3 Ways to Refresh Your Methods of Training and Development

Training and development are vital components of organizational health. Not only do they support greater employee satisfaction, but they also directly contribute to your company’s overall success.

Traditional methods of training and development simply don’t work in the digital workplace.

As the nature of work evolves, employers need to think outside of the box to refresh their approach to training.

Your old school methods of training and development no longer work

Training in a classroom is disruptive to the workday and delivers poor knowledge retention. This is particularly true when it comes to software training, as it is difficult to remember how to perform long or complex digital processes simply by watching a demo or listening to a trainer.

Classroom learning may seem like an inexpensive option, but you will pay for it later. According to Ebbinghaus’s theory of the learning curve, people forget 50-80% of new information after one day.

Webinars and training manuals also tend to fall flat. They are static, not very engaging, and fall out of date very quickly.

In this article, we will examine three successful methods of training and see how they can contribute to better staff engagement and improved development.

1. Contextual learning

Contextual learning is fast becoming one of the most sought after methods of training and development for its highly personalized and accessible format.

The 2018 Workplace Learning Report found that 58% of employees prefer to learn at their own pace and 49% of employees prefer to learn at the point of need.

Contextual learning is one of the most effective ways to fulfill these needs.

Solutions that enable contextual learning use algorithms to analyze a broad range of factors specific to each individual user. This enables a high level of personalization to really engage employees in their training and development. These factors could include their position in the company, previous user behavior, KPIs, and tasks.

By taking these figures into account and providing step-by-step guidance, you can ensure greater knowledge retention and engagement without pulling employees away from their work.

It also empowers employees to be independent and learn at their own pace.

Whether they are simply learning an update to a feature or encountering the whole system for the first time, contextual learning will engage them in a way that is specific to their needs.

Dive Deeper: The Employee Training Manifesto for Enhanced Productivity

2. Video training

Video training is fast becoming one of the most popular methods of training within organizations. It’s becoming increasingly popular among executives, with 44% of senior leaders indicating they believe video will be the “go-to” form of communication for companies within the next five years.

Videos are also more engaging for employees. 75% of employees are more likely to watch a video than to read an article or manual. In fact, some of the biggest names in business have adopted video learning for their employees.

For example, IBM created its own YouTube channel of creative training videos.

This means they are accessible at all times to employees. Employees can also upload their own training videos creating a shared learning space. By giving the employees the ownership to access and upload their own videos, the company is able to truly engage their employees and deliver fresh methods of training and development.

3. Gamification

Turning learning into a game is one way to get your employees engaged and excited. Humans learn best by actually performing tasks, and making this into a game is a memorable way to encourage learning.

Methods of training and development that combine fun or competition with instructional design are great ways to keep an employee engaged as they undergo training.

By adding an element of fun you can remove some of the pressure, which is especially useful for new hires who are absorbing huge quantities of new information every day.

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Give your methods of training and development a boost

When assessing the efficacy of your methods of employee training and development, you should focus on a few key points:

• Does it enable knowledge retention?
• Does it foster engagement?
• Does it take time away from actual work?

If you want your training to be effective, you must depart from traditional training methods, tailor your approach to employees’ individual needs, and make it fun.

By WalkMe Team

WalkMe pioneered the Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) for organizations to utilize the full potential of their digital assets. Using artificial intelligence, machine learning and contextual guidance, WalkMe adds a dynamic user interface layer to raise the digital literacy of all users.