How To Improve Your Company Training Programs
The ultimate success or failure of a company depends on a number of things, but there is arguably none more important than proper training. It is a foolish manager who falls into the trap of believing every new hire should already be well versed in every aspect of their new job. Rather, every employee should be given the opportunity to grow at your company from the minute they sign on. Proper training is something that helps an employee to reach their full potential, and benefits both employee and company in multitudes. As such, it makes sense that the top companies are constantly testing and trying new training methods for their employees, and tweaking where necessary. Luckily, in this digital age, it is easier than ever to find a training program that works for everybody. Here are some of the recent advances in eLearning that will improve your company training programs.
1. Mobile Learning
Where training -or any kind of learning for that matter- was once limited to the classroom, advances in technology have opened up a whole world of opportunities that have transformed the nature of training forever. Now mobile learning is a viable option - employees can start and stop their training whenever and from wherever they want.
This has many obvious benefits. First, it’s a much more user friendly experience, one which employees are more likely to enjoy and get more out of, and will thus be reflected in their feelings towards the company. Second, it provides a training experience that is also more beneficial to you, the manager. You can update modules, get in contact with your employees, and change anything you need at the drop of a hat.
2. Gamification
Around 75 percent of your workforce is likely to consider themselves at least casual gamers. While gaming was once reserved for hardcore gamers, the prevalence of smart mobile devices means that almost everyone is playing video games in some form or another - we need only look to the success of Pokemon Go for proof.
It makes sense that gamification would succeed in a work environment. Creating a sense of friendly competition in training taps into most people’s natural competitive instincts, and also allows you and them to view their progress in a concrete way. Gamification and mobile learning go hand in hand, and the former is made significantly easier by the latter.
3. Social Learning
Something that ties both mobile learning and gamification together quite nicely is social media. Of all the technological developments in the past decade, perhaps one of the most surprising was the rise of social media. Of course, in hindsight it makes sense that we would eventually tap into the ability of technology to ease communication and bring people closer together.
Because of this, social media has earned a place in the workplace, and specifically in training the training industry. It not only allows you to connect with your employees, but it allows them to connect with each other, track their progress, and even acquire new knowledge from other professionals in the field.
4. Short-Form Video
Though a physical classroom with an instructor is no longer a necessity, that doesn’t mean the classroom atmosphere isn’t thriving. The rise of short-form video means instructors can speak at length to break down difficult topics and concepts for employees, allowing them to have the same experience they would in a classroom, but from the comfort of their own home.
Since many people are visual or auditory learners, it is not always effective to train employees using masses of text. Visual content is an easy way to break it up and provide some clarity for certain points, especially tasks that need to be watched to be understood. It is certainly one of the biggest eLearning advances that will help your company.
Final Thoughts
Technology has changed the way that we do things in so many ways, and employee training is no different. A good manager is constantly looking at their training program and adapting it when necessary - whether it’s because something is not working, or because there are new methods that will make things even better. And with the technology that is available now, we have the tools to make training programs sleeker and more effective than they have ever been. It’s up to you to take advantage of that and improve your company training programs.
Want to learn more about the trends making a difference in Learning and Development? Read AllenComm’s 2016 Training Trends ebook.
