Downtime is a great time to upskill, with Business SA offering a raft of courses

Business SA has recently launched a range of new courses online which you can use to develop your skills during this challenging time.

There are plenty of training courses which can help you upskill says Business SA.

We are often hearing about the need for organisations to “pivot” themselves to remain competitive.

As the peak industry body in South Australia, Business SA is doing exactly that and has very recently launched 80 new training courses online.

If your doors are closed or sales are down due to COVID-19, there is a way to keep the wheels turning and all it takes is a click of a button. Online training courses provide the opportunity for professional development and workforce engagement. Whether it is learning new skills or enhancing existing ones, you can use this downtime wisely to upskill with Business SA’s online training courses.

With more than 80 online courses to choose from, topics include improving your leaderships skills, project management, business writing, digital transformation and writing winning proposals. There is a suite of courses related to working from home as well as human resources courses including performance management, employee accountability, conflict resolution and employee recognition.

There are also courses relevant to what your business is dealing with right now. For example, the “Cyber security when working remotely” short training course looks at increased cyber threats and outlines the steps that employers and employees can take to protect their organisation’s data as well as their own personal data.

There are short courses on crisis management, which will help you understand the importance of developing a plan that will help you to prevent, respond, and recover from many crises. Other short courses cover stress management, critical thinking and how to develop public relations strategies, all of which may be very useful in the days and weeks ahead.

Focusing on your staff’s professional development right now will ensure your workforce is ready to hit the ground running when the doors re-open.

Investing in professional development is a great way to contribute positively to the mental health of your workforce, particularly when many are working from home or on reduced hours.

COVID-19 may also have exposed gaps or risks in your business operations where you might currently lack the skills or knowledge required. You can use this time to fill the knowledge gap so that your business is better prepared in the future.

Business SA’s online courses are specifically designed to be bite-sized and can be completed online anytime, anywhere. You can choose the time and pace of learning and most courses can be completed within 20-45 minutes. In addition to the short online training courses, Business SA has also made the full suite of Health and Safety Representative programs available in an online classroom delivery format.

To find out more about Business SA’s new online courses, visit www.business-sa.com/training-online

Jenny Briggs is Business SA executive director of employer solutions and programs