The days of setting up rows of chairs in a conference room and handing out printed materials to a gathered crowd of employees were waning, even before the COVID-19 pandemic pushed most offices into working remotely.
Given the advancements in learning technology and an increasingly mobile workforce, more and more organizations have been looking for digital solutions for previously in-person training programs.
Taking your employee training program online:
- lets you manage learning and development for a global or dispersed workforce
- makes it easier for employees to learn on the go and fit training into their busy schedules
- teaches and reinforces the digital skills employees need to do today’s jobs
- simplifies keeping your training materials up to date
It’s no wonder more organizations are going digital! Here’s how to digitize your own employee training program.
Ideas without action aren’t ideas. They’re regrets.
Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple Inc.
Audit your current training
Don’t just move your current training programs online. Instead, take the opportunity to do a thorough spring cleaning. Ask yourself:
- How does this training support organizational goals?
- Is any of the content outdated?
- Are the examples and lessons still relevant to your current workforce?
- What knowledge, skills, or topics aren’t being addressed?
- Does the training align with compliance standards?
Now is a great time to sit down with managers, department heads, and other stakeholders to get their take on what’s working and what’s not with your current training. Use these conversations to set your priorities when it comes to what training to digitize first.
Digitize training materials
Now you should have a better idea of where your priorities are. Rather than simply scanning the paper versions of training documents you currently have, however, take a critical look at what the best way is to deliver that material.
One of the biggest benefits of online training is that it lets you present materials in different ways to best engage the learner. You can:
- Supplement written materials with short videos
- Break dense chapters up into shorter modules
- Use quizzes to make training more interactive
- Include hyperlinks to provide further context or information
- Create online knowledge bases for just-in-time learning
- Set up forums where employees can ask questions
This doesn’t need to be difficult to do. There are many free and cost-effective resources available online, and your current training vendors may have digital offerings you can use.
Choose a learning management system
The best way to deliver digital training is through a learning management system (LMS). An LMS platform will do more than deliver the content to learners in your organization. It can also track progress, automatically score quizzes, and even adapt learning paths based on an employee’s knowledge or role.
A good LMS should also be flexible enough to deliver training across multiple devices, so employees can access it on their desktop or smartphone.
Above all, look for an LMS that supports your organization’s training goals, will scale as your organization grows, and can handle everything you want to do with your digital training program. Learn more about Opigno’s customizable digital training platform.
Learn more about Opigno’s customizable digital training platform.