How NextGen Can Assist You Address Your Biggest Training Challenges: 6 Ways
Managing a training initiative has never been an easy task. It’s a big job to deliver all of the pertinent information to the right people. You would think, in this information age, the task would be easier, but it’s more challenging now than it’s ever been. Learners don’t have the attention spans they used to have, they’re more prone to changing jobs, and their expectations have evolved.
To meet the problems of today, we can’t blindly rely on the training methods of yesterday. Developers have created innovative online solutions that generate high levels of user engagement, yet many learning managers are reluctant to step into the unknown. Their traditional methods may be tried and tested, but that doesn’t make them future-proof. Here are a few ways that NextGen learning technology can help you address your biggest training challenges.
1. Keeping Up With Change
It’s not just technology that’s evolving at a higher rate than ever. Learning and Development professionals have to face bigger changes in their organizations. In times of economic uncertainty, training managers must demonstrate the value of the learning program, whilst dealing with shrinking budgets. With these larger changes, it can be tempting to hunker down, take fewer risks and stick with what you know best.
The problem is, these older methods aren’t as effective as they may once have been. Learners can’t easily absorb the contents of a 30-minute-long eLearning unit, and it’s almost impossible to track any behavioral impact. Taking a microlearning approach lets you create training content faster, and it isn’t such a chore for the learners. This alone means they’re more likely to voluntarily engage with the training program.
2. Engaging All Learners
Engagement is something that keeps every Learning and Development professional awake at night. It’s difficult to justify the value of a training program if the learners don’t engage with it. In fact, without learner engagement, there is no training program. It goes further than that though; if an organization can’t create engaging development programs, employees won’t realize their true potential. This impacts their attitude and their perception of the organization, and may result in bigger employee engagement issues.
It’s important to realize that the sheep-dip approach doesn’t have a glowing record of success. Learners have always been a diverse group with a wide range of individual needs. They want training that feels like it’s been built for them. Today’s learning technology lets you create custom learning journeys, filled with elements of collaboration and even game-play. The result is a training initiative that the learners use because they want to, not just because it’s 'compulsory'.
3. Growing Future Leaders
Anybody can train someone else to be 'good enough' to do their job. No self-respecting training manager aims for 'adequate' – they have grander ambitions than that! They want to give their organization what it really needs – the leaders of tomorrow. With the sluggish training methods of yesteryear, this isn’t an easy thing to do, especially at a time when job-hopping is rife.
Today’s learning technology can help you better communicate the value of the training, and show how it relates to the individual’s progression. Performance management tools can be added to a Learning Management System, letting managers track Key Performance Indicators and competencies, and recommend the right training to deal with any skills gaps. The NextGen Learning Management System itself has become a personal learning space for each user. They can build their own profile showcasing their achievements and talents. This makes it easier for managers to identify the best candidates for internal recruitment.
4. Maintaining Consistency
In the halcyon days, when legacy learning platforms were still relevant, it was easier to keep your training content consistent. Back then, the world moved a lot slower. Now, a training unit that was accurate last year, might require significant updates because of yet another unexpected change in legislation. With change happening at such a rate, it’s too much to ask of a single person (or even a single team) to monitor all of the training content.
NextGen learning platforms are built as collaborative tools that harness the power of crowds. Simply allowing the learners to rate, review and leave comments on training units gives them the ability to highlight inconsistent messages. These platforms, also, give you a lot more customization options, letting you create a strong central theme that reinforces your organization’s vision and values. When everybody is speaking the same language, it’s a lot easier to create a consistent experience.
5. Creating Measurable Behavior Change
You can give your learners all the knowledge they need to do their jobs properly and progress in their careers. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll apply what they’ve learned. This is one of the biggest pitfalls in traditional training delivery. Outside of the occasional assessment, there’s no way to know if the training has had any impact at all. At the heart of every learning objective is a desired behavioral outcome, and if you can’t measure that, you can’t prove that your training is delivering a return.
Today’s advanced learning technology solutions don’t rely so heavily on the 10% of learning gained through formal training. They’ve been developed to tap into social and experiential learning too. Mobile learning solutions let the learners carry their platform with them, making it easier to integrate training in their working day. With more opportunities to interact, managers have more chances to measure how the learners are applying their training. Modern learning technology also lets them be more creative with learning objectives. Instead of limiting themselves to multiple-choice questions, they can ask learners to take photographs, record videos or even create their own content. This gives learning managers something that traditional methods can’t – a glimpse at how the training is impacting the learners in the real world.
6. Getting Top Management On Board
If you’re lucky, senior management in your organization is composed of training advocates who are passionate about professional development. It’s more likely that they’re concerned with the financial impact of the training. Is it delivering real improvements that can be measured in numbers? If the learning platform doesn’t get the engagement you need, there will be little if anything to justify your training budget at the end of the year.
A NextGen LMS is your best ally. With exciting game mechanics, you can coax learners to log in repeatedly and voluntarily explore their training material. Customization options let you shape the platform to fit the unique needs of your business. On top of that, social functionality can turn your platform into more than a mere LMS. It can become a central hub for all knowledge in your organization, a discussion area where innovative new ideas are born, and an online community that brings every area of the business together. When you can secure universal engagement throughout the organization, the people at the top won’t be able to ignore it, and they might even insist on playing their own role.
Final Words
Nobody ever said it was going to be easy, but there’s no reason to make training management any harder than it has to be. Once you free yourself from the ineffective training methods of the past, and embrace the potential of NextGen learning technologies, you’ll finally have the tools you need to build something better. This won’t make your challenges disappear, and it might even give you more challenges to think about. In the end though, you’ll stand a better chance of transforming your organization into one with a strong learning culture. Once you get there, you can look back, knowing it was all worthwhile.