3 Ways to Make the Most of Training Opportunities

• 3 min read

friendly businessman showing ok signThe objective of training is to acquire and learn new skills that will allow employees to achieve greater efficiency and productivity in the workplace.

With new technological advances, training is being transformed into more personalized and customized learning. Not only is it time and cost saving but it has proven more effective in helping employees learn and retain information and skills. With constant access and use of the internet, an increase of learning agility allows employees to take information from a wide variety of sources and convert them into knowledge and wisdom.

Do & Perform:

According to research, 94% of professionals seek to speed up the learning process in the workplace however only 23% are successful. This just goes to show that to implement a successful and effective training program, it is important to have practical applications in place to verify employee knowledge retention and offer hands-on experience. Recently, e-learning initiatives use gamification to increase knowledge retention. In 2014, 80% of organizations use gamification in their business practice to change behavior, develop skills and enable innovation. In addition, with improved social media platforms and customer recognition, more potential for innovative training exists. The creation of new training content should be customized to each individual business and employee. This provides your staff with the feeling that not only are their needs being met but that the company cares about them on an individual level. There are several ways to accomplish this. One way of accomplishing this is through a mentoring program where the transition into new positions is eases, and an outlet has been created for new employees to seek advice and information about their duties.

Short & Memorable:

“Chunked Learning” is the process of breaking down information into smaller pieces for the brain to retain easier. This technique is being used to help employees learn and retain information better and faster.  In the USA seven digit phone numbers are usually divided into two chunks as in the number 765-1074. This process of separating information into larger blocks makes it easier to learn and retain. In 2014, 90% of content providers said they were going to use this technique extensively. With that in mind, personalized learning is also more efficient in helping employees learn quickly and efficiently. Personalized learning can be conducted through customized online courses, articles, books, videos and online practice groups. These resources can be personalized to the learning needs of each employee.

 

Watch & Learn:

Yankee Groups Anywhere Unified Communications FastView Survey participants found that employees learn 200% more when information is presented in a video, absorbs information 40% faster and retains 38% more information than audio. Traditional classroom based mass instruction is becoming a secondary source of help for employees to develop the knowledge and skills they need to be successful. New technological innovations such as the tablet or the smart phone expedites the process of learning where a manager can help a direct report learn about the new safety standards through a video send. Laptops, tablets and smart phones are making learning possible anytime, anywhere and with any one. 40% of businesses are using mobile learning as part of their recruitment and training initiatives. However, successful incorporation of mobile technology must incorporate user needs, appropriate platforms, intuitive design and corporate standards to be effective.

The future of training programs will become more interactive than ever before. Companies are now looking for a more online unified learning experience as this can realize many cost and time savings. It is important to commit your organization training initiatives to more practical hands-on applications, memorable learning and video-bound training. There are many companies that offer Learning management and training solutions. For example Docebo’s LMS is an elearning platform that provides a full set of features – the system can be scaled to any sized business and customized to user needs.

About the author

Jason

Jason Silberman is Marketing Director at WalkMe, an interactive online guidance system and engagement platform, which reduces training times and costs, while raising performance levels. He is also the lead author and editor of Training Station, a blog devoted to news and ideas on training, learning and employee performance. Follow him at @tstationblog