Reinventing workplace training with emerging technologies

Employee training and development remain to be a key function of HR departments today. But depending on the size and goals of your company, the delivery of this can be a challenge.

Questions regarding the training process, development methods, and the delivery of material become key in larger corporations with many employees.

In today’s digital age, modern workplace training requires a new approach to learning and employee engagement. Emerging technological innovations are allowing HR departments to provide wide-ranging training experiences to employees.

Here are a few examples of how your business can streamline the employee training process, increase user engagement, and achieve better outcomes with technology.

AI and Tailored training

Artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting a variety of industries- and learning and development is one of them.

Using AI, businesses can deliver much more personalized training programmes to employees based on things such as job role, educational background, previous learning experiences, and learning styles.

With AI, training programs can be adapted to each individual needs, making employees feel like they aren’t just another cog in a giant machine but an employee whose development is valued.

Not only can AI be used to deliver more tailored training, but it can also collect information on employee behavior in order to better improve.

For instance, information can be collected regarding how long employees take to complete each section, certain areas which tend to take longer, the success rate of quizzes, whether employees watch video lessons in one sitting or stop part way through, and more.

These details can then be used to improve the training materials in order to better engage employees. For example, by making videos shorter in order to increase engagement.

Virtual reality

It’s fair to say that workplace training is typically not the most exciting of activities. Many of us can probably admit to day-dreaming our way through tedious training sessions in which a lecturer talks through a 40-slide Powerpoint Presentation.

What if training could be more exciting? Not only this, what if it could be more purposeful?

Fortunately, it can be with VR technology. This innovative new technology offers employees immersive learning opportunities for a wide range of experiences and scenarios.

This not only makes training more engaging and realistic but it also offers a much more effective way of preparing employees for real-life scenarios in which they will need to put the training into practice.

This is especially valuable in dangerous workplace scenarios, such as in the training of firefighters. With VR, trainers have the power to expose learners to realistic situations in order to prepare for stressful situations.

Unlike traditional training materials such as books and classes, VR provides a much more effective training in a safe, cost-effective environment.

Gamification

Everyone enjoys games and a bit of friendly competition- so why not use this to increase employee engagement?

Gamification is a growing trend in the world of HR, where employees are spurred on to take part in learning programmes in return for points, status, and rewards with each business objective met.

Gamification offers employees a fun and interactive way to learn. It takes complex tasks and breaks them down into simple tasks that the brain can learn over time. Gamified learning activities also offer lots of positive feedback to users in order to increase motivation and improve retention and results.

The social aspect of gamified training also encourages employees to work a little harder using a dose of friendly, healthy competition. This means that while also improving employee engagement in training initiatives, you can expect to achieve better results.