What Most Corporate Training isn’t Doing

Onboarding, mandatory safety training, workplace skills enhancement...we need corporate training. Worldwide corporate learning and development (L&D) costs hundreds of billions of dollars (US). Yet too often, training dollars and hours spent do not result in employee behavioral change.

There’s a disconnect between L&D initiatives and training results.

Is the breakdown because executives “don’t know what it’s like to do the job”? Is it that training workshops get taught by unqualified professionals? Not likely.

The answer might be as simple as the materials themselves.

Reducing the Friction in Learning

Previously we looked at completion rates, response rates, and course dropouts as training metrics for L&D. The problem is that such key performance indicators (KPIs) measure the ability to take in learning, not to apply it.

By such metrics, a “good student” is passive.

Better learning metrics include:

• Giving action items and measuring their use over time.
• Surveying for increased competency level in a specific training area.
• Measuring employee comfort with performing newly learned tasks, rather than their satisfaction with a training course itself.

These metrics emphasize learning for the application of materials to the workplace. Yes, then completion rates tend to go up. Dropout rates tend to go down. More importantly, you increase engagement and reduce the friction in learning.

A Micro Upskilling Approach to Learning

Accessibility is another big barrier to corporate learning. How do you reach your remote team? Your frontline workers?

Using a text-based learning management system (LMS) to distribute materials via mobile devices you reach everyone. At Arist, our courses also seamlessly integrate with Slack and Microsoft Teams. With these options, you easily reach your entire team.

In most organizations, a good 80% or more of necessary learning materials are not unique or technical. Such skills can be taught in a gradual, micro upskilling approach to a wide audience.

Using an evidence-based approach to learning, effective training materials:

• Keep each learning session short
• Make material applicable and relevant to the learner
• Link to previous knowledge, building on what the learner may already know
• Use positive reinforcement
• Ask reflexive questions to invite engagement
• Challenge the learner to both think and do

To be effective, these courses make action part of the learning process, as opposed to leaving action up to employees.

Create Training Materials Quickly

Text-based learning may be a new delivery method. Similarly, a focus on application and related metrics require a shift in pedagogy. But the materials you already possess may easily transition to a new format. Utilizing existing materials to create new courses of study takes as little as a few minutes!

Book a demo and see how you can make action a part of learning.