"While training should take its fair share of budget cuts, failure to develop staff hits competence, motivation, productivity, and ultimately customer service and profitability - just at the time when finding and keeping customers is vital", explained Echelon's CEO, Alistair Morrison.

"When everyone else is following the traditional line of reducing training spending, it's important to gain competitive advantage by maintaining your investment in people and performance", he added. "However, this can now be done at a significantly lower cost."

Morrison argues that traditional classroom-based training alone is both expensive and time consuming - commodities that are likely to be in short supply for the foreseeable future. He adds: "For many subjects, this can be replaced with equally educationally effective but lower-cost interactive, online learning. Text-based and fully-featured eLearning further reduces costs and administrative overheads".

"A wide range of interactive devices can be incorporated to make the learning fully immersive, together with self-assessment to reinforce study and provide evidence of understanding and progress. The addition of graphics, audio, and video elements can be achieved economically where their use is essential for the learning design."

Echelon's more than twenty years of experience has demonstrated the value of online learning time and again because it creates the initial knowledge and then remains available to remind people of that knowledge when they require it in their jobs.

"Echelon has built a library of more than 2,000 generic learning modules that offers even lower-cost access to quality learning and development", Morrison said. "Well-designed text-based learning delivers knowledge and skills efficiently and can be deployed quickly - which is another bonus in times of rapid change", he adds. "So, rather than follow 'conventional wisdom' of only developing staff when times are good, Echelon firmly recommends that organisations invest wisely now to capture new customers and retain employee and customer loyalty."