What is Custom E-Learning for Businesses?
You want training that fits your business perfectly. But…
Off-the-shelf courses don’t quite meet your needs.
You need training that engages your employees, not just ticks a compliance box.
You’re unsure how to create a learning experience that delivers real change.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
Custom e-learning is explicitly designed for your business.
It isn’t generic.
It isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.
It’s built around your organisation’s goals, challenges, and people.
And it isn’t about making something flashy.
Custom e-learning is about designing learning that fits how your business actually works.
What do we mean by “custom e-learning”?
At its simplest, custom e-learning brings together three things:
Your business knowledge + learning expertise + technology = custom e-learning
The balance between those three, not the technology alone, is what determines whether learning actually changes performance.
Let’s break that down.
Your business knowledge
This is your expertise.
The processes, decisions, judgement calls, and ways of working that keep your business running.
It might live in:
manuals or policies
PowerPoint decks
shared drives
people’s heads
Custom e-learning takes that knowledge and turns it into a learning experience people can actually engage with and apply, rather than something they skim, forget, or avoid.
Learning expertise
This is where instructional design comes in.
Good learning doesn’t just present information.
It helps people:
think differently
make better decisions
change how they act at work
Whether the goal is reducing errors, improving service, or building confidence, learning expertise shapes how information is delivered so it sticks.
That expertise can sit:
in-house
with external support
or with a specialist who designs and builds learning with you
There isn’t one “right” model, just what fits your context.
Technology
E-learning technology has evolved hugely.
You no longer need:
complex systems
massive budgets
or specialist IT teams
You need two things:
A way to create learning
This might be interactive e-learning software, video, guided activities, or scenario-based tools.A way to deliver it
That could be:a learning management system (LMS)
an intranet
a learning portal
or even collaboration tools like Teams or Slack
There’s no “best” technology, only what works for your business and your people.
The right fit for your business
There’s no single correct version of custom e-learning.
What works depends on:
what you want to change or improve
who your learners are
how learning fits into the working day
your budget and timescales
Custom learning might be:
scenario-based decision-making
bite-sized learning for busy teams
onboarding support
or more immersive experiences
Some businesses create learning themselves using tools and templates.
Others want guidance and structure.
Some prefer to hand it over entirely.
All are valid approaches.
Before you build anything, get clear
One of the biggest mistakes businesses make with custom e-learning isn’t choosing the wrong tool, it’s building before they’re clear on the problem.
That’s why, before designing or developing learning, many organisations step back and ask:
What’s actually not working right now?
Is this a skills issue, a process issue, or a clarity issue?
What would “better” look like in practice?
This is exactly what my Define & Align service is designed to support.
It helps businesses:
clarify the real performance challenge
decide whether learning is the right response
define what any solution needs to do before anything is built
It removes guesswork and ensures that if you do invest in custom e-learning, it’s for the right reasons.
Bringing training to life
Custom e-learning isn’t just another task on the to-do list.
When it’s done well, it:
supports real work
respects people’s time
and leads to practical change
It doesn’t need to be complicated or overwhelming, but it does need to be intentional.
If you’re unsure whether custom e-learning is the right next step, or you want to talk through your options before committing budget or time, I offer free, no-obligation discovery calls for SMEs.
They’re simply a chance to:
talk through what’s going on
sense-check whether learning is the right lever
and work out a sensible next step
No pressure. No pitch. Just clarity.
Because the goal isn’t “more learning”.
It’s better performance, supported by learning that fits.