During unpredictable times, and especially in times of a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the best thing that business leaders can do to retain talent is to invest in their employees. Raising their salaries, investing in their mental and physical health, providing various perks, there’s a lot you can do to keep people around. That said, these are all temporary perks that will one day lose their charm and appeal if you don’t combine them with a clear employee advancement plan.
People want to grow, both personally and professionally, and there is nothing that can make an employee want to leave your company more than when they feel stuck. There is always a better offer out there that they can take, but if you provide them with an opportunity to expand their professional knowledge and skills, you will have created lifelong brand advocates.
Here’s how you can leverage digital technology to boost employee education and training, and achieve your goals in the new normal.
Automate The Training And Onboarding Process
Business leaders can struggle to onboard new hires and provide them with the knowledge and tools they need to become productive team members from day one. Onboarding and training in general has become even more difficult in a time when remote work has become commonplace. Companies are hiring remotely and training remotely, which is a challenge when your team members are not working together in the same office space.
To make your onboarding and training as effective as possible remotely, consider automating these processes even if only partially. You can create interesting explainer videos and tutorials, welcome videos for newcomers to get settled in quickly, and even process-specific video tutorials that will educate an employee on a new tool you’re using.
Automation can help you cut time waste and costs, but it can also help people internalize new information faster.
Gamify Your Training And Education Programs
Whether you decide to automate certain training programs or not, you can always rely on the popular gaming industry to help you make employee education more engaging and impactful. Gamification is a big trend nowadays in marketing and sales, but as a business leader you can also use it to help your employees learn, acquire new skills and internalize new information.
To achieve this, you can reach out to external developers who specialize in gamifying corporate training programs. You can also hire internal developers to make these programs from scratch. Ultimately, the choice is up to you, and you will need to choose the right format for your employees.
Typically, companies will choose either quizzes or simple platformers to put in relevant information at key stages of the game. You can also weave problem-solving into the game in order for employees to test their new skills in a practical way.
Take Advantage Of Online Universities
Another great way to leverage digital tools for employee education and training is to turn to online universities. Universities and academic institutions from all over the world have nowadays digitized their processes and are offering their lectures online, which is a great opportunity for people to get access to the top schools for free.
That said, your employees don’t need to attend online classes or listen to recorded lectures, because there are also past student notes they can use from prestigious schools like the University of Southampton. You can find various Southampton docs online from past students on a variety of topics, many of which could apply to your industry or niche, and the specific jobs in your company.
Give your employees access to these materials, make sure it’s something they’re passionate about, and let them expand their knowledge and skillset.
Leverage Peer Groups And Virtual Meetups
Your employees can learn a lot from each other, but also the leaders in your company. That’s why peer learning groups and virtual meetings are so effective and useful nowadays, as you can leverage your in- house talent for new learning and training opportunities. You can organize these peer groups in such a way that every week one specialist will share some of their knowledge and experience with the rest of the collective – just make sure it’s something everyone can benefit from.
What’s more, consider organizing external peer groups in which you’ll invite authority figures from the industry to speak, give lectures, and even work one-on-one with your employees. This is a great opportunity to leverage talent outside your company and bring fresh ideas to the table as well.
Create An Internal Wiki Page For Your Teams
Last but not least, consider building an in-house Wiki page. This can be a massive internal library of all the data your people need to grow in their professional realm. From internal to external processes and all the way to how-to guides and even a forum for your teams, this data repository can have it all.
You can even manage access privileges and make certain libraries and topics accessible only to the relevant people in your company. This will ensure everyone has access to the right data and tools, but will minimize the risk of data leaks and security issues.
Essential Employee Education & Empowerment
Employee development is crucial for the success of any business. It’s also an instrumental part of your talent retention strategy, so make sure to use these digital tools and practices to give your team members the opportunities to grow.
