These major training challenges demand a resolution
Your learning management system works.
It’s not the most revolutionary piece of software ever made but it helps you organize and deliver training programs relatively well.
Your LMS is a talented multi tasker. It keeps track of course registration, facilitates content delivery and tracks training goals. And, it produces a neat set of analytics you can measure against your training goals.
The problem is that engagement rates are still low and results are lackluster. To top it off, there’s no clear way to improve them.
According to a study sponsored by the Dale Carnegie training centre, companies lose $350 billion a year because employees are disengaged.
To move forward and improve team engagement, we have to look at the training problems that LMS isn’t solving.
1. Your team doesn’t believe it works
Belief is half the game.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you are right.”
That Henry Ford quote may be over-used and proudly stamped on inspirational posters and throw pillows worldwide but, at its core, it remains true.
The challenge faced by many top notch teams today is that they’ve been disappointed. Training programs with extensive promises failed to make a real difference.
They didn’t solve the right problems.
Corporate training programs are often created in a vacuum without analyzing real training needs.
The training feels like another pointless task- just one more corporate box to tick. The materials are stale, the examples hypothetical, and the language is dry and unengaging.
That’s not how we inspire belief.
We have to find a way to make the right training and education available to our team without boring them to death.
To move past this, you have to show your team you care about their present and future career development. Don’t pay lip service to the grand idea of a corporate culture or a great training program.
Listen to them! Participate in active conversations. Figure out what topics fascinate and excite your team.
Ask open ended questions that can help you understand the root cause for their lack of faith in training.
Find out what your team actually needs- not what you think they need.
2. You aren’t capturing your team’s knowledge
Learning is happening everywhere.
You can read an article while waiting in line at the grocery store. You can watch a training video while riding the bus or listen to a podcast on your drive to work. You can even discuss a challenging situation with an experienced co-worker and carefully examine their perspective.
Your team is using their devices and different media to learn, share and engage in informal settings throughout the day. Learning isn’t confined to a particular time or place.
The settings might be casual, but the knowledge itself is incredibly valuable.
The problem is that our LMS doesn’t capture that knowledge.
This is a wasted opportunity.
As digital technology continues evolving, and the way we learn becomes increasingly mobile we need to develop a system that captures that knowledge or risk losing it forever.
3. Losing knowledge exchange
Effective learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
The best ideas get bounced around a few times- that’s how we separate the viable from the ridiculous.
Regularly exchanging knowledge improves morale, boosts overall performance and helps your team generate better ideas.
But, most LMS software has no way of capturing that or providing a real, trackable way to inspire it.
We need to encourage real, regular information sharing and vigorous debate. This type of knowledge exchange solidifies learning and drives the whole team forward.
Rising to meet a new generation of training challenges
Effective training needs to meet these challenges head on.
Traditional learning methods are on the way out. They are being replaced by a more personable type of learning.
Training videos have personality. Content is engaging and sharable. The language we use is more flexible and human.
The standardized learning model, where all employees went through the same kind of materials in the same environment used to make sense. Circumstances have changed.
Knowledge is being created faster than ever before and it’s paramount that your training programs can grow with your team and company.
To succeed, we need variety and flexibility.
Your LMS helps you distribute knowledge the old fashioned way. It limits the formats you can use, makes it difficult to update content and interact freely and favors certain devices.
It’s time to look beyond the traditional, top down learning model and use new technology to improve learning. Collaborative ventures like content curation use your team’s existing knowledge to develop training from the ground up.
The old delivery systems are failing. Great training feeds off the curiosity and boundless energy of your team. It inspires. And, it increases team satisfaction which drives performance and boosts sales.
Beyond LMS
Effective training needs to go beyond the LMS. To develop the best team possible we need to do more than just put some training materials together and leave the rest up to fate.
Your team is driven, talented and busy. Every individual is faced with an array of important and time sensitive tasks that they have to complete and it’s easy to lose track when there are so many balls in the air at any one time.
An integrated approach to learning and training that steps away from LMS and uses all the resources available to you will set your team apart from the rest.
And, with an engaged team at your back, you’ll be better prepared to face whatever challenges the future throws your way.
What are your team’s greatest training challenges and how will you meet them? Let us know in the comments!
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