It’s no secret that employees do not find compulsory training interesting and lack the necessary enthusiasm their employers expect from them. But training is essential for employees to be able to do their job well, which increases their chances of being productive.
So it’s time to re-think your company’s compulsory employee training format. Why do you ask? Mainly because it doesn’t necessarily have to be uninteresting. If your employees find the training sessions boring, they will absorb knowledge poorly, thereby wasting the money and time being invested in organizing the training.
Fortunately, there are ways to pique their interest and compel them to learn actively. Here are eight ideas you can incorporate into your compulsory training structure to make it more interesting and engaging:
1. Use gamification to your advantage:
Gamification techniques are known to leverage the general human interests for competing and achieving. You can implement a blend of different formats like quizzes, timers, and rewards along with point-scoring systems to encourage healthy competition amongst employees. Most Learning Management Systems (LMS) that are used to execute online training programs provide the gamification feature. For example, if you go through the iSpring Learn pricing model, you’ll realize it provides gamification with elements like badges, leaderboards, reward systems, and more.
2. Break down content into small modules:
Rather than subjecting employees to an overwhelming amount of information in one go, it is wiser to create smaller modules that are easy to consume. Breaking down the content into mini-modules ensures better information retention and callback. Also, employees are more likely to engage in learning, knowing it won’t take hours.
3. Keep content relevant:
It is important to understand your audience and build a training program that delivers exactly what they need to learn. Training for generic or non-relevant topics can lead to you wasting valuable time and resources. Remember, ‘Content is King’, and it should be customized for your employees as per their specific roles.
4. Keep evolving your content:
Nobody likes consuming the same information over and over again. It can get tedious, and employees can easily lose interest. Replace outdated references that no longer apply in the present scenario with recent real-life examples. Instead of using the same old content, invest in an LMS that easily updates your training content.
5. Change the mood:
One of the most undermined ways of increasing employee attention is the change of place. Conducting training in the same location every day can get extremely dull and monotonous. If possible, change the venue and hold training somewhere new. An outdoor location can do wonders to change the mood and significantly increase employee engagement.
6. Motivate and encourage:
Nothing motivates an employee more than being appreciated for a job well done. Rewarding your employees by providing incentives or rewards is another great way to keep them motivated. You can encourage them by providing certificates or badges for successfully completing the training.
7. Get employee opinion:
The best way to ensure employees are engaged is to ask them what would help them learn better. You can consider getting their opinion on what trainers they like, what incentives matter the most to them, which training location they prefer, and what topics they tend to have issues with. A big benefit of this is that employees feel that their opinion is being valued, which in turn motivates them to participate more.
8. Understand the importance of breaks:
Overloading employees with a lot of new information without any breaks can get stressful and exhausting. Allow them to take breaks regularly to replenish themselves. Taking breaks between training ensures a better level of focus and attention. Depending on the complexity of the course being covered, provide break durations that would be enough for employees to feel refreshed.
Conclusion:
Learning new skills can help employees become more confident in overcoming obstacles and achieve the company targets effortlessly. Implementing the above-mentioned ideas can ensure your employees learn better and eventually produce better results.
