6 Strategies To Enhance Skills Development And Employee Performance
Getting the most from your team requires an ongoing effort—and a commitment to training. However, this doesn’t have to feel like a burden; in fact, it can even be fun. A team that is better prepared and has the very latest knowledge to do the job will give you the best possible results. Also, helping your team improve their skills and abilities benefits your bottom line in more ways than you might think. To do so, you have to focus on speeding up skills training.
Your team can hone their skills to help the business thrive, but when your employees sharpen their skills, it can also increase job satisfaction, decrease churn, and maybe even enhance their pay, or bring other advantages. Especially in today’s changing business environment, eLearning is the go-to method to implement skills training and take your bottom line to new heights at the same time.
Use these tips to speed up eLearning so that you and your employees can enjoy the benefits as soon as possible.
LMS Overview
For most companies, a Learning Management System (LMS) is already in place, but just in case you’re not familiar with this technology, an LMS is a corporate training platform that your team can access online, meaning they can learn from almost anywhere and on any device. A few leading LMSs even come with a built-in course content library with courses ranging from customer service to leadership development to workplace health and safety.
Typically, a Learning and Development (L&D) professional administers the system, but in some cases, Human Resources (HR) will manage the platform, especially if compliance and employee onboarding are two key areas for training.
From the end user's side, people receive a login to the system and are usually assigned courses and/or learning paths to complete according to the company’s requirements. The LMS stores all courses and supplemental learning materials in a single location, so users and managers don’t need to look through several devices or servers to access the training.
Admins or managers can monitor their progress along the way, making sure that the training is being completed. They can see the areas in which team members need help and further learning, as well as areas of strength and high competency.
Learning management software is the most effective and affordable way to upskill or reskill employees and help them reach higher levels of success, but it also makes them even more valuable to your business, creating a win-win situation. Here are 6 specific strategies to maximize the win-win for your company:
1. Care About Content
One of the most critical elements of a learning program that engages and empowers learners toward optimal performance is the content within the LMS. Whether you create it yourself or curate it from an off-the-shelf course library, content is the lifeblood of your learning program. One question to ask yourself before rolling out a new course is “Would I want to take this training?” If the answer is no, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and think about ways to use video, microlearning, professional Instructional Design, or other techniques to increase learner engagement with more compelling content. You’ll boost employee performance with programs they—and you—care about.
2. Require Soft Skills Training
If you want to boost employee performance with a Learning Management System, implement soft skills training across the board. Soft skills are skills that team members can use in various aspects of their job, whether working with coworkers or customers. Some examples include communication skills, time management, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Some people think that only team members in customer-facing positions need this type of training, but that’s simply not the case. Training in soft skills benefits everyone, regardless of role or job level within the organization.
3. Implement Leadership Training
Companies may not know which members of a team have management potential unless they’re given the opportunity to develop into those positions—and lots of employees see these opportunities as a compelling reason to stay with a company. Even for people already in formal leadership positions, developing management skills should be an ongoing aspect of their job. Skills such as strategic planning, delegating tasks, managing meetings, and resolving conflict can be sharpened to help teams run more efficiently.
4. Match Training With Interests
Matching training with interests is one of the best ways to improve the learning process. Managers can meet with individuals to evaluate areas of interest that improve how they perform their current job, as well as beyond their current role. For example, a manager could discover a team member who’s interested in public speaking. With some training, that person could start representing the company at events or webinars. Had the conversation not been had, this talent may never have been discovered or leveraged for the betterment of the employee and the company.
Matching people with the skills they want to learn tends to boost employee performance more than trying to force them to learn things for which they have no passion. This is not to say that people won’t have to do training that isn’t of particular interest—things like compliance or other mandatory training—but if the majority of courses spark interest, the general perception of the learning program should be positive.
5. Make Learning Fun
Gamification is a powerful way to improve the learning process and is a built-in feature in leading LMSs. Gamification is the use of game elements—points, for example—in activities that are not games. In the case of workforce eLearning, gamification most often takes the form of adding points, badges, and leaderboards to courses. If a learner completes a module, they get a certain number of points. If they complete a certain number of modules, they’ve earned a badge. Learners compete against each other to show off their level of competency within certain skills or learning paths. The element of competition increases engagement and excitement and keeps learners coming back for more.
6. Always Go Mobile
With the latest research showing that "Americans check their phone on average once every 12 minutes" (yes, that's 80 times a day) as reported by the New York Post [1], it's no wonder that all eyes in corporate learning are also on mobile. Our handheld devices are a very powerful tool in helping boost employee performance. One of the top benefits of mobile learning with regards to boosting employee performance is convenience. Able to be accessed 24 hours, 7 days a week, from anywhere, mobile learning ensures that employees have access to training at all times. The convenience increases the odds that training will be completed, which in turn creates better outcomes.
Dig in the eBook The New Essentials Of Employee Training: Cultivating Engagement And Enjoyment to discover more about what employee training has to offer when implemented correctly, focused on engagement and joy!
References:
[1] Americans check their phones 80 times a day: study
