Why You Should Change the Way You Deliver Training, and How to Do It

There’s no hiding it anymore. Organizationsare waking up to the fact that, done wrong, corporate training is a frustratingexperience—for everyone. Employeesare tired of massive information dumps. Learning leaders are demoralized byshrinking engagement levels. And bigwig execs are disgruntled by traininginvestments that aren’t paying off.

There is a better way.

What if you could transform the employeelearning experience from dull and paralyzing to exciting and fulfilling—while building knowledge alongside the bottom line? What if youcould give training managers and executives the tools to enable them todirectly measure the impact their training is having on both job behavior andthe organization? What if learning leaders could drive a learning culture thatencouraged ongoing knowledge-building to boost performance?

This is part of what it means to modernize learning.It’s about putting laser focus on the needs of the business and how to propelit forward. This includes new technologies, new methods, and new ways ofthinking about learning.

How to modernize your learning ecosystem

The corporate learning industry is at atipping point. There’s an immense shift happening in the way businessesapproach training. The pieces are in place: We have the technology, and bothL&D leaders and the workforce are hungry for change. But to truly modernizethe corporate learning ecosystem, we need to get a few things right first.

Change your organization’s learning philosophy

The first thing to go should be thecontent-first mentality. It may be hard to flip this traditional mindset, butdesigning a training program around what information you think your employees should know is all backward. Instead, youneed to start with understanding the objectives business leaders want toachieve. Then, you need to figure out the training content to help them getthere. This is what will drive your organization’s success. It’s what will alsodrive your workers’ and your training program’s success. When you identify thebehaviors that your employees need to exhibit to be successful in their jobs,and the knowledge they need to have in order to consistently practice thosebehaviors, results will definitely follow.

Incorporate science

There’s also a bounty of research out thereabout how the brain works, and you don’t need to be a neuroscientist to use it.This brain science looks closely at how people learn best and helps lay outwhich techniques are most effective for training. Much of the current science challengestraditional learning methods—people just can’t remember most of the informationafter sitting in a classroom for hours at a time. What does work?Microlearning, spaced repetition, gamification, repeated retrieval, andconfidence-based assessments. They all show great results when it comes toboosting employee brainpower and translating that knowledge to the job.

Tap into collective wisdom

Traditionally, training has been top-down—starting with L&D. But there is tons of company knowledge thateither gets lost or fragmented in departmental siloes. Instead of letting thisinformation remain hidden, open up the channels of communication to create acommon pool of knowledge that’s accessible to everyone. By enabling employeesto share, you’ll not only strengthen any formal training programs you have inplace, but also allow them to take advantage of the collective wisdom of thegroup so they can do even bigger and better things for the business.

Use the right tools

Just because the LMS has been the standarddoesn’t mean you need to follow it. Pretty much every L&D leader hascomplaints about its limitations, so why settle? Today’s employees wantlearning technology that emulates the tools they use every day. The best learningsolutions take inspiration from popular technologies like Google, YouTube, andPinterest to make learning accessible, mobile, bite-sized, and fun. Go to anyof the major learning conferences to get a taste for what’s available. The moreengaging the solution, the better your results will be.

Make information accessible on demand

It happens to all of us. We’re in themiddle of doing a job when, suddenly, we need to look up something we don’tknow or can’t remember. While there’s critical information we need top of mindto perform regular tasks, sometimes there’s other information that we need toreference only once in a while. The problem is, most companies don’t have aneasy way for employees to access essential information. So, employees eithermake incorrect assumptions or waste hours of time conducting endless searchesfor documentation. By creating a central repository where employees have “anytime,anywhere” access to the tools and resources they need to do their jobs, you canboost productivity and performance significantly.

Create a culture of learning

Training used to be an isolated event. Notanymore! In a modern environment, training happens every single day and thelearning never stops. This ensures employees can keep up with the constantchanges happening in today’s fast-paced work environment without feelingoverwhelmed. Plus, by engaging with daily microlearning, employees build theirknowledge and expertise over time without interfering with their regular tasks.And they can continue to learn no matter where they are—in theoffice, working remotely, or even traveling across the globe.

Personalize the experience

Today, everything is personalized—from recommendations you receive during your shopping experience onAmazon to the beverage combo you can choose at Starbucks. Employees have cometo expect this individual treatment, so modern learning needs to follow suit. Makesure employees receive training only in areas and topics that reflect theirneeds. By meeting learners where they are,and designing a training process that adapts to and respects their individualneeds, training managers ensure that employees are never taking in informationthat they already know or that’s irrelevant to them.

Drive up engagement

Bluntly put, training that’s boring doesn’twork. Employees simply tune out. By using gamification techniques likeleaderboards and rewards, and delivering training through game-based play, notonly do you increase engagement—the key to any successful training program—butlearners are also more focused during training and so are more likely to retainwhat they’re taking in.

Experiment with various content formats

The invention of social media has meantwe’re getting used to micro-sized content. Employees’ eyes glaze over when they’reforced to read lengthy documents or participate in hour-long courses, and most ofthe material doesn’t sink in. To keep employees’ attention, experiment withchunking up content into smaller pieces as well as using content formats thatmake the most sense for the material. For example, a video will likely workbetter than text to show an employee how to use a ladder properly. But, forreinforcing safe ladder practices, microlearning modules that ask employees text-basedquestions will help test understanding and encourage them to remember to takethe right actions on the job.

The evolution is inevitable

The time is ripe for change in corporatelearning, and there’s no stopping it. While the transformation won’t happenovernight, there’s no better time to kick-start the process. Your efforts willpay back in spades: more knowledgeable employees, increased engagement, betterperformance, and stronger business results. What better reason to evolve thanthat?