Using online staff training to increase skills

24 October 2019

Updated June 2025

For UK SMEs, keeping your staff skilled and compliant isn’t just a “nice-to-have” – it’s non-negotiable. Whether you’re hiring your first employee or expanding across multiple sites, your team needs the right knowledge to stay safe, efficient and within the law.

But what’s the most effective, affordable way to train a busy team? You guessed it: online staff training.

Let’s explore how moving your training online can be a game-changer for HR managers, people managers and L&D leads in small businesses – especially when compliance, convenience and cost-effectiveness are front of mind.

Why SMEs are moving to online staff training

Traditional, in-person training isn’t always built for the pace or pressures of small businesses. Time off the floor? Expensive. Trainers? Not always available. Admin? Endless.

So what’s the answer? Online compliance training. 

With a reliable, easy-to-use L&D platform for small businesses in the UK, you can roll out courses that are flexible, affordable and trackable – all from one central dashboard. This isn’t about replacing human-led learning, it’s about making smart use of tech to:

• reduce admin time,
• ensure up-to-date, accredited content, and
• easily evidence compliance training records.

Explore our LMS for small businesses.

The real impact: upskilling, performance development and compliance, all in one place

Online staff training doesn’t just tick boxes – it builds capability. When you give your team access to practical, bite-sized learning, they’re more likely to:

• retain information,
• stay compliant with changing laws and regulations, and
• feel confident in their day-to-day roles.

This is especially important for mandatory compliance training for UK employees in SMEs covering areas like:

• GDPR awareness
• Equality, diversity and discrimination awareness
• Fire safety
• Manual handling
• Anti-bribery and corruption

Looking to understand exactly what you need in your business? Recommended read: Staff training legal requirements.

Online training helps SMEs do more with less

Small teams often wear many hats. Your office manager might also handle HR. Your team lead might be responsible for onboarding new staff. You may not have a full L&D function. That’s where a time-saving learning solution for SME teams comes in.

Online platforms simplify delivery and allow you to:

• assign training by role or department,
• track completion and compliance with automated reporting,
• upskill staff without costly interruptions.

In fact, it’s one of the best ways to stay compliant with limited L&D resources in a small UK business.

Built-in compliance – no guesswork

When you use a UK LMS platform with ready-made compliance content, you can be confident your staff members are getting what they need. At Staff Skills academy+, we offer:

• GDPR compliance training for HR managers in the UK
• Health and safety induction training for new employees
• Equality and diversity awareness training
• Fire safety awareness training for UK office workers
• …and much more

Explore our full list of courses here.

These are continually updated with current legislation and best practices – so you can stop second-guessing and start training with peace of mind.

A smarter way to grow team capabilities

Online learning isn’t just about compliance – it’s a great way to grow future-ready teams.

Need to give new team leads a head start? Try our leadership training for first-time managers in the UK.

Want to build more confident managers? Look at our mentoring and coaching skills training for people managers, team leads and other employees.

Trying to align training to bigger business goals? Why not read our blog on identifying the purpose behind your L&D strategy.

The key is to use relevant tools to meet your business where it’s at – then scale as you grow.

Tracking and reporting made easy

We understand: you’re under pressure to prove compliance. That’s why our LMS includes:

• certifications: 700+ courses are CPD certified, with relevant subjects also certified by RoSPA and the CMA
• a compliance matrix – track at business, team or individual level; trusted for Ofsted and CQC reviews
• granular reporting to ensure you get the detail that matters – from organisation-wide trends to individual progress. 

Whether it’s a new hire’s GDPR training certificate or tracking your team’s manual handling certification, you’ll have the evidence to hand when you need it.

Get started today with a cost-effective solution

You don’t need a huge budget or a big team to deliver brilliant training. With our affordable compliance LMS, small businesses can:

• get instant access to 700+ CPD certified courses
• train staff remotely or in-office (we also offer instructor-led courses, if that’s better for you)
• automate the admin and get back to business – saving you valuable time and effort.

If you’re still asking, “Do SMEs in the UK need compliance training?”, the answer is yes – and the quickest, easiest and most cost-effective way to do it is online.

Recommended read: Staff training costs.

Ready to upskill and stay compliant?

Why not book a demo with one of our team today. We’ll show you how easy it is to use our platform and get your staff certified – quickly, simply, affordably.

Let us make training the simplest part of your job – because growing a skilled, confident and compliant team shouldn’t be hard – and with the right digital training tools UK SMEs trust, it won’t be.

About Staff Skills academy+

Whether you’re looking to meet legal requirements or grow your team’s skills in person or online, at Staff Skills academy+ we’re here to help. Our customised LMS makes it simple to assign training, track progress and upskill your workforce. And our range of 700+ CPD and RoSPA-certified courses covers everything from mandatory compliance training to industry-specific knowledge, plus an extensive suite of soft skills courses to boost employee performance. 

We’ve also recently launched our new Wellbeing hub. Clients can now access a library of movement classes from fitness industry leader Les Mills, and mindfulness and meditation classes from mental health platform, MindLabs. Clients now have everything they need to upskill and retain their staff. Could we be the right fit for your business? Why not have a look and see what we do, or book a call with one of our team today.