Companies Use COVID-19 Downtime To Educate Their Workforce Online

In
the wake of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, many companies are left
wondering; what is their best course of action? With the number of cases on the
rise, the government has mandated limited physical exposure and stressed that
large group gatherings be halted. Last week, Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland addressed
these concerns at a conference. According to his address, the State of Maryland
has prohibited gatherings of more than 50 people and “Planned large gatherings and events must be canceled or
postponed until after termination of the state of emergency and the
proclamation of the catastrophic health emergency has been rescinded.”
(Maryland.gov). This has led to restricted hours or closings of many stores,
restaurants, movie theaters, bars, gyms, and churches among other
establishments. Multiple states like California, New York and New Jersey have
even gone as far as issuing “stay at home” orders to their millions of
residents.

These drastic but necessary changes have also left a lot of employers in a
tough situation. How will organizations continue to profit with employees out
of work? How will employees be compensated for their work and how will COVID
-19 impact future operations? Along with these very real tactical concerns
there is the given that the business will continue to operate long after the Coronavirus
has run its course. In the current situation it is clear that there may be some
lapses or down time in normal operation activity, so what can be done if
employers’ workforces suddenly experience periods of downtime?

Just
as many educational institutions have responded to the crisis by moving their
classes online, businesses have adopted the option as well. They see this period
of downtime as an opportunity to upskill their personnel to ensure they have
needed knowledge, skills and abilities to meet future demands, strengthening
the effectiveness and productivity of the entire organization. Organizations
now have the time to address skills gaps or they can choose to gain necessary
training to remain compliant. One such company is looking to obtain training
courses for their employees. Due to the COVID -19 pandemic, said company has
had to resort to an alternating schedule; one week on and one week off. During
the off week the company has elected to offer their employees pay for taking
certification classes. As such, the company reached out to Phoenix TS. Phoenix
TS is currently offering a comprehensive list of over 400 virtual trainings. These
certifications include CompTIA Security +, CompTIA Network +, and ISC2 CISSP certifications
to name a few. Phoenix TS has supported the decision for companies to take
their trainings online by giving clients the option for discounted virtual
trainings. Phoenix TS is aware of the concerns their customers have during this
time and wants to ensure that health and safety are a top priority.

Organizations see this period of downtime as an opportunity to upskill their personnel to ensure they have needed knowledge, skills and abilities to meet future demands, strengthening the effectiveness and productivity of the entire organization.

Social
distancing prevents panic and helps to stop the spread of the virus. (Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention). Virtual training allows people to practice
social distancing while continuing to work or advance their education.

As
the world is waiting to see what happens next, many are left wondering how long
we will be in this predicament and if completely virtual training environments
will become inevitable. Ian
Holliday, vice-president and pro vice-chancellor (teaching and learning) at
the University of Hong Kong (HKU) weighed in on the educational changes that
have taken place in China over the course of the COVID -19 outbreak. Holiday
believes that educational institutions have no choice but to adapt to an
extensive online curriculum. Holiday explains, “many colleges will make
permanent changes to their teaching practices as a result of what happens in
these few weeks” (THE World University Rankings). Haniash Coates, the director of
the Higher Education Division of the Institute of Education at Tsinghua
University agrees. Coates believes that, “there will
almost certainly be a post-virus boom” in online higher education. (THE World
University Rankings).

A post virus boom in virtual learning is
something educational institutions must consider. The emergence of the Coronavirus
has proven that quick adaptation is necessary to maintain order. Currently
order is being maintained because of online options. In the future, virtual
learning may just prove to be education’s best practice.

For
more information about online courses offered at Phoenix TS, visit: our website
at https:///phoenixts.com/online/. For best pricing
discounts call, 240-667-7757.

The post Companies use COVID-19 Downtime to Educate their Workforce Online appeared first on Phoenix TS.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Blog – Phoenix TS authored by pts-ned. Read the original post at: https://phoenixts.com/blog/companies-use-covid-19-downtime-to-educate-their-workforce-online/