5 Top Learning And Development Challenges To Consider In 2018
L&D professionals are able to facilitate personal growth and goal achievement, which makes it a highly rewarding career. However, there are still plenty of twists-and-turns in the road of success to consider. Here are the top 5 Learning And Development challenges that L&D professionals may have to contend, as well as tips to prevent them.
1. Lack Of Learner Engagement And Motivation
There is a variety of reasons why corporate learners disengage from the learning process. It may be that they are pressed for time or dealing with external distractions. Stress is yet another force that they must reckon with. As a result, lack of learner engagement and motivation is one of the major Learning And Development challenges. If corporate learners aren't actively participating, then they aren't getting the full benefit from your online training course.
One of the most effective ways to engage, inspire, and motivate corporate learners is to create immersive online training content. This may include real-world online training simulations, branching scenarios, or emotionally-compelling stories. The key is to draw them in right from the start so that they forget about all the distractions that stand in the way. Another top tip is to make it relevant and relatable. Corporate learners are more likely to engage if they know it will help them in the real world. For example, their newfound skills will allow them to be more productive on the job or solve a common problem.
2. Ambiguous Objectives
L&D professionals have to deal with ambiguous objectives at both ends of the spectrum. Clients or stakeholders may not have a clear idea of what they want or how to achieve it. This makes it difficult to create concise online training content that achieves the desired outcome, primarily because the outcome is uncertain or ambiguous. Likewise, corporate learners may not be aware of their personal skills or performance gaps. As such, you cannot create customized objectives to suit their needs.
Research allows you to create succinct objectives and goals. Meet with your clients or stakeholders to identify online training pain points. Then, use the gaps to outline the desired outcomes. The next step is surveying and assessing your audience. Focus on their expectations, personal preferences, and performance issues.
3. Measuring Online Training Success
You're fortunate enough to have clearly defined objectives already in place. But how do you measure learner progress and performance? Or the effectiveness of your online training strategy? You must also define success and how it relates to the desired outcomes. For example, an organization may need to improve their customer service scores. As such, their idea of success centers on building communication and interpersonal skills among their workforce.
The first step is to determine which assessment method is best. Qualitative or quantitative? Qualitative assessments are ideal for skills and performance evaluations. For example, monitoring a corporate learner's task proficiency. Quantitative assessments tell you how much a corporate learner knows, which yields measurable raw data, such as statistics that you can convert into graphs and charts through your LMS. This helps you identify trends and patterns that allow you to improve your online training strategy and track the gaps.
4. Appealing To A Multi-Generational Audience
Your audience is comprised of unique individuals from all walks of life. Baby boomers and millennials, alike, expect the same benefits from your online training courses. As such, appealing to a broad audience is one of the most common Learning and Development challenges today. In addition to different age groups, you must also consider the backgrounds and experience levels of your corporate learners. For example, cultural norms that have an impact on your eLearning course design.
Certain generations are more comfortable with technology, while others may have to deal with a steep learning curve. Therefore, you might consider online training tutorials and walkthroughs to assist newcomers. Also, provide mobile-friendly online training resources to keep up with younger generations who expect responsive online training content. Use a responsive design eLearning authoring tool that will automatically adjust your online training content to any device. Once again, researching your audience and identifying their needs is a top priority. This gives you a clear indication of what they need from the online training experience and why they are participating in the first place. Thus, you're able to deliver the online training content they require in an easily digestible format.
5. Creating Memorable And Meaningful Online Training Content
No matter how you define success, there is one rule that every L&D strategy must follow. The online training experience has to stick. Corporate learners must be able to remember the online training content and apply it in the real world. In other words, it has to leave a lasting impression. First and foremost, every participant should be able to find meaning and tie new ideas to pre-existing knowledge. But how do you create personal and profound online training courses for remote audiences?
Memorable online training content improves knowledge retention and recall, while meaningful online training content helps corporate learners assimilate the information more effectively. This is why it's essential to check both of these boxes off your L&D list. Incorporate relatable characters into your eLearning course design. Tell corporate learners a story and pair it with thought-provoking images taken from the online asset library of your LMS. Ask questions that compel them to evaluate their own cognitions and reflect on past experiences. Encourage them to create online training materials using the resources and skills they already have. All of these online training activities reinforce the key takeaways and facilitate more powerful online training experiences.
Don't let these Learning And Development challenges prevent you from developing meaningful online training experiences. Use this article as a guide to create targeted goals, engage your corporate learners, and make your online training content memorable, even if you have limited experience in Learning and Development.
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