7 Ways to Fulfill Employees’ Learning Expectations

Once pandemic restrictions are lifted, nearly 25% of employees plan to look for a different job. This decision could dramatically impact your business. However, you can take the time now to set up your business to keep employees engaged.

One of the best ways to support engagement is by meeting employees’ learning expectations. Not providing training could mean the difference between losing great employees or keeping them. Review seven ways to fulfill employees’ learning expectations.

It’s not just for new hires
When new employees are hired, you spend a lot of time with them the first few months teaching them about your business and training them to do their job. Within a few months, the training tapers off and occurs less frequently. After a few years on the job, training and learning experiences are rare unless employees specifically ask for them. However, employees want continuous training and learning experiences. This is especially true for remote workers. Since they aren’t in the office, they miss educational opportunities and training programs. Develop a strategy to provide regular training experiences that fit employees’ needs.

Personalize training to the job
Before designing a training program, ask employees about the learning experiences they want. This doesn’t need to be a complex process. Develop a questionnaire that you share by email or set up an online survey tool asking workers to prioritize topics and write additional training ideas. Compile the list of what employees want. Add the knowledge and skills you’d like each employee to acquire to improve their performance and productivity, a training process known as upskilling. These ideas could include making better sales presentations, connecting with new and current clients, communicating clearly through emails or personal contacts, or improving product knowledge. Now use online training software to create personalized training modules to fit employees’ interests and needs. Make sure to organize training modules into “bite-size” microlearning experiences – less than 10 minutes – to keep employees’ attention.

Offer training anytime, anywhere
Employees prefer online learning experiences so they can engage with the training on digital devices anytime and anywhere. Employees are more likely to watch online modules that can be catered to their schedule and preferred device (smartphone, tablet or computer).

Communicate learning objectives with a set schedule
When developing training modules, be transparent about the expected goals for the training program. Identify objectives and completion schedules for each segment. When setting the schedule, make sure to give employees ample time to watch each module and do any homework, such as a quiz, that they need to finish. Set up a perk or reward that employees will receive after completing a set number of modules. If possible, provide a growth plan for positions. List the required knowledge and skills employees need to be considered for a promotion with new responsibilities and job titles.

Set up collaborative learning
During the pandemic, most employees have worked from home. Although teams have gathered weekly through online meetings, workers miss personal contact with other employees and the opportunity to collaborate with other team members. Encourage employees to engage in online learning experiences together. For example, if you want employees to improve their PowerPoint skills, set up learning experiences so employees can work together on the project, such as a new sales tool for a new product. Through the experience, employees will learn from each other as they figure out how to set up the presentation. Once the project is completed, ask teams to share what they learned with other workers. This expands training experiences for all employees. Plus, the employees who serve as the “teachers” are considered experts on the topic who other workers will consult when needing help in a similar project.

Provide new learning experiences
After setting up the first set up training modules, ask employees for feedback as they participate in the segments. Next, start working on new training sessions, incorporating workers’ ideas to improve the learning experiences. Continually ask your team for suggestions for future training topics. Develop a schedule to produce these new segments. Ask employees to help you develop and tape the content. This frees you up to give direction and advice, so you can work on other projects essential for your business growth.

Source:

Yahoo Finance