The firm has said that companies offering such opportunities expect demand to remain as organisations move towards the ‘new normal’.

MHA Henderson Loggie provides support for Scottish business leaders through a combination of face to face professionally facilitated workshops and online training modules provided through Mindshop, a global provider of online business training solutions.

David Smith, MHA Henderson Loggie managing director and accredited Mindshop facilitator, said: “Our Business Leader Groups have been running in Scotland for over a decade and we are finding the coronavirus crisis has fast-tracked companies’ plans for digital transformation and that people have been prioritising building capability training during lockdown. In the last month, 3,024 people have started online leadership training courses with our training programme partner Mindshop, that’s an increase of 1790%. I expect the upward trend to continue as people adapt and realise the payback of being able to access quality training materials at their own pace.

“When Scotland went into lockdown we began to offer a choice of 21 free online training courses to offer some help to businesses to cope with the changes. The most popular course has been one on personal resilience, followed by courses in self-confidence, personal growth, leadership and time management. It is interesting, but perhaps not unexpected, to see the spike in interest in courses that help with stress and mindset.”

Wendy Edie, managing director of eCom, the Fife-based digital learning and assessment company established almost 25 years ago that counts major public sector organisations, global private enterprises and household name charities among its clients. She is experiencing a sharp rise in inbound enquiries, and 55,000 people are now engaged in COVID-related e-learning programmes provided through eCom’s solutions.

She added: “Those companies which began investing in digital learning resources last year are reaping the benefits now. Others who have been shocked into taking action are having to manage a quick turnaround to meet the demands of a remote workforce, and it’s unlikely they will revert to their old ways of working and classroom training after this.

“The uplift in enquiries from companies looking for online training solutions is encouraging. Online learning offers lots of flexibility, but it also requires changes in behaviour.  Employers and employees must establish mutual trust and the need for trusted learning technology to provide secure access and recording of learner progress is even more prevalent.”

Like MHA Henderson Loggie, eCom has seen significant demand for the free learning modules offered that relate to health and wellbeing, with the largest number of hits on topics relating to teen mental health. As the schools move to a plan of blended learning for the new school term, eCom expects to see ever-increasing uplift for online learning for all ages.

Founded in Dundee almost 30 years ago by father-and-son team Andi and Andy Lothian, Insights is now a global leader in self-awareness and people development solutions. Today the company has offices in 18 countries and a presence in more than 90. Its clients include more than 80% of both the S&P and FTSE 100 indexes, and some of the biggest names in the world of sport, pharmaceuticals and technology including Nike, Google, Microsoft and LinkedIn.

Marcus Wylie, Insights head of learning and experience, said: “Insights has been running free weekly webinars since before lockdown, with the aim of strengthening our global community and keeping learning alive. Average weekly attendance is around 400 people, with people dialling in from across the UK and Europe, North America and Asia. In last week’s webinar former Scotland rugby captain John Barclay shared some top tips for building mental toughness during the coronavirus crisis.

“Insights innovative people development solutions have traditionally been delivered face-to-face in ‘classroom’ settings. However, when people started to self-isolate and physically distance as a result of the coronavirus crisis, we responded quickly and pivoted to a ‘virtual first’ delivery model. Since mid-March, we have delivered 21 education webinars to help our global practitioner community upskill for virtual delivery, and in the space of a few short weeks, we have developed and launched five new virtual products. We’re also working on several new virtual products, which will launch very soon. Our virtual solutions have great learning outcomes, with the same engagement and enjoyment as our face to face sessions – and we’re getting great feedback from our customers.

“As physical distancing measures are relaxed around the world and we transition into the ‘new normal’, we fully expect our virtual solutions to remain as popular and well subscribed as our face-to-face experiences.”

• Read all of our articles relating to COVID-19 here.