Internal Vs. External Enterprise Learning: What’s the Difference?

We all try to become a better version of ourselves every day. The case is similar in the professional world as well. With the technological advancements and rise in competition, you need to upskill and train yourself. Therefore, training and development programs play a significant role in uplifting your career. There are two types of training that organizations indulge in. One is employee training that is conducted for internal employees. In contrast, the other is extended enterprise learning which is held for the workforce not working in the office but selling your products.

Extended enterprise learning can also be categorized into Customer Training and Partner Training. To explain employee vs. extended learning in detail, look at the factors differentiating the two categories.

Internal and External Enterprise Learning: 7 Key Differences

An employee is an internal part of the company and will require more product knowledge. In extended enterprise learning, the focus will be on strategies to improve sales.

• Mandatory Vs. Voluntary Learner Motivation

  Compliance training is a must if an employee is working with an organization. So, an employee must take up the training course to save their job. In extended enterprise learning, the motivation is to study the sales and psychology of customers and improve the brand’s performance, so they are motivated and driven to learn about the company and its functioning.

• Assigned Content Vs. Discovered Content

  The training is conducted over a Learning Management System where employees are assigned specific modules based on their roles and criteria of learning. But in enterprise learning, their function and standards of education. But in enterprise learning, a lot of research and creativity is involved. They will research the content, domains, categories, rating, and reviews to help the organization serve a purpose.

• Third-Party Vs. Proprietary Content

  Training the employees for skill improvement and growth is a more straightforward task as content can be obtained online. Many platforms like Paradiso Course Cart sell online courses for training purposes. But in extended learning, the content has to be customized and formulated to improve the services and product performance.

• HRMS Integration Vs. CRM Integration

  For employees, the information is stored with the HR department and is mainly of the financial records. But extended training partners’ data is stored in the Customer Relational Management (CRM) software according to their demographic information. The employee information is stored in the back office, whereas the latter can be called a front office.

• Certificates Vs. Gamification Badges

  Certificates and badges are the rewards for recognizing your hard work; Employees get certificates when they complete training which they can share on social media and on other sources to prove their efficiency and get better growth opportunities. At the same time, badges are for partners, which they can show as earnings with relevant data, expiry, badge title, and description. These digital credentials are followed throughout their career for growth and recognition.

• Free Vs. Paid (eCommerce features)

  Content creation is a time-consuming process; therefore, many originations need to provide eLearning content to their employees for free. Organizations charge an amount to provide certification and training to their extended enterprises and channel partners, which adds excellent revenue to their business. Organization can extend their sales by offering landing pages, subscriptions, discounts, bundling, digital advertising, conversion funnels, payment gateways, etc. Therefore, these tools and techniques are a great way to generate additional revenues.

• LMS Notifications Vs. Email Marketing Systems

  Learning Management System sends notifications and emails to learners about the training and tracks the progress of completing tasks. For example, in extended enterprise learning, the partners are given information via email marketing systems like MailChimp or Drip. The LMS follows when a user login into the system and tracks activities and events attended.

Final Thoughts …

The learning community has transformed in the past years and has gained a lot of potential. Employee learning is simpler and convenient whereas extended enterprise learning may get you to encounter complex situations. But to benefit your organization and see revenue growth the challenge is worth. The key differences are stated above, now the choice is yours.