However, experienced learning and development leaders often find that online learning alone for leadership development has its weaknesses. Employees often lose interest when it’s just them and the software tool – no human connection or someone cheering them on or holding them accountable. And an online course in leader development lacks the exclusivity and panache as compared to executive coaching or to being selected for a cohort workshop of rising leaders.
What’s the solution? The impact of online learning grows even stronger when paired with coaching, as it helps managers turn newly acquired skills into mastery and action. In this post, discover how this integrated solution can be both affordable and effective. Here’s how it can help you develop stronger leaders at every level.
Online Manager Training as a Skill-Building Powerhouse
Online learning is at the core of the modern talent development strategy. It enables training delivery across a broader employee population and is the learning method preferred by most employees. In a Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey, 70% of employees said they prefer self-paced online training above all other learning formats.
Online manager training can be delivered as self-paced video courses or interactive group sessions, and it can enhance your leadership development program in the following ways:
- Maximizes leadership impact: Teaches critical skills that directly influence team performance and engagement, such as time management, change management, and communication skills.
- Makes training more affordable: Reduces costs associated with travel, training venues, and in-person facilitation.
- Supports remote learning: Makes training content accessible to managers in any location.
- Provides measurable insights: Learning analytics help HR and L&D teams track engagement and completion rates.
- Integrates with other learning formats: Can be combined with other learning and development solutions, including assessment and feedback tools, peer learning, and microcoaching.
- Fits into the flow of work: Integrates into a manager’s busy day better than instructor-led or group training with fixed times.
- Makes learning interactive: May feature gamification and discussion boards to create a more fun and practical learning experience.
How to Maximize the Impact of Online Manager Training
Online training is a flexible and affordable way to build leadership capability, but it can fall short when used alone. While senior leaders receive executive coaching, 360-degree feedback, and in-person workshops, middle and frontline managers often have limited access to these high-touch development experiences. Instead, they receive online training and maybe little else. This kind of approach creates two significant obstacles.
- Low learner engagement: Learning from a laptop screen can feel impersonal and uninspiring for many managers. Moreover, without the added “prestige” of one-on-one coaching and formal assessments, managers may see online training as less worthwhile and not make it a priority. Many HR and L&D leaders echo this concern. In a recent IMPACT Group survey, 63% said it’s a challenge to keep learners engaged with online content.
- Employees feel the impact: Frontline managers directly shape the employee experience. But if they don’t get the right support to grow as leaders, their teams miss out too. Without strong leadership, employees don’t receive the coaching and guidance they need to succeed.
A powerful way to tackle these challenges is by pairing online manager training with coaching. It’s a more affordable and scalable solution than online training alone and brings the benefits of personalized coaching to even more managers, including middle, frontline, and emerging managers. Given these advantages, it’s not surprising that 51% of organizations told us they want to explore this powerful combination.
Here are four critical areas where truly scalable online manager training can make a difference in your leader development programs:
Change Management
Change affects all employees, but research suggests that managers carry the greatest burden in navigating it. A 2024 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that managers experience higher levels of emotional exhaustion during organizational change, which can reduce their ability to lead effectively. Online training is an excellent way to help managers understand their role as change champions, and coaching gives them support to apply what they’ve learned in real-time.
Difficult Conversations
Giving feedback, addressing performance issues, and resolving conflicts are all part of a manager’s role. Online modules introduce techniques for handling tough conversations, and coaching provides managers with reinforcement via practice, reflection exercises, and personalized guidance.
Priority Management
In a world of competing demands, managers can only be effective if they learn what to prioritize and when to delegate. Online training is an excellent solution for teaching practical strategies like time-blocking and improving team workflows. Coaching helps managers build habits that incorporate those strategies.
Leading Remote and Hybrid Teams
Managing remote employees can be difficult, and managers can fall into habits that weaken their leadership effectiveness. Combining online training with coaching helps managers see the importance of building trust and accountability in virtual settings and how they can achieve it within their team.
Ready to Elevate Your Managers? Explore Link Learn Coach™
Through our work with organizations across multiple industries and regions, we’ve discovered a powerful truth: scalable manager training is most effective when it combines personalized coaching with online learning. That’s why we created Link Learn Coach™, a microcoaching solution that meets frontline and mid-level managers where they are, with bite-sized learning and real-time guidance.
Link Learn Coach™ is an eight-week leader development program that incorporates LinkedIn Learning® content to blend expert-led content with personalized microcoaching sessions. Managers work with their coach to apply what they learn online and, week-by-week, build critical leadership skills in areas such as leading remote teams, managing change, and handling tough conversations.
Want to see how it works? See how this leader at Emerson describes his experience with Link Learn Coach.
Discover Microcoaching in Action at Emerson
-Evan Dial, manager at Emerson
