You walk in, sit down, get the familiarizations done and over with and your attention is drawn to slide one. The trainer introduces themselves and the first sentence is probably the most credible gauge you have on your potential for attention. It depletes regardless, and five slides in, your notes keep getting shorter, you muffle a yawn and eyeball the deck to locate the number of slides to go. You’re trying your best not to zone out to the endless possibilities that exist within the human mind or resort to the boredom reflex that is checking your phone. None of it matters because you’ll get notes emailed to you anyway. Classroom training sucks. It’s a structured information overload and at best it assesses nothing more than your ability to focus on focusing while assessments assess retention over application. Most employee training programs end up falling short of their goals, yielding only 20%-30% information retention and skill application.
But we still keep at it. Why? It’s important, that’s something we all agree on. Any organization’s operational efficiency, process optimization, research and development all depend on a pro-learning, skilled workforce. But since we can’t afford holograms or immersive VR just yet, how can you make training work?
We’ve failed to realize that the problem has several key factors.
Relevance reverence — Most view training as a mandatory, run of the mill, have-to-get-over-with requirement for employment. It’s often a precursor to knowing the basics and then learning on the job as opposed to base fundamentals for best practices or work flow optimization. As per the findings of a study published by Chief Learning Officer in 2016, 45 percent of workers reported that the training they go through is not relevant to their job needs.
The generational divide — Baby boomers are the resistance, believing they already know what they need to know thanks to experience. A major study by Gallup reports that only 40% of baby boomers even feel that the opportunity to learn and grow on the job is important. Millennials ask a lot of questions and having grown up in the information age, they are used to getting all the answers. They don’t necessarily buy in to the theory that they need to sit through a tedious day-long training program to have their questions answered. Google can easily do that for them.
Timing is everything — Eyes roll when mandatory training is mentioned if not in the open, definitely in secret. “Do I really have to come? I have a meeting with…” and your mind grapples with figuring out the most senior person you know who’s cool enough to cover. To be honest, most often it isn’t about excuses, it’s about meeting uncompromising deadlines or customers, it’s about that personal matter that can’t be postponed because of an extra work commitment. Training can sometimes be the last thing on a stressed-out employee’s mind, and it’s also simply ineffective. Studies conducted on learning and memory have reported that learning under stress significantly reduces recall and recognition performance.
The solution of course is pretty straightforward. A full-fledged LMS. But here are some main points you need to look at if you are considering one.
Here, there, everywhere — Course or content on your platform should be accessible on demand anywhere here on earth (with decent mobile data connectivity) and accessible on any device plugged or unplugged. A survey conducted by Deloitte showed that mobile phone penetration averaged 90% in all countries surveyed, meaning your employees already have a device that can be used to access content anywhere, anytime. This allows anyone to study on demand at their own pace at a time their world isn’t crumbling around them. Using a digital platform also means that courses can constantly be updated and expanded to increase relevance, offering continuous professional development.
Getting engaged — A marriage of great content and interactive elements can produce immediate and meaningful engagement. Rich content including video and graphic aids and questions that are beyond just MCQ style radio buttons can make all the difference. The study interactivity effect in multimedia learning found that students using an interactive digital based learning program outperformed those who used a non-interactive program, supporting the hypothesis that interactive features facilitate learning by actively engaging the learner. Furthermore, ranks and gamification drive healthy competition, letting users gain cred online and offline as star performers.
Troubling Trouble — Troubleshooting options in resolving problems and features that enhance innovation are always a bonus for any organization. Groundbreaking operational optimization ideas that can save your business millions of dollars are not always hatched in the boardroom. Creative employees can solve challenges connected to their experiences and knowledge faster and easier than those who are removed from the situation. Good social and discussion features can help shy employees communicate and weed out talkers who dictate.
These are just three aspects of what a good LMS solution should do for you before taking your money. If you are looking for an LMS Solution that can help optimize your training engagement, visit www.getlayup.com. Don’t take our word for it, compare it with industry solutions and make your assessment. If you think you’re interested send us an email, we’re looking forward to helping your organization unlock your training engagement potential.
