The Importance of Continued Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Welcome to the Quarantined with Qualtrax series! Through these webinars, we will bring together industry experts and provide critical insights that will help you and your team adjust and thrive during the pandemic.

To kick things off, we sat down with Natalia Larrimer from ANSI National Accreditation Board to talk about the benefits of continued learning and the challenges of doing it remotely. Natalia has over 16 years of experience in the assessment industry and her portfolio includes work with both industry groups and standards-developing committees.

If you missed this first episode in our series, it’s not too late! You can view it here.

COVID-19 has made business continuity a challenge! You’re probably determining which projects need your full attention, while others are sent to the back burner due to time and resource constraints. According to Natalia, learning is a nonnegotiable when deciding your top priorities.

Why should I make time for learning when there is already so much on my plate?

Investing in continued learning is essential for your organization’s survival. Your company won’t remain competitive without investing in training and you can’t expect meaningful career growth without up-to-date knowledge in your field.

Luckily, there’s never been a better time to learn a new skill or brush up on old ones. Many learning platforms have opened up free or reduced-price memberships to the public to help us all find ways to stay productive and fulfilled as we spend more time isolated. Qualtrax has a library full of educational webinars that are free to download. Our webinars cover a range of topics including: ISO/IEC 17025 equipment record and calibration requirements, the power of process automation, sustaining CAP/CLIA accreditation and more!

I’m ready to start training, now what?

First things first, you need to know your goals! You have to define the skills you have and what you want to achieve through training.

One thing to remember is that education is an investment and you must do your research when choosing a course or program! Unfortunately, not all training is created equal and you have to ask the right questions before committing your time and resources.

A few questions to ask when considering third-party training:

• What does the trainer understand about my industry?
• What expertise was consulted during the development of the materials?
• If this is a certification related training, is it the certification body that is providing the training?
• What technical knowledge and industry experience was used to develop the training?
• If I choose a private training model for my organization, can it be tailored to my industry?
• Is progress measured through quizzes, exams or exercises?
• Will the certificate issued meet my needs?

Questions to ask when reviewing organization training needs:

• Is there a need to refresh on accreditation or certification standards?
• Is there an area causing issues in my organization?
• Do staff need an overall QMS refresher?
• Do staff understand the drive behind certain processes?
• Are there any cross-training needs?

Remote Training

As the spread of COVID-19 has resulted in the cancellation of in-person training, remote learning is our only option. Luckily, remote learning opportunities often come with a lower price tag and a more flexible, self-paced schedule. On the flip side, remote learning can create a disconnect between you and the trainer.

How to make online training work:

• Treat it as a major project
• Set goals for yourself and stay on task
• Allocate your time wisely
• Don’t schedule anything too close to the training
• Turn off your phone and email to avoid distractions

We regularly hear that competency and training are a big challenge for our peers and customers. Oftentimes, the difficulty of training is paired with the struggle to document the training and resulting competency appropriately, especially when your organization needs to meet the demands of ISO 9001, ISO 17020, ISO 17025 or any other standard.

How Qualtrax can help

We have an entire segment of our all-inclusive platform dedicated to testing and training. Tests are fully customizable and can be as simple as an acknowledgement of having read the document or as complex as a multiple-choice/true-false test with documents to read and videos to watch. The system automatically grades the tests and records the scores, which are visible to employees and system administrators.

The reporting function of the platform enables you to see how an entire team performed on a certain assessment and also shows who has completed the required training. Some of our customers have also built custom workflows to manage CEU credits. Adding automation to your day allows you to spend more time investing in your own growth.

If you would like to speak with us about how Qualtrax or ANSI National Accreditation Board can help you adjust and thrive in today’s new working environment, please let us know!

You can reach out to Qualtrax here.

You can also connect with Natalia Larrimer with ANAB here.

Categories: Compliance Management, Process Management, Quality Managers, Training

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