Warming Up to Green Training in the Workplace

In today’s world, we face ever increasing concerns about global warming and shortages of energy resources vital to our survival. The need to protect the environment is now part of the budgetary and operational discussions in businesses around the world. In fact, some say that implementing more environmentally sound business practices is one of the greatest business opportunities we will ever have.

Training is essential to taking advantage of the opportunities the green economy offers. In fact, one of the primary success factors in implementing sustainable development initiatives is properly educating everyone in the organization about green issues.

An important aspect of green training as it relates to a training department within an organization is the environmentally-friendly way in which training is conducted. Before a training department starts offering sustainability courses, it needs to ensure that its own practices are green.

One of the main carbon costs to training departments is transporting students to the classroom. Online or e-learning offers education via the Internet and is greener than traditional classroom training that involves traveling to a central training facility. E-learning results in less fuel and paper consumption and offers flexibility and individualization of the learning process.

As the impact of Generations X and Y grows, the self-paced, accessible and interactive nature of e-learning will become increasingly effective.

For example, webinars that allow participants to discuss material via online chat is a practical alternative to classroom training. Learning is enhanced with new technologies that allow you to embed video and synchronize it with lecture slides. An added benefit is the ability to store courses online so they can be viewed again.