An organization’s customer experience may make or break it. Eighty-six percent of shoppers are willing to pay more for a better brand experience, according to Oracle. As a result, major firms have made the concept of continuously improving the customer experience a top priority. But what about the employees who work for those businesses? Is there any role of workplace training in such a scenario? Let us find out.
Companies with highly engaged employees beat their competitors by 147 percent, as per Forbes. Furthermore, employees working for companies that provide an above-average customer experience are 79 percent more engaged in their jobs than employees who work for companies that provide an average or below-average customer experience, 49 percent engaged.
Read More: 26 Eye-opening Stats: Employee Retention and the Effect of Training
So how do you enhance employee engagement? Well, there is a vital role of workplace training at play here. Employee training that is both enjoyable and beneficial is one approach for a firm to improve the employee experience and increase employee engagement.
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What is Employee Engagement? What Are the Recent Trends?
Employee engagement is a strategy for fostering and establishing ideal working conditions to freely contribute to the organization’s aims and values while also improving their sense of well-being. The importance of employee involvement is further addressed by Sandra Slager, president of Skye Learning: “Employees are engaged when they feel an emotional connection to, and passion for, the work they’re doing and the company they’re doing it for. Not to be confused with employee satisfaction, which is often determined by length of commute, pay, benefits and perks. Employee engagement requires the employee to feel meaning in their work, [and] that their contribution is important and impactful.”
Currently, the millennial generation has overtaken the baby boomers as the largest section in the US workforce. However, a significant chunk of millennials is disengaged at work. Millennials are different in their need for meaningful ties with their work. As a general group, millennials do not stay at a job or with a company that is transactional in character. Employers must tap into employees’ emotional attachment to the work, giving a meaningful work experience, if they want to retain personnel, especially those newer to the workforce, due to declining company loyalty.
The Role of Workplace Training in Enhancing Employee Engagement
Employees flourish in a setting that emphasizes their development as valuable assets. The role of workplace training is critical for boosting employee engagement. Employees feel appreciated due to career advancement and development, which promotes motivation to meet company goals. In fact, employees who have many learning and development chances in their workplace are more likely to be engaged and happy in their careers, he said.
Boosting Employee Engagement
Implementing industry-leading learning management systems is the most obvious way to increase employee training. More and more businesses are now transitioning to digital learning platforms to get the job done. Despite the eLearning market’s rapid growth, many companies continue to use traditional staff training methods.
Legacy systems and offline training courses are not tailored adequately for the millennial age. Learning in organizations is frequently not engaging enough because it is not individualized enough. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help in the personalization or contextualization of learning supplied to an employee, using information about a person’s previous experiences and background, as well as their aspirations.
Another recommendation for businesses is to use a micro-learning strategy and make training materials and resources mobile-friendly. We should also understand the value of social and gamified learning. Learning and development managers should prioritize social and informal learning, knowledge sharing, and timely access to the correct information or subject-matter expert. Learning may be more entertaining and engaging with gamification aspects.
Read More: What is Social Learning, and How Can Workplaces Benefit from it?
Learning and development managers can additionally use advanced learning experience platforms, specifically xAPI standards, to track all learning activities inside and outside the learning platform. This way, organizations can identify parts of the learning process that aren’t engaging enough and need to be adjusted.
There is also the necessity to provide appropriate resources for employees to execute their tasks, in addition to personal development. Here, we are talking about technology. One of the most effective methods to promote employee engagement is to remove roadblocks to growth. Unresolved hardware, software, and other IT issues should no longer hinder completing the task at hand.
The Role of Workplace Training in Boosting Employee Engagement: Explored in More Detail
To properly grasp what makes a company a wonderful place to work, it’s critical to investigate, assess, and improve various areas that boost employee engagement and overall experience. And a good employee experience is connected to employee satisfaction with training, development, and resources.
At times, it might seem unwise to invest so many of your resources in skilling your employees, only for them to take the learning elsewhere. However, investing in the training and development of your personnel is an essential risk for a Best Employer. And, as it turns out, the risk isn’t as significant as you may imagine.
Employers who have greater levels of employee engagement understand the value of investing in education and training. Higher production, better efficiency, and increased innovation are some of the results. Employees will see that you care about their development, even if it starts with something as small as expense reimbursement for a partial degree, and will begin to create loyalty to you and the firm. Let us now see how different aspects of workplace training play a critical role in increasing employee engagement.
1. Onboarding
Not only does onboarding entail training new employees on processes, but it also entails assimilating them into the business culture. It’s also an excellent time to go over how to use the software, programs, and tools that the employee will need to perform their job functions and access benefits information. A primary activity such as asking for time off might be intimidating if no one takes the time to train you from the beginning properly.
2. Ongoing Training
Ongoing training is just as necessary as onboarding. Because technological advancements develop so quickly, an employee’s knowledge can suddenly become obsolete. It’s also a good idea to provide training for new programs, projects, and trends in your business to keep personnel sharp. Cross-training can save time and money for the firm while also allowing employees to learn new skills.
3. Technology and Resources
Another critical component that appears to be common sense but is occasionally lacking in the workplace has the technology and tools you need to accomplish your job. It’s vital to figure out what resources each of your organization’s job responsibilities need to perform at their best and then supply those resources in the form of training.
4. Hardware Training
Even if your staff have the necessary equipment, productivity will suffer if it isn’t working correctly, and they will become frustrated. Upgrade to new and phase out old equipment regularly to avoid employees wasting time troubleshooting or, worse, losing valuable work hours due to faulty computers and hardware. And of course, equip them with the proper training.
5. Software Training
Maintaining current software for day-to-day work and human resources operations, such as pay and time management software, will help to reduce frustration and errors. Investing in new software and training them on the same can help your workers undertake more strategic and intelligent work by simplifying and automating tiresome activities.
6. Training on Troubleshooting
You will pay the price if you lose hours or even days due to technological troubles. Having well-trained IT staff members on hand, either in-house or immediately available, to assist employees with technical issues would save time and frustration.
8. Career Advancement
Establish explicit goals and objectives for staff so that they are aware of the requirements for progress. Regular feedback and reviews will assist an employee and supervisor stay on the same page regarding performance and objectives.
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9. Growth or Advancement Opportunities
While progress may not always be achievable inside the constraints of a single department, allowing employees to cross over into different teams can inspire them to seek opportunities for advancement throughout the firm.
Many employees value career advancement. In smaller businesses, progress in climbing up the ladder may not be as readily attainable, but it can take many other forms. Role expansion, more salary, further education, new abilities, and increased responsibility are all examples of advancement for your staff.
10. Encouragement
When possible, posting job positions internally first demonstrates to employees that you are open to advancing and promoting current team members. Ensure that they are given the same consideration as external candidates.
In short, investing in training, development, and resources helps establish a climate conducive to employee growth and motivation.
Conclusion
The trend of problem-solving directly links to discovery-based learning, which can empower employees. Learning models or applications based on discovery can empower employees and improve their motivation and overall corporate performance. It would be best if you tied everything back to these practical workplace applications for training to attain the company’s beliefs and objectives. So, how do you plan to improve employee training and engagement in 2021?
Ad: PlayAblo’s Enterprise-Grade Micro-Learning platform is built for the corporate learner. Micro-Learning, along with assessments and gamification features, ensures learning outcome measurement along with sustained engagement.
Find out more and request a custom demo!
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