How to enhance employee engagement through training?

Worldwide, only 34% of employees are engaged with their company. Which leaves the majority of workers disengaged. They will leave the company for a better opportunity.

Organizations around the world lose more than $500 billion per year due to employee disengagement. Disengaged employees are not committed to the company and thus, do not put in the diligent effort. Investing in employees through skill development and training helps in increasing their association with the company. It lowers the probable risks of a high attrition rate.

Training is more than just teaching employees to do a job or making them learn any new skill.  It’s about engaging them with the company and showing them that they matter.

Ways to retain employees’ interest in training:

Flexible and Accessible Learning

The use of microlearning principles, short, sharp, and to the point content (such as infographics, short videos, checklists, or gifs) makes it easier for learners to consume while simultaneously attending their day-to-day work.

Motivate managers to get involved

Managers know more about the employees than the L&D team. They know what skills their team needs now, what the employees need to learn, and even the skills the company will need in the future. They can even evaluate the training efficacy by judging the employees’ performances both before and after the training programs.

• Managers should be included in the needs analysis phase of training design.

• Placing a system where managers can request just-in-time learning and short instructional materials as required.

Match different learning options and preferences

Some learners get overwhelmed by large amounts of text, or information at a single instant or too much video content. Designing learning materials that combine text, images, and videos will cater to different preferences. Simple exercises at the end of each module that offer quick revision will also motivate the learners into completing the whole course.

Use Blended Learning

Self-paced eLearning is a great alternative to in-person instructor-led training for most skills, however, it can not replace the traditional method entirely. Numerous skills that include physical actions are meant to be taught in person.

Thus, a mixed training approach is one of the best and easy ways to adopt that combines Instructor-Led Training (ILT) with regular or self-paced eLearning.

Use Learner Analytics

There can be no improvement without measuring the effectiveness. The same applies to employee training. When the number of employees and training programs are high, it becomes impossible to connect with all individuals on a personal level.

To improve the corporate training programs, implement and monitor training analytics.

• Track the progress of each training program,

• Identify and fix skill gaps in employees,

• Do diligent Training Need Analysis (TNI)

• Detect limitations in the courses (For example, lessons that are extremely hard or not fit for a few employees),

• Improve training program,

• Recognize and reward training effort,

• Measure after training skill implementation.

Create Learning Paths

A training program is not a combination of distinct courses. Rather, it is part of a learning journey. The courses an employee takes are milestones along the journey. Based on existing skills and future goals, a training program should lead to multiple learning paths for employees.

Understand What Employees Need

Be it the managers’ recommendations, or Training Need Analysis, there is no absolute process to evaluate employees’ skill needs. To improve the training process, it is necessary to start with the source. 

• Ask the employees about their goals

• Understand which skills they need or are interested in learning

• Observe their regular workflow and identify the skill gap

Recognize Training Achievements and Provide Appropriate Reward

Best of training programs can fail if employees are not motivated to acquire them. 

• Cultivate a culture of learning

• Implement symbolic reward systems such as scores and honor badges

• Provide tangible rewards like promotions, bonuses, or extra perks

• Celebrate on-the-job application of training and new skills 

Skill development is necessary for the growth of both people and the organization. It will also retain your employees, your sleep, and your money.