Learning and development (L&D) is an ongoing process of human progress. As children, we learn as we play along. During school and university years, learning takes place in a set academic system. As adults in the workforce, we call this process career development or more commonly, on-the-job training. Thus, learning and adapting to the current trends and needs of the business is an essential part of an individual’s career advancement, which collectively leads to economic growth.
Companies over the years have recognized the importance of training their employees from time to time. Most organizations have a training plan in place for their staff at each stage of their career. Some large firms have their own training and development departments that own up to this responsibility, while others hire external agencies that offer specialized training programs to match their requirements.
The past few decades saw a boom in several training events for executives organized with extravagant themes. These offshore training events have not only added costs to companies, but they are also time-consuming for business leaders due to travel. With the recent challenges posed by the pandemic, the landscape of training and development has transformed to become fully digital.
Further, with work from home taking more prominence, companies are open to hiring talent from across the globe. This has also contributed to the need for offering training and development through online learning systems.
Learning Strategies That Will Lead to Success in 2022
Employee skills, potential, and competencies that an organization needs for its growth are enhanced with a strategic learning and development plan in place. It examines how these things can affect the organization’s sustainability and success.
Let’s dive in now to understand what learning strategies are bringing successful outcomes to companies through online learning and development programs.
Training from the ground up
Previously, companies used to focus on training employees on the managerial level with leadership, communication, and presentation skills. However, with everyone working from home, virtual communication has become the norm. It is essential for every employee to have the necessary presentation and communication skills to work through virtual meetings. By shifting the focus to enhance these skills from the ground up, companies are seeing instant success in their business.
Coaching employees to become successful leaders ahead of time in the digital environment is the first key to success.
Customized training
One size doesn’t fit all. This rule applies to L&D programs as well across boards. For instance, onboarding sessions can be generic based on the company; however, industry-specific personalized training is something that gives individuals a better understanding to adjust to the new environment quickly. With more remote working in place, simple virtual training to complex augmented reality (AR) modules for teaching new hires on how to use the machinery and technology has become the way of orientation programs.
Customizing employee training also means that companies are taking care of individual employee needs into consideration, which shows the company’s interest in retaining the talent. We can integrate such personalized learning modules with key performance indicators (KPIs) and can measure the performance of the learner. These metrics can help individuals and companies assess their contribution and motivate them to perform better with each passing day.
Self-paced learning
With new challenges thrown at us by the pandemic, giving employees a flexible learning program for advancing their skills has proven to be successful. To aid this, businesses today are leaning towards offering self-paced learning options for their employees. Learning Management Systems, internal certifications, and training modules are some of the popular methods. Others are outsourcing professional trainers to build a personalized training module that best fits the organization’s needs to reach their desired goals.
As opposed to classroom training where the flow of the course material is pre-determined, online learning platforms allow learners to choose a topic that they need to polish their skills on and apply it to their work. Thus, gaining a job-specific skill to address an immediate problem saves time for both the employee and employer.
Training made fun
Gamification, which is training your staff via online games and simulation, is gaining popularity. With fewer opportunities to meet in person, companies are making efforts to bring a lot more fun-filled activities that are interactive and make learning a joyful experience. Augmented reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Microlearning, and other online training methods are trending in 2022.
Since these learning tools are available for employees to access from the comfort of their homes, it has attracted the attention of learners and they are leveling up their ability to succeed at work.
Peer group elevation
It’s a fact that productivity increases with peer accountability. When learners form groups to learn a new skill, the social feature of interactive question-and-answer sessions, collaborative methods of knowledge sharing, are leading to successful results. People working remotely have acknowledged that these peer-to-peer learning engagements have built an increased sense of belongingness with the organization.
When employees feel a strong partnership with their workplace, they perform better, resulting in increased profit margins.
In a brief span, the pandemic has changed the way the world works, and its effects are here to stay. This has led companies to change their approach of hiring, training, and interacting with their employees and it will continue to transform in the years to come.
These top trends are shaping the future of learning and development and driving companies to establish new priorities. Now that you know this, let’s embrace these changes and plan a customized learning strategy that’s unique to your business. Ask us how. mike@p2linc.com