It seems that the days in which employers look down on job candidates who earn their degrees through accredited online universities is coming to an end. According to a recent SHrM poll, “76 percent of human resources professionals said online degrees are viewed more favorably than five years ago.”

A major reason for this is due to the proliferation of the web in our ever day lives. In the past 10 years, the business world has changed before our very eyes (can you imagine an office setting without email?). It should come as no surprise that there is a direct positive correlation between the growth of the web and the acceptance of online learning.

Another reason employers are looking more favorably at online degrees is because of the use of online learning in the corporate environment. Companies have been investing heavily in custom Learning Management Systems and Learning Content Management Systems for some time now.

We here at Aspen Organization Development Consulting have seen the power the web can bring to a multitude of areas in business, not least of is employee training and development and organizational development. That’s why we launched Learning @…

Till now, small, emerging companies that do not have the budgets of their larger counterparts have forgone the benefits online learning tools can bring to the party. However, with a tool like Learning @… even the smallest company can do things such as:

• Deliver key messages from management
• Provide employee performance information
• Share company policies and procedures
• Host an online learning resources library
• Publicize company learning events and seminars
• And, probably most importantly, deliver online training courses

If you haven’t taken a look at our landing pages yet, I encourage you to do so. Check them out here: www.learning-at.com. And be sure to sign-up for our complimentary newsletter to see how Learning @… can benefit you employees and organization.

A current article on SHrM.org details the necessity for companies to invest in their employees and lists some worrying trends in financial industry.

The article notes that many banks and financial organizations who have been hit hard by the current economic recession are cutting corners by not investing in their current employees. When I use the word “investing,” I am specifically referring to employee training and development. As the economy begins to improve, employees will begin to feel restless and ready to emerge from this economic winter and spread their proverbial wings other organization;s that is, unless companies take the time and money to provide training opportunities so that they may develop their business acumen skill sets and transition into higher roles within the company.

Theresa Minton-Eversole, author of the article Retention’s Business Case for Banking Industry Training, Study Shows, states, “U.S. banks spend an average of just $650 per employee on training, while successful companies in other industries spend an average of $1,100 per employee, according to a recently released talent management study conducted by the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Corporate Executive Board (CEB). A survey of more than 3,500 bank CEOs asked about their organization’s talent management practices revealed that while banks fill 60 percent of their openings from within, 40 percent of responding bank CEOs believe that they are not doing enough to help their employees grow. Respondents said they believe that this is hurting succession planning.” These are worrying statistics.

As an organizational leader and/or a Human Resources manager, it is important to balance the company’s need to develop its employees while also being mindful of financial cost; after all, we’re not totally out of the economic woods yet. This is where a tool like Learning @… can help: not only is it a robust online employee learning application that can deliver customized training and development modules, it is a cost-effective system that employees can access 24/7, over and over again—all it requires is a user name and password.

Welcome to the Learning @… Blog, the place to get all the news and updates around the new organizational online learning product from Aspen Organization Development Consulting.

My name is Ben Nash and I am the Creative Director at Aspen Organization Development Consulting and a developer of Learning @… On this blog I will post news and events surrounding Learning @… as well as commentary and my thoughts on human resources and organizational development news that I feel connect with our great new employee learning product.

I will post news and pictures here a couple times a week, but if you’re looking for more HR and OD news and commentary, check out our other blogs: the Aspen Organization Development Consulting Blog and DailyHRTips.com.

One last thing—this blog may look a little sparse right now, but i’ll spruce it up as soon as I can. Oh, and if any of you are looking to get a blog up and running in a hurry, I highly recommend tumblr. This is my first time using it after building several other blogs on the Wordpress and Blogger platforms and, I have to say, this is probably the best user experience I’ve ever had with getting a robust blog up and active. Just an FYI

Ok, I already said one last thing, but I just wanted to say—before anyone asks—yes, that is my ugly mug up there in the right hand corner