For a couple of years now – if not more – attractive training policy has become the bargaining chip for the companies wishing to recruit the top specialists on the market. For candidates and employees alike, the crucial incentives which motivate them to work are, unanimously, the development opportunities, following the remuneration and the benefits scheme.
Employers spend more and more on trainings and are considerably eager to make use of modern development tools. The latter are particularly appreciated by managers, for whom traditional direct trainings imply the employees’ absence and the resulting need to make up for it. A great example of a modern tool is e-learning, which proves perfect in the situations where it is necessary to standardize the processes, communicate with the clients in a consistent manner, and possess product knowledge.
That’s not all, though! The wide array of courses available on remote platforms makes it possible to gain knowledge in numerous fields. The employees’ development is not limited to obligatory ‘hard’ trainings but it also entails soft skills courses, which both increase their effectiveness and build up their involvement and self-confidence.
The access to trainings is one thing; another issue is their efficiency and the appeal they hold for the employees. Even the most valuable courses will not meet their goals if they are not adjusted to the participants’ needs or if their content is presented in a boring, monotonous way. Can one structure engaging e-learning courses for employees be that would be also useful? Yes, they can! If you follow a couple of guidelines listed here, the form and content of the course will act as a magnet to your employees.
Tip 1: Start from the beginning
The employees’ satisfaction with the training is based on their awareness of the benefits of participation. Introducing and executing a complex training policy, taking into account the analysis of the employees’ needs, planning individual career paths, and only then adapting the tools to them – that’s the key to success, which is, in fact, the growth in the employees’ effectiveness. Just by adding clear, multi-level, and bilateral communication to this, you get a perfect recipe. The combination of these elements will guarantee the employees’ awareness of their need to learn and self-develop.
You must also bear in mind that communication with your employees does not end with the issues that directly concern them and their positions. Comprehensive communication regarding the development plans of the company, its objectives and strategy as well as proper change management in the organization ensure the understanding of the sense and the wider context of the performance of daily duties. To put it simpler, if the employees are fully aware of the roles and the meaning of their work for the organization, they will be more willing to engage in additional activities, including the participation in trainings.
Tip 2: Create a spellbinding course
Technology provides us with amazing opportunities of creation of gripping and engaging trainings. Let’s just use them! Virtual reality and gamification have settled in many other walks of life. They are successfully employed by training companies and HR departments. Another great idea is the use of storytelling, which has been extremely popular in the world of marketing recently. An interesting, funny, moving, and well-told story, including the main subject or message of the training, will certainly stay in the users’ minds. It is also a good idea to make use of any available tool: videos, infographics, or quizzes. The options are plenty – however, the form is not enough. The most important aspect of a course is its content, rooted in the reality which the participants are familiar with and can relate to.
Tip 3: Create a training social network
What usually puts the employees off when it comes to e-learning is the lack of interaction with other users. However, taking part in an online course does not necessarily mean the users have no contact with each other. The top-notch e-learning platforms allow the creation of training groups, where the participants are able to share information and knowledge, give and receive feedback, as well as support and compete with each other. The shared areas of interests connect people from different departments, cities, or even countries. Thanks to this, remote courses retain the human factor, at the same time increasing their own value and attractiveness.
Tip 4: Share knowledge in manageable chunks, here and now
How to make an employee happy with the training? By sharing knowledge in little units and providing time to use it in practice. The concepts of micro- and nano-learning have been present and immensely popular in the world of business for a few years now. The idea of lifelong learning is hindered by information overload and difficulties in catching up with everyday tasks. The solution lies in short, several-minute-long lessons, presenting knowledge in a nutshell, in attractive recordings or videos. They are frequently available for mobile devices as well these days. They can be used to pass knowledge in various fields or in broader subjects, divided into smaller parts, in any place, at any time.
Tip 5: Refer to real-life situations
The most engaging e-learning courses for employees are those that address actual questions and solves real-life problems. It’s a good idea then to devote some time to placing the content of the course in the context of the employees’ work environment. If the course is directed at managers who conduct job interviews – work with your internal job descriptions. If the training concerns customer service standards – refer to the challenges faced by your employees on a daily basis. The more the course is relatable to real-life situations, the more the employees will be satisfied with the training and its usefulness.
Tip 6: Take care of additional details
All studies have demonstrated that extrinsic motivation does not last long. Nevertheless, it is worth considering the setup of a reward system for the participation in e-learning courses – at least, in two cases. Firstly, when the e-learning platform is being implemented or when e-learning has been added to the training offer; secondly, when crucial changes are introduced in the company, which require numerous updates and the standardisation of knowledge for all the employees in a short time. In these cases, the additional perks will encourage the employees to take part in the trainings and they will provide them with short-term, and yet effective motivation. This will help you reach your goals and the employees will enjoy the extra benefits.
There are also other elements of training which must be taken into consideration not only to boost its results but also to enhance the employees’ satisfaction when the training is completed. These could be e-learning courses with a certificate which confirms the acquired expertise, an easily accessible database including the training materials, or an easy-to-use library. Modern technological solutions give a number of opportunities for creating engaging e-learning courses for employees. To satisfy the demanding users, you need to provide them with high-quality products, where both contents and the form matter. If you also combine that with adapting the course to the users’ needs, successful fulfilment of the expectations is guaranteed – both for the employer and the employees.