How eLearning Strategies Can Combat The Great Reshuffle Mindset

 With changing work environments, skill demands, and the personal and professional anxieties of employees, training can have a crucial influence on staff retention. The World Economic Forum suggests that the future of work has already arrived, with 84% of employers ready to digitalize their work and working modes.   In the past, sitting in training rooms, gazing at presentations, filling in assessment sheets, listening to facilitators, and participating in discussions was a well-managed way of training employees in the workplace. Traditionally, employees would have the option to attend training or mandatory workshops in person. These would often include regular tea-breaks, where staff could discuss their training and whether it was relevant or engaging. But today, the scope for such training is more limited.   The recent times have given rise to a rigorous continuously evolving business situation where the scope of employment can be explored worldwide, offices and location are mostly virtual, with a negligible physical human connection. During these times, a lack of training can be a high risk and can negatively affect employee retention.  

eLearning solutions to the rescue – supporting employees

  With the strategic use of eLearning services, organizations can provide incredible support to their employees, which can improve productivity, engagement, and retention. An effective learning strategy not only supports current training needs but can also anticipate future training requirements.  

1. Meaningful eLearning strategy

Employees are engaged with many tasks throughout the day, and research has already found evidence of digital burnout. A recent article from the Wall Street Journal reports that 39 million employees resigned in the US in the first 10 months of 2021.   To improve their impact on staff retention, learning strategies can be created to reflect exact training requirements, based on factors such as task efficiency, specific skills or behaviors, business competitiveness, or recent updates. An organization can also ensure its training is effective by establishing clear learning objectives for any training before it is carried out.   When employees feel that a learning strategy serves a greater organizational purpose and addresses real work needs, they tend to feel more positively about an organization.  

2. Incorporating Work–life balance

Work–life balance is important for today’s employees and can change over the course of time. Today, work–life balance is more than just a buzzword and can drive employees’ decisions, especially millennials.   With organized information, relevant knowledge sharing, and strategic learning initiatives, training can improve an employee’s sense of wellbeing. More flexible training opportunities can also allow employees to learn when and where they want to. Examples of effective eLearning strategies include:  

• Immersive training: Employees can freely practice their training and are given opportunities to test out new eLearning strategies and improve decision-making skills.
• Collaborative learning: Staff can engage in social interaction to boost mental health and improve learning outcomes.
• Blended learning: Employees are free to choose the mode of learning that best suits their needs.

  A focused learning strategy can be invaluable to employees and can increase their engagement, making them excited to contribute toward larger organizational goals.  

3. Culture and Compassion

Many employees are no longer looking for big paychecks but are instead rethinking their priorities at work. An increasing number are ready to walk away from jobs that do not support their wellbeing. A recent survey by LinkedIn showed that 40% of employees consider company culture to be a top priority when deciding on a new role.   Companies can fine-tune their culture to meet the expectations of their employees, who want to be seen as human beings first. eLearning solutions remove barriers to learning. Any training, skilling, certification, or enablement program, when built to help and not kill employee time, will automatically boost engagement. Additionally, eLearning courses can be easily updated and are often fast and easy to access. It can be strategically used to implement reinforcement, support performance, just-in-time support, utilizing flexible, adaptive, personalized, and social learning methods to choose from.   This powerful talent attractor has immense power to drive commitment, profitability, revenue growth, and customer satisfaction. It also allows an organization to move away from the one-size-fits-all learning strategy and promote an inclusive work culture. Flexible learning, a focus on wellbeing, and the great reshuffle are likely to drive this change into the future.  

When employees feel they are an important part of a larger mission, they go the extra mile to contribute to an organization.

To conclude, employees need creative eLearning strategies that are personalized and relevant to their needs. Employees are social animals who like to bounce ideas off one another as they learn and carry out their work. A learning strategy can be designed to address these different needs, which can support career development, employee retention, and performance, and provide a company with a competitive edge.   If you are brainstorming on how to attract potential employees to your business, are rethinking culture, or want to improve workforce training, contact Ozemio today to find out more about effective, user-friendly learning strategies.