Mobile Learning Solutions: Overcoming Skills Training Challenges To Maximize Training ROI
Did you know that many organizations find it difficult to hire the right candidates? According to an SHRM report, 75% of such organizations believe it is due to a shortage of skills among applicants. According to Robin Schwartz, Managing Partner of MFG jobs, a company that connects employers to manufacturing job seekers, there is a lack not only of basic employability skills – attendance, timeliness, emotional intelligence – but also those of problem solving and mathematical abilities. Organizations believe that skills training is the right step toward bridging this skills gap. But will employees be able to spare time for that?
Unfortunately, no! Most of them can spare just about 5 minutes for formal learning each day. That means you will have to find a way to make learning an integral part of the daily workflow. So, can mobile learning solutions overcome the challenges in skills training and maximize training ROI? Let’s find out.
Challenges in Skills Training & How Mobile Learning Can Overcome Them
Challenge 1: Limited Scalability of Training
Skills training usually involves classroom training and eLearning. But what about the follow up learning that helps learners apply their knowledge at the workplace? A short video to demonstrate a particular skill or an audio snippet with useful information on the steps to troubleshoot a machine, can all be delivered to a learner’s smartphone through mobile learning.
Here, m-learning solutions score over other forms of training because they let learners learn while they’re on the move or in the field, helping them use their free time to learn and update skills.
Take the example of skills training challenges for employees in a retail industry with outlets in various cities, towns, and remote locations. Getting all learners at one place regularly for a classroom training program, or even getting them to go through lengthy online training is not very practical; it also affects productivity.
Instead, offering learning on smartphones offers an advantage in that training can be scaled up, that too at a reduced cost, thereby maximizing training ROI.
Challenge 2: Barriers in Geographical Location and Language
With many organizations going global, skills training needs to transcend the barriers of location and language. It is not really practical to get all learners together for classroom training. It’s equally impossible to train employees from different hemispheres with different time zones at the same time with virtual instructor-led training (VILT).
So, the best option is to invest in online training. But what if you want to give learners the flexibility of learning anytime, anywhere, and also deliver training in their native language?
eLearning translations can help! Making courses mobile-compatible has the added benefit of allowing learners learn at their own time and pace.
Mobile learning solutions can be used to break the barriers of language and location. When employees are quickly able to use their mobile devices for bite-sized refresher training on the skills that matter to their job, productivity is naturally increased, and along with that comes increased training ROI.
Challenge 3: Lack of Employee Engagement
Working styles and learning preferences are undergoing a sea change in organizations, especially due to the pandemic. Here’s why mobile learning solutions increase learner engagement in skills training:
- Millennials and Gen Z love the convenience of learning on their mobile devices.
- Learners want just-in-time training.
- Learners love the flexibility of learning on the device of their choice.
With seamless delivery of m-learning due to the LMS and the responsive feature of authoring tools, it’s easy to build skills training that is interactive, engaging, and perfect for the mobile screen.
Techniques such as microlearning deliver the right training, in the right size, at the right time. Add to that strategies such as gamification and social learning, and the engagement quotient shoots up, making learning sticky.
When employee engagement is increased, it boosts performance and increases training ROI.
Challenge 4: Problems in Knowledge Retention
One of the biggest problems in training is the ‘forgetting curve’. But you can overcome this with simple processes that slow down forgetting and help knowledge retention.
Mobile learning helps you provide quick refresher modules to employees before they get down to the nitty-gritties of performing a task. And with mobile apps offering offline support for learning, skills training can continue even in the absence of Internet or in situations where learners can’t leave the shop floor or job site.
Immersive mobile learning experiences can be provided through interactive elements and activities. Innovative strategies such as gamification to motivate learners, storytelling to forge an emotional connect with the learner, and quizzes to pique learners’ interests, all help in knowledge retention.
For a client from the Food industry, our mobile learning solution included microlearning quizzes delivered on mobile devices. These modules made effective use of gamification to build learner engagement. Needless to say, this training solution had almost 100% completion rate, with learners able to apply the learning on their tasks at work.
By including role plays and scenarios that mimic real-world experiences, learners are made aware of the relevance of the training to their work challenges, for longer retention of learning and boosting training ROI.
Challenge 5: Need for Different Levels of Training
There is no one-size-fits-all training solution, as the needs of learners as well as the business keep changing continually. For example, part of your workforce may need basic information on a topic, while another may be looking for more in-depth information.
Mobile learning solutions can help tackle this challenge easily as learners can search for microlearning modules that meet their learning needs or help them complete a job task. All a learner needs to do is to pick the right module that helps with their skills training.
Learners can choose to go through an entire skills training curriculum on their mobile devices or simply use a microlearning module as a quick performance support solution. Whatever the need or level of training, learners have complete control over their own learning process.
With mLearning solutions designed to deliver different levels of training, providing learning access to scores of learners across the globe becomes much simpler, resulting in what we call ‘a stakeholder’s delight’ – an increase in training ROI.
It’s a Wrap
It is estimated that by 2025, 75% of the global workforce will consist of the millennials, who have never known a world without mobile devices. To meet these learners where they are, mobile learning is the right solution to go with.
Download the eBook An L&D Manager’s Mobile Learning Guide To Leverage Personalized Content For Skills Training to explore the many reasons why L&D leaders should join the mLearning revolution. You can also join the webinar to discover how to overcome your employee development obstacles with an effective mobile learning strategy.
References
- Training Barriers that Hinder the Use of mLearning
- Mobile Learning Delivery Options to Let Your Learners Access Learning Anywhere
- 5 Training Challenges & E-learning Solutions for the Retail Industry
- Successfully Migrate from Classroom Training to VILT – The “Why” and “How”
- Why Choose Microlearning for Refresher Training?