training materials, an increased training speed, a reduction
of the time lost from work due to training, a reduction in travel by plane, the privacy associated with
eLearning, and the possibilities to assess more easily the results of training are other characteristics
of eLearning that solve some of the training problems of SMEs. Even SMEs who do not use
eLearning believe that it would allow them to solve some of their training problems and be more
productive and competitive.
A vast range of visual, audiovisual and interactive tools are used by SMEs to train their employees.
Auditory tools are used inside other tools such as slide shows. They are using the tools associated
with eLearning for various reasons. They find that it allows them to use a greater variety of training
tools within the same course and therefore makes the training more adaptable to the various learning
styles and capabilities of employees and solve some of the training problems, such as the lost of
interest of the employees toward the course, sometimes encountered in traditional training.
Therefore, it seems that, based on the case study, ELearning offers SMEs the possibility to solve
some of their training problems and contributes to the economic performance of SMEs in providing
better trained employees.
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